xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Just get on with the report," Beef said in a tired voice. Already his
adjunct, who was responsible for keeping up on all of Beef's diverse
business interests, had droned on for an hour and had somehow managed to say
nothing of any importance. It was quite remarkable that the adjunct had the
ability to accomplish that feat. Usually even the most stupid and boring of
people could say something interesting if they talked continuously for an
hour.

"I do have something here. It's Pan Pei's report on activity with our
shipping concern. It appears more pressure has been placed on him from
elements of what he believes are the Toromaki Gang. They're trying to
pressure him into convincing you to use our ships to smuggle illegal items
to ports in Shanghai and Southern Africa. For quite large sums, too."

"Great, them again," Beef muttered. "Tell Pan to give the usual thanks and
offer them a small stipend to make up for the time they wasted in trying to
give us the opportunity to better ourselves. However, reaffirm what we have
said before, that we intend to stay completely within the boundaries of the
law and will provide no illegal services to anyone, including their rivals."

"That should placate them, sir. Especially the money."

"It means they'll come out ahead and leave with a feeling of accomplishment
instead of feeling rejected. When men like that feel offended, they have a
bad tendency to offend back, and I don't need them trying to pressure us
into caving in. Buying extra security would cost a lot more money than the
bribe. Especially with the way I hear things have been heating up out there
on the docks."

"A greater number of bodies have been turning up in the harbor of late," his
adjunct informed him. "It appears a major confrontation might be broiling
between the Toromaki and Shadowlaw."

Beef shook his head. "Peaceforcers will break that up long before open
warfare begins. This isn't Shanghai. They always step in before things boil
over. And I'll wager you a hundred thousand yen that when they launch their
massive raids, it's the Toromaki that end up taking the worst of it while
Shadowlaw loses less interests and only in non-vital areas to their
network."

"Begging your pardon sir, but even I know that's a fool's bet. After all,
that's what happened the last three times there were almost gang wars."

"True. It has been getting a bit obvious of late. In any case, send a bonus
to Pei for alerting me to this and not trying to run anything on the side.
Also send him a case of my better wine. He's got a weakness for that, and
he's smart enough to appreciate the gesture of thanks for his loyalty."

"Very good, sir."

Beef looked at his watch again. "Is that all? The fights are going to start
any minute, and I want to see Shampoo in action. That girl's got the
potential to go all the way, I'm telling you. Just like I almost did."

The adjunct suddenly became far more animated. "I almost forgot, sir. You
told me to keep an ear out for any information concerning Mr. N'Digi or
Miss... ah, Shampoo."

The chair groaned as Beef rose to his feet, obviously concerned. "Yes. What
have you heard?"

The adjunct suddenly seemed a bit hesitant. "Well, do keep in mind this is
only information heard secondhand. It's from the roommate of the head
secretary for the branch of Otani Media Conglomerate."

"Secretaries are like janitors. No one ever notices they're there since
they're considered unimportant as individuals and the jobs they do are seen
as dirty or meaningless. One secretary in the pocket is worth two corporate
spies, as the saying goes."

"There's an actual saying about that?"

"There is now. I just made it up."

"Very good, sir."

"Quit sucking up and spit it out, man! What have you heard about Shampoo?"

Sensing Beef was no longer in the mood for trivialities, the adjunct did as
he was told. After hearing the information, Beef immediately told him to
contact his chauffeur and to get his car ready. Beef was going to the arena
personally to deliver the message to Jaddo and his prot�g�. The matter was
too important to leave in the hands of underlings.

An hour later, one of the security guards stationed at an entryway that
allowed access from the public areas of the arena to the more secure
facilities further inside was approached by what he thought at first was a
landbound whale. The image lasted until he realized the figure was dressed
in a suit that cost more than he made in a year, and not just because of the
volume of fabric that was used. Even the cane the man was using to help him
along appeared to be made of the finest obsidian and was topped with an
elaborate silver crafted wolf's head that could occasionally be seen poking
through his chubby fingers.

"Can I help you, sir?" he asked as Beef stopped in front of him.

"I need to see one of the fighters before her upcoming match."

The guard sighed audibly. He received this request at least a dozen times
every fight night. "I'm sorry, sir. You can't just walk on up and expect to
talk to the fighters, especially tonight. Since I can see that you are
obviously a man of influence, I'm certain if you contact our resources desk
they'll be able to set up an appointment with the fighter you want to meet."

Beef smiled at the man. "Ring up your boss, Mr. Arisukoji, and tell him Beef
Wellington wishes to see one of the fighters before her match."

The guard considered simply sending the man on his way, but reconsidered. It
was unwise to anger the wealthy and powerful, even if he was just doing his
job. For some odd reason, the wealthy never thought of it that way. Any
refusal was seen as a personal insult, and they responded to accordingly.
Within seconds someone patched the guard through to Tetsuo.

Beef could only hear the guard's half of the conversation as he spoke into
his communicator. "Yes, sir. That's who he claims to be... Yes, it does look
like he could have eaten the other five members of the Six Pack... He is?...
But he's so big... Yes, sir."

The man slapped his communicator shut. "Mr. Arisukoji has given you the
highest level of clearance. Moreover, you are allowed access to the arena at
any time. Once you have a chance, go to the resources desk and they will
provide you with a top level pass. It's an honor to have a legend of the
Arena here, Mr. Wellington."

"What a polite man you are," Beef patted the guard on the shoulder and
slipped him a ten-thousand-yen bill. "Tell me, what's the quickest way to
the fighters that requires the least amount of stairs?"

Much more enthusiastically, the guard gave him the directions. Beef thanked
the man again before hurrying as quickly as his large legs could carry him.
He needed to get to Shampoo and let her know what was really at stake
tonight.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The object of Beef's concern was watching events unfold before her with a
careful eye. This was her most important night yet. Not only did she have
the main event again, but this time she would be duplicating a feat she had
only managed once before in the dog pits. She would fight three
opponents -all men- in succession, with only a handful of minutes
in-between. The only two things she had going for her were that all three
were newcomers, and that each of them had to fight a bout at the opening of
the card in order to have the honor of fighting her in the main event.
Unfortunately, two of the matches had been dominated by the winners, and all
three of her opponents had well over an hour to rest and recuperate. Since
they were all relative unknowns, she would have to be extra careful in her
matches, not knowing how good they really were, save by their records. All
three of them had outstanding ones, but each had multiple losses (though
none of them needed more than one hand to count the defeats). At least they
were not perfect. Watching them in action had given her little information,
save in general regards to their skills, which were impressive, even for
newcomers.

The card had been touted as a night for young up and comers to make their
mark in the Hong Kong Arena, and the newbies had taken it to heart. Besides
the three that Shampoo had to fight, nearly all of the 'veterans' (and
Shampoo was starting to feel very much like one) had been matched up against
newcomers that were theorized to be comparable to their abilities, making
for more evenly fought matches. The results had shown how accurate the
matchmakers could judge. Two deaths so far, and Endo would be lucky if he
ever walked again. There was also a host of less grievous injuries that
would deplete the field for at least a couple of weeks, if not the rest of
the month while the wounded took the time to heal. The only thing to balance
those losses was that Link had made a successful comeback from her injury of
a month ago and won in grand fashion. She could be re-added to the roster
now and be expected to do well.

It was a shame, in a way, since Link evidently blamed Shampoo for the freak
accident she had been injured in, and this meant she would be breathing down
her neck again. The girl's rage was completely irrational, all if it
originating from one a case of mistaken identity. It was an honest mistake
that anyone could have made when it came to twins, but Link simply wouldn't
let it go and now had a bad tendency to blame everything that went wrong
with her life upon Shampoo. It was sad, really, that she needed a scapegoat
for her life's problems instead of dealing with them.

Silently, Shampoo watched as Snakebite returned to the fighter's area,
victorious. He did not look like the winner, not with his face a mass of
bruises and swellings and his right arm dangling limply at his side. It had
been a hard fought contest, the best of the night so far, and had ended with
the death of his opponent: a masked man that had called himself 'The Tokyo
Bullet.' It was an appropriate name, given the fact the man moved with the
speed of one. He had made Snakebite look like he was fighting through
molasses with the way he darted around the veteran, raining in blow after
blow, giving five for every one he received. In the end, it was only
superior strategy that had saved Snakebite from another loss as he feigned
an injury that made the Bullet go in for a lightning quick finishing charge.
Instead, Snakebite came out of his crouch early and lunged forward, catching
the Bullet off-guard and clotheslining him in mid-stride. The velocity the
Bullet had built up was too great as the blow snapped his neck with a loud
pop that could be heard throughout the arena. It also succeeded in pulling
Snakebite's arm out of its socket. It was the most grueling match of the
night so far.

Pink was at his side the instant she was allowed, giving him words of
comfort as her eyes threatened to tear up. In a way, her concern for her
boyfriend would probably serve her opponent well, since that meant she would
be in a hurry to finish him and return to Snakebite rather than toy around
with the new guy as she worked the crowd. That was unless the newbie was as
skilled as the Bullet, in which case perhaps it would be Pink who fell.
Shampoo had her doubts about that, even if the newcomer had a trick or two
up his sleeve. Pink was easily the second best fighter in the arena, after
herself, and it was a close second. One of these days Tetsuo would allow
them to fight to prove who the hottest commodity in the arena was. Now that
was going to be a fight to remember.

Pink's contest was just beginning as Beef finally arrived at the fighter's
area. His face had turned tomato red and he was huffing and wheezing as hard
as Snakebite had after his battle. The large man drew everyone's stares,
including those of Jaddo and Shampoo. He waved to them and moved fast,
despite his previous run and his tremendous bulk. Once at their side,
Shampoo attended him while Jaddo looked curiously on, leisurely resting
against a wall.

"Beware the one foe we can never best: cholesterol," Beef gasped out.

"We can beat it if we watch what we eat," Jaddo said. "And time is the one
foe we cannot best, not cholesterol."

"You have your sayings, I have mine," Beef said.

"Yes, but yours are stupid and mine are cool. I could probably write
greeting cards, if I wanted to."

Shampoo shot Jaddo a warning glare that told him to curb his tongue. Once
again she attended Beef. "Did you come down personally to watch me fight?"

"I wish that was the only reason for my presence here tonight," Beef said
much more clearly, having regained some of his wind. "I have important news
for you, my dear. Something you might be unaware of."

"What?" Jaddo said, his posture much straighter with the declaration. Beef's
accent was slipping and carrying more than a hint of its usual English. That
only happened when he was distracted or concerned. In either case, Jaddo
sensed it promised trouble.

"I'm afraid that your rather arduous match tonight is for more than the
simple entertainment of the masses. Apparently it is going to serve as
something of a test for you. You see, from my various confidential sources,
I have gathered that our friend Tetsuo was requested to give you a chance to
showcase your talents. It appears you have managed to catch the interest of
the head of western operations for Otani Media Conglomerate."

"So?" Shampoo asked.

Jaddo's reaction was much more severe. His eyes instantly darted up to where
the most expensive box seats lay, his gaze searching until it fell upon the
one that he believed was owned by the Otani Media Conglomerate. His hand
came up to his forehead to shield out the glare of the lights hanging nearby
as he stared at it closely. The distance was too great to make out
individual faces, but it appeared that there might be more people in it than
usual. It was difficult to say, since he had never taken the time to count
them before.

"Is this head important?" Shampoo asked her mentor.

Jaddo turned his worried gaze away from the box. "Hell, yah. That's the
group I try to sell all my fighters' contracts to. They're straight shooters
and will treat you right. What I can't understand is why the head would be
here."

Pride was clear in Shampoo's voice. "Maybe he wants to sign me after my
match."

"Don't be stupid!" Jaddo shot back. "There are plenty of go-betweens that
take care of trivial matters like signing on fighters."

"My contract is not trivial," Shampoo said in a huff.

"To you, no. To people that control the flow of billions of yen and whose
individual decisions routinely affect thousands of people every day, it's
about as interesting as the toilet paper they use to wipe their butts. I
doubt if the head gets more than a quarterly report on fighter acquisitions.
I can't imagine why he'd want to see you fight. He's never attended the
matches before, from what I understand. Never heard him having any interest
in them. Is it the same head as before? Otani's bastard kid?"

Beef held up a pudgy finger of warning. "Now, now. You know that no official
declaration was ever made and it's just speculation. And yes, it is still
him, at least as of this morning."

Jaddo ran a hand through the hair that lay so close to his scalp. Shampoo
had rarely seen him so nervous, and certainly not over a matter as trivial
as this. "This complicates things."

"No, it doesn't." Shampoo stated bluntly. "I'm going to defeat my opponents
and show these men just how good I really am."

"You got three fights in a row coming up, and the guys you're going to fight
didn't look like saps to me," Jaddo warned.

Shampoo nodded solemnly, "I know. None of them looked appealing to me, so
have no fears that I'll be distracted by a handsome face. I have no
intention of marrying any of them."

"And they were in previous fights, though only the first one appeared the
least bit winded from it." Beef pointed out, having watched them on his
limousine's television on the way over. "My advice to you is to forget about
playing the crowd for a change, at least in the first two fights. Winning is
far more important than impressing some stuffed shirts high overhead. If
they both go quickly and well, and after you've worn down your last
opponent, use your judgment if it's worthwhile to expend some energy to work
them up a bit."

"Always save the best showmanship for last. That's what will stick in their
minds the most after a fight: the last thing they see, not the first,"
Shampoo quoted.

"Absolutely correct. You've trained her well," Beef told Jaddo.

"Her head's not filled completely with rocks, no," Jaddo reluctantly agreed.

A loud cheer erupted from the crowd. The trio looked down to see that Pink
had finished off her opponent in near record time. She remained around only
long enough for an official to raise her hand in triumph before she ripped
it out of his grasp and headed directly for the infirmary.

The ring introduction for Shampoo began. Jaddo and Beef gave her a nod, and
she made her way to the center of the floor. It was uncommon for them to
introduce the top draw first, but then it was more unusual for the top draw
to fight three people in one night.

As Shampoo entered the combat floor and came into view of the crowd, she
gave them a jiggly little bounce. On this night she had chosen a one piece
green and brown outfit that hugged her in all of the right places while
still allowing her complete freedom to fight. The outfit itself was just a
touch on the short side, barely extending downward enough to keep from
showing a scandalous amount of bottom when she leaped or kicked. It was
intentional though, since the audience tended to react more strongly with
the more she showed. Once she had established a large fan base, she could
probably wear more conservative items, according to Jaddo, but for now she
had to be flashy so that it was her name on everyone's lips as they left the
arena and went back to their lives.

Once in the center, Shampoo blocked out most of what the ring announcer was
saying, which was in essence the same thing he always said. From the
dingiest dog pits to the classiest of arena, the words might have been
different but the meanings remained the same: here are two people that are
going to beat the living hell out of one another for your viewing pleasure.

Unlike the night of her arrogant challenge in the dog pit, it had been
arranged that after Shampoo disposed of an opponent (assuming she did) she
would be given an extended five minute rest period while her next adversary
was introduced. Not a great deal of time, but enough to make the difference
in a close fight.

The first of her opponents to be introduced was the victor of the first
contest of the evening. His name was Kai-Lan No, and was at best a year
older than Shampoo. He was the fighter that had a great deal of difficulty
in his match. Shampoo marked him as the least likely of her opponents to
give much trouble, but trouble he could still be, especially since she had
two fights after him.

As the announcer left the combat floor, Shampoo finished mentally preparing
herself for the fight, plotting out specific techniques and styles she might
use. Her planning was interrupted as No was quick to strike, testing the
young Amazon's defenses with a series of blows. With surprising ease,
Shampoo warded off each of the fists and kicks. There was little behind the
blows and certainly nothing that could get through to her. No trouble yet.

Seeing a wide opening left in the middle of his strikes, Shampoo decided to
chance ending the fight early by going for a finishing attack. There was
some risk involved if the opening was a feint that left her open to a
counterstrike, but she thought it unlikely No was capable of that level of
deception.

Her kick hit him squarely in the side and under his arm, lifting him up in
the air. Shampoo managed to change his trajectory by unleashing another
lightning fast kick under his back and forced him into a mid-air spin, and
sustaining his act of defying gravity for another moment. The additional
time was sufficient for Shampoo to reset herself, so that the instant No
landed, her fist met his mid-section. His body went limp.

The crowd gave its loudest roar yet at the spectacle. Shampoo had finished
off her opponent in under thirty seconds, and in spectacular style. It had
barely qualified as a warm-up for her. No had been pure sap. Somehow,
Shampoo doubted she would be so lucky with her second opponent.

As No's unconscious form was carted off, Lung 'The Thunderer' was introduced
next. He was built like a tree stump, with shoulders nearly as wide as he
was tall, which was several centimeters shorter than Shampoo. His face said
that he was older, and she would have wagered he was close to the
twenty-three year age limit for their fight class. His battle had lasted
only slightly longer than Shampoo's just had. Judging by his stance and the
careful, yet confident way he watched her, the young woman would have
guessed this fight was going to be somewhat tougher.

"You can come on over if you like." He curled his finger toward her in a
gesture that was directed more to the crowd than herself. Not a complete
buffoon, then, since he seemed to know his way around a ring.

Accepting his offer, Shampoo probed his defenses first and opened up with a
barrage of blows. He deflected many of them, and the few that managed to get
through did no apparent damage. During the assault, he launched several
tentative blows of his own that were easily thwarted. So far he had shown a
good technique, but nothing that could really harm her unless she behaved
stupidly.

Within a minute she saw what appeared to be an opening to his chest that he
could not deflect or avoid easily, especially with his bulk. A two fist
combination met his solar plexus, blows that should have knocked the wind
out of him and would give the Amazon the advantage in the fight.

Instead, Lung struck the spot she had hit himself. "Nice try, but you'll
have to hit harder than that."

Images of the Northman danced before Shampoo's eyes. Anger coursed through
her, and rather than be surprised, by the Thunderer's durability, she
attacked right above the spot she had struck before, this time unleashing
her full might. Fists that could have shattered concrete met flesh and the
Thunderer, for all of his toughness and mass, was staggered. He took several
steps back before coming to a complete stop. Outwardly he appeared
physically unharmed, despite the force behind the potent blows. However, he
made a face and felt the area that had been struck and looked down at it in
confusion. There was surprise in his voice. "You've overcome my Stone Style
technique."

Eyes flashing red with intensity, Shampoo prepared to unleash another
assault, targeting the head this time. Before she could throw the punch,
Lung raised his hands and shouted out, "I yield!"

It took Shampoo a moment to understand what had just happened. Surrenders
were uncommon enough that she had never seen anyone do it before, at least
not without taking a far more vicious beating. The crowd let their own
feelings on the matter be known by sending down a chorus of booing and
jeering. A cascade of derogatory comments far worse than anything that had
ever been directed at her, rained down upon Lung. Branded in the crowd's
eyes as a coward, it would take Lung a great deal of time and a series of
impressive victories if he ever hoped to have any chance to win the masses
over to his side again. The crowds, as unappreciative as they could be for
the most part, did possess some appreciation for the blood sacrificed in
their behalf, and let their ire toward those that refused to make the
sacrifices that so many others had done before be known.

The taunts mattered little since the surrender was official and final. Still
standing tall, Lung made his way to the exit and allowed the next fighter to
go past him. Shampoo, still a bit stunned by the unexpected early and easy
victory against what she had anticipated would be a difficult opponent,
again had to force herself to mentally prepare for the next fight.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jaddo watched with a disdainful eye as Lung make his way into the waiting
area. The disdain lasted until he saw the large stump of a man hold his hand
up to his mouth and coughed. As the hand was pulled back, Jaddo saw the dark
splotch of red on his palm. Now the reason for the surrender had become
obvious.

"Get this man some medical attention!" he shouted. The physicians that
remained close at hand for just such emergencies went into action. Quickly,
they also realized what was wrong and began escorting Lung back to the
infirmary to be treated for his internal injuries.

Jaddo returned his attention to his prot�g� as she made ready for her third
and final bout. So far, things had gone exceedingly well, though he felt a
bit of sympathy for the self-proclaimed Thunderer. Jaddo had recognized the
Stone Style the large man used and recognized it for being the impressive
technique that it was. Even the aborigine found himself taken aback by the
amount of damage Shampoo had managed to inflict so quickly despite the
technique. The girl was even stronger than he realized. Perhaps stronger
than even she realized. It might be a good idea to hone her control a bit
more, though he was fairly certain she was in control the entire time when
knocking Lung out of the fight so quickly.

The next opponent for Shampoo was a black man named Watambe. He was a
peculiar sight. He wore a voluminous brown robe that appeared two times too
large for him. The sleeves were perhaps even larger, barely leaving enough
room for his hands to extend past the garment, and bore concentric circles
around the ends that appeared terribly out of place. A pair of loose golden
bracelets adorned each of his wrists, and they made a high-pitched clinking
sound with each movement of his arms. Even his white pants were extremely
baggy, giving him a comical appearance instead of an intimidating one.
Either the man had the worst fashion sense in the world, or there was a
reason for the strange garments that was beyond Jaddo's ability to solve.

As Jaddo assessed the newcomer, he noticed someone nearby doing the same
thing to Shampoo. Like the man out on the floor, he was a very dark shade of
black. Unlike the other, this one wore a tighter gray sweatsuit that would
have made him look quite normal, save for the large ceremonial headdress of
brightly colored plumage that he wore. It was even more horribly out of
place than the circles on the fighter's outfit, and Jaddo wondered if
perhaps it was the man with the headdress that had chosen the Watambe's
outfit. It made sense. Especially since Jaddo spotted a pair of golden
bracelets on the man he stood beside. There was no question both sets were
identical in appearance. The styling on the bracelets itched at the back of
Jaddo's mind. There was something vaguely familiar about them.

Judging by how the man with the headdress watched both fighters, there could
be little question as to who he was. Since this was a rival trainer whose
student his was about to fight, Jaddo decided to take the offensive against
him as well. "Going to a wedding?"

"I would not expect someone as spiritually deprived as you to appreciate the
nuances of my people, Mr. N'Digi," the man answered in a deep voice that
reverberated throughout the area.

"So says the man who has a dead peacock sitting on his head. Yes, very
spiritual indeed."

"It is a peacock which I can remove. You, however, will look ugly no matter
what. Have you ever considered wearing a mask?"

Not too bad, Jaddo thought to himself. With the initial jabs over, Jaddo
said, "Your boy out there?"

"As it is your girl."

"You have me at a disadvantage."

"Which I intend to keep, Mr. N'Digi. You see, your reputation precedes you."

"Fine. I'll just call you 'Peacockhead'." Despite Jaddo's biting nickname,
he was troubled. 'Peacockhead's response was bit too cryptic for his tastes.
The implication from the man's reluctance to reveal his identity was that it
might tip his hand at something, though Jaddo would have sworn with his
dying breath that he had never met the man before. He'd have remembered that
voice, if nothing else. It was the sort of voice advertisers used in their
voice-overs for commercials. As his mind pondered the possible meanings
behind the man's innuendoes, Jaddo decided to watch the fight with a more
open eye. Something told him this latest fellow could be trouble.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On the arena floor, Shampoo again approached her foe cautiously. The last
fight had been a complete bust, leaving the crowd in a displeased state, and
the foul mood was carrying over to this fight as well. She was going to have
to do something to raise their spirits and back her once again. This was her
night; her chance to shine and make a big score if she could impress those
people from the media conglomerate. If she wanted to dazzle them, she would
have to do it in this final fight of the card.

But months of caution hammered into her head by Jaddo influenced her
choices. As nice as it would be to shine for the crowd and treat her current
foe like little more than the previous saps, she approached the situation as
though it was a rematch with the Northman. Tentatively, she made several
attacks to test Watambe's abilities, displaying even more hesitation than
she had against Lung.

The crowd responded with subdued approval. Having been cheated out of one
fight, they wanted to see blood in this one. Shampoo felt their irritation
and stepped up her attacks. At first, Watambe fended off the early attacks,
but seemed a bit hesitant to retaliate. Shampoo took advantage of the
hesitation in her second series of probing attacks and drove him backward,
landing a solid kick into his mid-section that sent him sprawling nearly
eight feet away. Shampoo backed away another two steps to put even more
distance between them and gauge his response to the blow. Other than rising
to his feet, none came.

Shampoo gave an inward sigh. She had seen his type before. Putting the
newbie in front of the crowd and the lights, and they sometimes faltered,
not that this fellow seemed all that good to begin with. She could run over
him at will, which, though nice in that she could call it an early evening,
was not the sort of thing to really get her heart pumping. However, his
inferiority would serve a purpose. She could now impress the crowd and show
off some of her martial arts talent. She would hold back and not finish
Watambe quickly, not until she could get the crowd's blood really pumping.
She'd show those stuffed corporate shirts how to entertain the masses. It
was just a question of which flashy technique she would use.

With fifteen feet between her and Watambe, Shampoo half turned away from him
for a brief second and gave one of her 'cutesy' bounces for the benefit of
the mostly male audience.

It was at that moment that Watambe's mysterious trainer clinked his
bracelets together, producing a single high-shrilled jingle that could be
heard even through the crowd's approval at Shampoo's display.

The sound caught right at the edge of Shampoo's hearing, but she paid it
little mind. She was just turning around to regard her opponent, who had
remained where he was during her entire demonstration, and looked him in the
eye--

--only to have his fist connect solidly with her face a moment later.

The crowd roared as they watched Shampoo get hit. Jaddo too, was caught
off-guard by the blow landing. He watched it happen again, and was about to
curse how Shampoo was getting sloppy when he suddenly recognized the style
that Watambe was using, and why Shampoo was allowing herself to be hit. It
was also at that moment that he recalled where he had seen similar bracelets
before. He looked at the man next to him over. Many years had passed, and
the skin color was much darker than before, but he always had been a tricky
devil. Perhaps the trickiest of them all. "You're Dhalsim?"

Peacockhead laughed. "Hardly. He has used disguises in the past, but I am
not him. He was my master, and I was one of his pupils, even as Watambe is
one of mine. You are an old acquaintance of my master, I believe."

"We fought a couple of times, yah. Tricky fellow. All headgames and
thinking, not much for interest in the actual fight. In my younger days I
traveled to India and tried to get him to show me some stuff when I was
preparing for entering the fighting circuit, but it wasn't meant to be. We
didn't view the world through the same eyes. He was an optimist. I'm a
realist."

Peacockhead returned his attention to the fight, but kept talking. "Yes, in
the end, the spiritual aspects of his teachings eluded me. However, I
learned the physical ones well enough, before I left, as you can see."

"Your boy probably should have won all his fights then, if he was any good,
Peacockhead. You had him intentionally tank some?"

"I had him hold back his true abilities, waiting for an opportunity such as
this main event. Now in one night he will beat the current hottest commodity
and become the hottest fighter around without having to wait months to soar
through the ranks. It was a gamble, but one that is about to pay off. With
the skills I have learned and passed down to one of Watambe's physical
abilities, there is no limit to what he can accomplish, including becoming
the number one warrior after only one fight."

"You should have paid closer attention to that Zen babble Dhalsim used to
spout off, as you're about to learn. " Jaddo looked back out at his prot�g�.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Shampoo reeled from the blow. It had been as unexpected as Pink's sucker
punch on the first day she had visited the arena. Luckily, there had not
been much force behind it, or else Shampoo would have found herself just as
out of it as way back then. Resetting herself, she turned to see that
Watambe had cut the distance between them to half. His posture was
completely different now, holding a confidence that had not been present
before. So, he had been playing a game and making her look the part of the
inexperienced fool. That was a mistake that he would pay for, starting with
the next blow.

Just as she charged forward, his foot seemed to extend, meeting her chest
long before she could land her own punch. Again caught off-guard by the
bizarre attack, Shampoo fell backward.

Still better than five feet away from his opponent, Watambe changed his
technique in way that reminded Shampoo of the manner in which Snakebite
would do the same. The dark-skinned man was moving in snakelike fashion with
how he undulated his body back and forth. The baggy clothing he wore only
added to the effect, making it difficult for Shampoo to center in on where
his body actually was.

Bringing his arms forward, hands pointed at Shampoo, Watambe began making
small circles with his arms, the concentric rings on the sleeves confusing
Shampoo's perceptions further. Again his arm seemed to extend inhumanly far
from the folds of his sleeve and connected solidly with her jaw. The slight
tang of blood danced on her tongue from her lip being split open. Angry that
he was making her look foolish before everyone, and that he was somehow
winning with a painfully ridiculous technique, Shampoo went on the attack,
suffering another kick and punch before closing the distance between them.

Once he was within her reach, Shampoo began to attack in full force.
However, she was quick to discover that her blows, while being directed
right at Watambe, seemed to only end up connecting with the baggy material
of his voluminous robe, that now somehow appeared to be three times as large
as before. There were a handful of instances where she thought her fist
brushed against his body, but by using his ever-shifting snakelike moves he
danced out of the way, letting her do nothing more than pound away at his
fabric.

Frustrated by being outmaneuvered, Shampoo found herself momentarily blinded
by a sleeve slapped across her eyes. When her vision cleared, she saw that
Watambe had once again created a fifteen foot gap between them.

This time she was ready for the unorthodox fists and kicks directed at her
by falling into a completely defensive posture. The first series of blows
she managed to deflect; however, every now and then a few trickled through
and found their mark. There was no way to avoid them no matter how hard she
tried; the method of their delivery defied reality as Shampoo knew it.

Sensing his attacks were not going to stop, and knowing she could never win
being on the defensive as she was, she charged close in again, suffering two
more blows before arriving next to him, and still failing to connect with a
solid punch before he repeated his strategy and gained some space between
them again.

For only the second time in her fighting career, Shampoo was on her way to
losing her fight and her single status.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"My man appears to be winning."

"Only because he is," Jaddo mumbled. "I was sort of hoping she might figure
it out on her own, but it doesn't look like she's going to before it's too
late."

"Figure what out?"

Jaddo continued onward. "I guess I shouldn't be all that disappointed. It
took me a while to figure it out. I shouldn't have expected her to do any
better."

"Figure out what?" Peacockhead asked again.

"Still, she's so much better than I was at her age. I was kind of hoping she
would exceed my expectation there, too. Well, she's almost close enough for
it."

The man that refused to give his name laughed. "I see. This is one of your
infamous headgames. Your fighter is clearly outmatched, yet you insist on
making me believe you have a technique that will allow her to counter
Watambe's. It won't work. I know my master defeated you in every fight you
had. You cannot-"

Now that Shampoo had drawn near enough, Jaddo shouted at the top of his
lungs, "HEY, LARD BUTT. HE'S NOT REALLY HITTING YOU FROM FAR AWAY. IT'S AN -

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"- ILLUSION HE'S PROJECTING MAKING YOU THINK HE'S FAR AWAY, AND HIS ARMS AND
SKINNY LEGS ARE STRETCHING. DON'T LOOK AT HIM HEAD ON. USE YOUR PERIPHERAL
VISION!"

Recognizing her mentor's voice, even above the roar of the crowd that was
urging Watambe on, Shampoo processed the information. How could anyone do
what Jaddo implied?

Another stretched fist, only partially deflected, struck Shampoo in the
head. She hoped for her sake Jaddo was correct, because she could not come
up with a better plan to counter Watambe's technique. Turning to the side so
that she could only see her opponent out of the corner of her eye, she tried
to fight sideways. At first she thought Jaddo was full of it, as Watambe
appeared to be just as distant as before. However, after only a second,
Shampoo could have sworn he seemed to flow up next to her. It was difficult
to tell by only looking out the corner of her eye, but it did appear that
way. Jaddo was right!

Her happiness was short-lived as two more blows caught her in the kidney and
beneath her left breast. She started to turn to face him, but then the
illusion fell back into place. Again she shifted to the side, and again the
brown blur that was Watambe seemed to be right next to her. She tried a slow
attack that was immediately blocked, then she suffered another couple of
blows. She had fared better trying to counter the technique head on. She
would never win at this rate.

"It's not working!" Going completely on the defensive, Shampoo managed to
blunt the next couple of strikes and tried moving sideways to get some
distance from her opponent.

"Use the technique you learned when I used to whip rocks at your head from
beside or behind you!" Jaddo shouted.

"That was not a technique! It was a way for you to take cheap shots at me
because you thought I wasn't paying attention to you when I really was!"

"It was a subtle training method! You were able to catch the rocks after a
while! Now think of his fists and kicks as rocks and counter them!"

Obeying her mentor, Shampoo fell into the same mental state she had used
during those times from months ago. Watambe's next two fists and kick were
blocked effortlessly. Sensing an opening out of the corner of her eye,
Shampoo lashed out with the limb that had just blocked a fist, using a ridge
hand to strike the unsuspecting Watambe right in the sternum. The blow
knocked him backward, the pain momentarily crossing his eyes.

"He's lost his concentration! Hit him head on and don't let him get it
back!"

Shampoo obeyed, turning to face an opponent who was within easy striking
distance and whose robes did not appear anywhere near as voluminous as
before. Her first fist was parried, but a second connected cleanly with his
chest and an elbow met squarely between his eyes.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Reestablish concentration! Focus your chi! You can do it, Watambe! It's
only pain!" Peacockhead shot Jaddo a nasty look.

Jaddo's return glance was smug. "Just because I lost to Dolly doesn't mean I
didn't learn a counter to some of his techniques. Like I said, he was
tricky."

There was a cruel smile on the other man's lips. He clinked his bracelets
together and shouted out, "Phyrious!" to his man.

Again Jaddo felt an uneasiness creep up his spine. He would be ready for
anything.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Watambe was a decent hand-to-hand fighter, but decent translated into being
able to survive minutes instead of seconds to a warrior of Shampoo's
caliber. She continued with a relentless assault that had Watambe on the
verge of defeat, her steady stream of attacks wearing him down and
preventing him from coming close to reestablishing his illusions again.

And then Watambe heard his mentor's order. All but running backward, he
distanced himself from his opponent again. Shampoo, wary of him trying to
use his illusions, stood sideways and used only her peripheral vision to
counter what was to come.

Instead of trying to raise his fist or feet, Watambe began swaying, bending
deeply at the hip and making circles. Shampoo remained back, wondering what
bizarre technique he had come up with, though with how deep the bends were,
she wondered if it was a reaction to the pain from one of her blows.
Actually, she thought it was probably just that since it looked like he was
on the verge of throwing up with how much his cheeks were bulging. She began
to charge forward, continuing to move sideways and avoid direct eye contact.

"GET DOWN!"

Shampoo reacted instantly to Jaddo's command. Just as she started to head
face first into the ground, she saw a mist of spray shoot outward from
Watambe's bulging cheeks towards her. Just as the cloud was released, he
brought his arms forward and struck his bracelets hard, causing a spark.

The instant the spark hit the spray there was a tremendous roar as the
droplets caught on fire, creating a huge ball of flame that struck where
Shampoo had been less than half a second before. Face down on the ground,
she felt the heat lick her lower back, caressing it delicately as would a
demon lover's touch. She cringed and prayed that the flames would go no
lower, for there was nowhere left to run.

The heat was gone in a moment and the roar of flames expired, Shampoo looked
up to see Watambe holding his mouth, as though he were in tremendous pain.
With the heat she was still feeling radiating from her back, she would see
to it the pain he was currently in would not come close to preparing him for
what was about to happen. Shampoo had seen burn victims before, during a
huge fire in the village that had claimed the lives of a couple of families.
Seeing the ravaging pain that the survivors had been left in, Shampoo had
long ago decided that massive burns was one of the rare cases where dying
was preferable to having to live with the unrelenting pain. And it was a
fate Watambe had just tried to inflict upon her. He had failed. Now it was
her chance to return the favor.

She sprang to her feet just as Watambe recovered enough to shut out the pain
and looked right at her crimson eyes. Shampoo could see his lips were puffy
and swollen, either a drawback to the move or a testament that he had used
it improperly. She smashed him with a right to the face that he could not
come close to blocking. She then used a left on the other side, sending him
reeling the other way. There now, both sides of his face would match the
current condition of his lips, and that was just the opening move.

The burning sensation from Shampoo's back continued to grow, even though at
the time it had felt like the flames had barely touched her. Watambe was
really going to pay for that. She picked him up by the arm and held him high
enough to kick him repeatedly in the stomach. Convinced he would not be
regaining his breath for about a month, and would not be trying to burn her
again, she struck him in the elbow and saw the appendage twist oddly in her
hand. As his sleeve fell back and revealed the limb, she could see that the
joint had been knocked out of place, and where the end of the bone
threatened to poke through the skin. Seeing the actual physical damage from
her assault, her desire to inflict pain departed as quickly as it came,
despite discomfort from the heat radiating from her back. She ended things
with a quick strike to her helpless captive's head, rattling the contents
within hard enough to send him into unconsciousness.

It was just as she released his body and let it slump to the ground that she
managed to catch something Jaddo was shouting to her. It was difficult to
hear over the crowd that was cheering wildly at her third victory in a row.
They were more agitated than usual, almost as much as Jaddo, screaming and
pointing at her.

"What?!" she shouted at him, cupping her ear and trying to pick his voice
out from that of the crowd.

"You're on fire!" she finally managed to make out. That seemed an unusual
thing for Jaddo to say. Was he proposing she have another fight? That would
be stupid. Watambe had been dangerous, and inflicted a serious amount of
damage to her. Not lasting, thankfully, but she was worn out and had no
desire to fight for the next several days, especially with how her back was
feeling. If anything, the sensation of heat was creeping up her spine now.
And then there was the smell of something burning, even though nothing...
was... burning?

"Ahh!" Shampoo shouted as the true meaning behind Jaddo's warning finally
sunk in. Apparently a small lick of flame had touched her, and had caused
her outfit to smolder until it combusted properly. Now she understood what
was going on. Thankful that she had worn a rather skimpy one-piece outfit
that could be removed quickly, she grabbed it by the bottom of the hem and
threw it over her head. She was fast enough that the flames, which were only
now truly starting to grow, didn't touch her as the outfit was tossed far
away to the side.

Shampoo let out a sigh of relief. That had been close. Had the dress
remained on her a moment longer, she would have suffered some degree of
burns. But now she was safe, her fiery clothing tossed off to the side. And
of course, since her clothing was tossed off, that left her standing in
front of tens of thousands of people clad in nothing but her athletic bra
and a pair of panties.

It was turning out to be a night of surprises.

As she remained standing motionless, cursing her luck, Shampoo could not
help noticing the crowd, especially the men, were cheering harder than they
had ever before in her life. Making the best of what she considered a
humiliating situation, she played up to the crowd, raising a triumphant fist
and planting her foot firmly on her unconscious opponent, making sure to
grind her heel in a sensitive spot as repayment for the situation he had
placed her in.

Despite her annoyance, Shampoo kept on smiling as she slowly made her way to
the exit, rotating so that everyone in the arena would get at least one good
eyeful of her. She was a professional now, and had to play the game by the
rules winners played. Besides, it could have been considerably worse; she
could have had a body the crowd did not want to see.

As she arrived at the exit ramp, where she would finally be out of sight of
everyone, she blew a final kiss to the wildly cheering masses, then turned
around and sauntered off, exaggerating the wiggle to her behind as the final
thing the crowd would see. She was delighted to find that Jaddo had prepared
for her return by grabbing a sizable towel that would cover her from the top
of her breasts to the bottom of her derriere. Barely, but enough to get the
job done.

Jaddo opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Shampoo beat him
to it. "I know what you're going to say. You're right. I should not have
taken Watambe so lightly. Even though I pressed an early advantage, I should
have waited until I knew for a fact that he was too beaten to present a
threat to me before playing to the crowd. I should have been able to figure
out that he was using a technique that relied upon illusion and come up with
a way to counter it, as well as employing that anti-stone throwing technique
you subtly taught me. I nearly lost. I am sorry."

"Actually I was going to tell you you did a pretty good job. He sure had me
fooled with how good he really was. I fell victim to that self-same style
years ago and had my head handed to me. And the anti-stone throwing
technique was subtle, which was why you didn't think to use it. Even I
didn't realize he was going to use that combustible bile trick until it was
almost too late. And that was real smooth the way you played the crowd after
tossing away your outfit, instead of covering up and acting all embarrassed.
You really scored some points with them and assured your main event status
for at least the next two cards. I'd say congratulations are in order."

"Oh." Shampoo was at a loss. Jaddo had never been this conciliatory before.
She was uncertain of how to react.

Jaddo was actually filled with a bit of trepidation as he said, "A bit of
the bottom of your hair got singed there. Looks like you're going to have to
cut off about three centimeters or so to even it out."

Shampoo fingered the burned locks. "I was thinking of shortening it a bit
anyhow."

Jaddo looked at her in near open mouthed wonder. "A woman that isn't
perpetually worried about her hair. Will wonders never cease?"

Shampoo gave him a more than friendly rap on the shoulder for that, which
Jaddo accepted humorously.

Seeing that the teacher-student conversation was over, Beef walked over and
said, "Wonderful fight. People are going to remember that one for a while.
And I daresay Otani Media would be fools if they didn't give you a fat,
juicy contract."

"Oh, right." Shampoo had completely forgotten about them after her third
fight took a turn for the worse. She looked to Jaddo, who seconded Beef's
opinion.

"We should go out and celebrate," Beef declared. "Let's go back to the
restaurant. Open bar and food. I'll even hire a couple of escorts for you,
Jaddo. And you too, if you want, Shampoo. There's this upscale brothel
called 'Celestial Bodies' that's run by this former nun I once knew from way
back when. They offer a fine selection of talented men and women and are
very reputable. I always recommend them to out of towners that can afford
it."

"No thanks," Shampoo said, though the idea of simply engaging in a one night
stand was not quite as unappealing as it had been when she had still lived
at home. No doubt it was because so many of the fighters she spent time with
lived life in the fast lane and promiscuity tended to be a bit high as blood
and passions ran fast and free. Regardless, she was still saving herself for
a man that truly interested her. Then she would give free reign to the ever
heightening desires her body seemed to be longing for, ones that were
becoming increasingly more obvious with each passing month. She hoped she
found the right man soon.

To her surprise. Jaddo said, "No hookers for me either, though I'll take you
up on your offer of free booze." When Shampoo looked at him in surprise, he
said, "Want to keep my energy up for proper negotiating. It'll probably be
tomorrow evening or afternoon, and I want to be at the top of my game."

"I'll watch myself too," Shampoo assured him. Tomorrow was going to be one
of the most important days of her life, and Jaddo wasn't the only one that
wanted to be fully aware of everything that was about to happen.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You ready for this?"

"It's just another big building to me."

"Yah, I guess it would be." Jaddo pulled at the collar of his suit. "I hate
dressing up like this. Especially since I know my best outfit isn't going to
be anywhere near what they're going to be wearing. I might as well wear a
sweatsuit by comparison."

"I don't think I've ever seen you this nervous before." Shampoo remarked.
Ordinarily, watching Jaddo squirm would have been amusing. But today her
contract was on the line, and she needed Jaddo thinking clearly, not
fretting about his appearance.

"Never met the head of western operations. Never even met the guys three
tiers below him. I still can't figure out why in the hell he's dealing with
the matter personally. It makes no sense. He has bigger things to deal with
than this piddly-ass little matter."

"Please don't refer to my future as 'piddly-ass'," Shampoo huffed. "Maybe
he's become a fight fan and wants to start dealing with contracts
personally."

"I hope that's it." Jaddo tried stifling his worry under a mask of
professionalism, but Shampoo's time with him allowed her to detect the
tell-tale signs of worry at the corner of his eyes. It was hidden well
enough to the casual observer, or so she hoped.

Trying to keep from worrying excessively herself, Shampoo stared out the
plate glass window that made up the side of the elevator and gazed out at
the world as it became increasingly smaller. Their vantage point afforded
Shampoo an unbelievably wondrous view of the city of Hong Kong. Almost
everything outside of the corporate sector looked insignificant, especially
from amid the jungle of skyscrapers themselves. From this high up she could
even see the arena in the distance, which made it look as small as a dingy
dog pit. It was a very impressive sight to anyone visiting the building for
the first time.

The building they were currently in, the headquarters of Otani Media,
resided in the corporate sector, and like all of the other buildings in the
area it reeked of opulence and excess. It was third tallest in the corporate
sector, and the floor that was their eventual destination was located in the
middle of the skyscraper, near where the business areas ended and the
residential part of the building began. Even the elevator's speakers played
a symphony that sang of wealth and success. Every part of the elevator was
painted in gold and polished to a bright shine that allowed Shampoo to see
her reflection as though the surface were a mirror. There was even a tiny
mini-bar located in one side of the car.

"Wouldn't want them executives to get thirsty if the elevator broke down,"
Jaddo said as he caught her looking at it again.

"It's too much," Shampoo said disdainfully.

"Most of them ain't like this. This is some sort of executive elevator. And
before you ask, I don't know why they wanted us to use it, other than it
takes us directly to the boss's offices. This deal gets weirder every time I
think about it."

The elevator finally stopped some seventy floors above the street. The voice
of a woman speaking Japanese informed them this was their stop as the
elevator doors parted and allowed them to enter the building proper.

As they exited the elevator, Jaddo turned to Shampoo and quickly warned her,
"They only speak Japanese in these buildings. It's sort of to remind them of
home or where their true loyalties lie or something. So that means you don't
say anything unless you are directly spoken to."

"Why?"

"Because it'll probably cost me several thousand yen if they find out you
sound like a five year old that needs a 'Hooked on Phonics' game."

"What 'Hooked on Phonics'?" Shampoo asked in Japanese.

"Just don't do what you did right there!" Jaddo insisted.

Shampoo huffed, but remained silent. He was such a silly man. She had used
her Japanese with others before and no one complained about it. Frequently
the men thought the way she spoke was cute and told her so. Obviously that
meant she could speak it well and Jaddo was just using her so-called lack of
language skills as an excuse for her to not talk to the men. She would
appease him this time, but Jaddo's continued derogatory comments about her
Japanese were becoming very annoying.

As they exited the elevator, they were immediately greeted by a woman
dressed in a business suit that, despite appearing quite masculine, worked
well with her short hair and sharp features, giving her a serious demeanor
while still showing her obvious femininity. In fluent Japanese, she informed
them that they were to follow her to their meeting. Shampoo noted that Jaddo
did not look twice at the attractive woman, a testament to just how
distracted he was by the upcoming engagement.

The woman preceded them into the room, opening the doors for them. Rather
than the cavernous meeting room that Jaddo had told her to expect, they were
instead conducted to a small and very personal office. It was large enough
to accommodate eight people comfortably, but still had a very personal,
rather than sterile, businesslike, feel to it. There were pictures of
family, friends, vacations spots, and even a pet or two set out in the open
for everyone to see.

Currently, there were two occupants in the room that were obviously waiting
for Jaddo and Shampoo. The first was seated behind the desk that dominated
the room. He was dark-skinned with long black hair, tied back in a ponytail,
that glistened under the lights of the chamber. Shampoo estimated his age to
be in his late twenties to early thirties, which according to Jaddo, was
remarkably young for a man in his position of power and influence. His skin
was very dark, as though he was perhaps native to India, but his
almond-shaped eyes belied his Japanese ancestry. A half-breed, from what
Beef had told Jaddo about the man. The nameplate on his desk indicated he
was exactly who Shampoo had thought he was: Indra Kiber, head of western
operations of the Otani Media Conglomerate.

There was a second man in the room, sitting off in a corner behind Kiber.
His position was ideally suited for watching events unfold in the room while
being able to remain apart from them. He appeared to be full-blooded
Japanese, slightly younger than Kiber, and somewhat on the small side, with
a style of haircut that was much shorter than his companion. His looks were
average, and he was unremarkable save for the style of suit he wore, which
probably cost as much as a small house back home. Shampoo thought there
might have been an odd sort of resemblance between him and Kiber, but it was
so subtle Shampoo thought she might have been imagining it. Their difference
in skin color really threw off her judgment.

The other man said nothing as he sat slouched in his chair, almost as though
he would fall out of it if he relaxed any further. He had a hand propped
under his jaw and an amused expression on his face as his eyes darted
between Jaddo, Shampoo, and Kiber.

Kiber rose to his feet, and Shampoo thought him remarkably tall, if a bit
lanky, under his suit. He was at least four centimeters taller than Jaddo,
who was no small man to begin with. Kiber bowed in greeting. Shampoo and
Jaddo did likewise, Shampoo noting out of the corner of her eye that the
other room's occupant stood and gave a brief half-bow before returning to
his previous relaxed position.

"I've heard a great deal about you. It is an honor to meet you at last, Mr.
N'Digi." Kiber said and indicated the two should be seated. Once the duo
were sitting comfortably, their female escort exited, closing the door
behind her.

"As you may have guessed, I am indeed the head of western operations, Indra
Kiber. The man seated behind me," Kiber turned slightly and indicated the
fourth occupant in the room. "Is Masahiro Otani. He's the chief heir of
Kyosuke Otani, the head of OMC and will no doubt be my boss at some point in
the future."

"Well, someone has to reign you in or you'd either have us owning half of
Asia or selling everything we have to pay our debts," Masahiro said
humorously, then gave a somewhat lingering nod to Jaddo and a brief one to
Shampoo before returning his attention to Jaddo. "It's an honor to meet you,
Mr. N'Digi. I've heard a great deal about you as well."

"You have?" Jaddo asked hesitantly

"Indeed." The amused look on Masahiro seemed to grow.

Shampoo noted the worry lines around the corners of Jaddo's eyes increasing
yet again.

Kiber stared at Jaddo for a few moments with an unreadable look in his eyes.
Jaddo shifted uncomfortably under the gaze. It appeared Kiber was going to
continue to do nothing but stare until a light cough came from Masahiro.
That seemed to startle Kiber out of his reverie and back into the present.

"Oh yes. My apologies. Let's get on with the dealings." Kiber pulled several
official-looking document from one of the desk drawers. His demeanor
completely changed to that of a deadly serious businessman, and Shampoo
could almost feel a presence suddenly fill the room. If there was an
equivalent to a hot commodity in the business world, this man was
unquestionably it. Suddenly, Shampoo switched from expecting to hoping that
Jaddo would be able to wrangle a good deal for her.

Kiber opened the discussion while Jaddo listened. "It has come to our
attention that Miss Shampoo is, simply put, one of the hottest commodities
to hit the arena circuit in quite some time. After personally seeing her in
action the other night and the performance she gave, I became convinced she
is the sort of fighter we need to have. With her history, fighting ability,
looks, and that whole 'Marry the man that defeats me' thing going for her, I
am convinced that with the proper marketing that only Otani Media
Conglomerate can provide, we can make her a household name and perhaps the
most famous arena fighter since Niles Vorherer."

"She could be bigger than that," Jaddo said, his bargaining skills finally
being awakened now that he was in the midst of negotiations, even if it was
with a man who made more in a year than he would see in five lifetimes.

"Jun Fan Li?" Kiber asked.

"Before he started making the movies, yah, I think you could. Marketing's a
lot better now, and with you guys giving her the right push, you could
really roll in the dough with all the merchandising you could do with her."

"At least until she loses and stops being 'the untamed warrior' that every
man fantasizes they could best and make their own," Masahiro said from hi
position in the corner.

"True," Kiber acknowledged, his eyes all but gleaming as he kept his
attention focused on Jaddo.

The aborigine shook his head. "Assuming she does lose, and you saw her fight
and know how good she is, so that is in question, you would still be able to
clear millions within your first few months easily. And I'm sure between you
and the Impies in the Arena, you could find ways to drive up marketing
distributions as well as ratings. Ever since she started headlining fights
in Hong Kong, ratings here are up. She's hot and marketable. There's never
been an easier fighter to add to your prestige. The big annual tournament's
about to get underway in Japan, meaning she won't be in it for almost a
year. You'll have all that time to milk every cent you can out of her."

Kiber smiled. "Actually, I came to the same conclusions as well. Anyone
could rake in the money with her, which is why we want to be her sponsor.
Now, you've had dealings with us before, and you know we always deal
honestly and treat the fighters we have under contract well."

"Yah. It's why I always try to come to your guys first once I think one of
my fighters is ready to make his run in the big time. I know you're
straight-shooters. I wouldn't deal with you otherwise."

Kiber seemed genuinely pleased by the statement. "How very protective of
you. An admirable quality in trainers. I know there are more than a handful
that would sell a fighter's contract for a quick buck without any regard for
their welfare afterwards. My opinion of you has increased considerably, and
it was already high to being with."

"I... see," Jaddo said, absolutely uncertain of what to make of the almost
gushing statements about him. If they were trying to butter him up to let
Shampoo go for less than she was worth, they should have known better. Any
one of the normal negotiators would have told them that. Somehow he couldn't
see men of this importance stooping to such blatant tactics to save a few
yen, when a scratch in the expensive chair Kiber was sitting in would
probably cost as much as any money they could save. And why was that
layabout in the corner smiling so much? After Kiber's bit of flattery, the
smile grew even wider, and Jaddo would be damned if he could perceive any
humor in the situation, unless he was being set up. If that was the case,
head of western operations and future head of the ziabiatsu be damned, Jaddo
would give them a piece of his mind.

If Kiber was aware of the thoughts being directed to him, he gave no sign of
it as he continued radiating his pleased smile. "Anticipating this attitude,
I have personally come up with what I think is an agreement you'll find
satisfactory."

The documents Kiber had previously pulled from the desk were pushed forward
and into Jaddo's reach. The aborigine looked the papers over and paled.
Shampoo felt her heart lurch. It appeared she might not be selling her
contract after all. It was too bad; she had wanted to get this over with.
Perhaps Jaddo could wrangle a better deal out of them, but it was looking
worse by the moment. No doubt they would have to go somewhere else, judging
by his reaction.

"This much?" Jaddo said.

"Tell me, does she facefault into the floor often?" Kiber asked.

Jaddo looked down at the floor to see the fallen Shampoo. "Quit horsing
around, girl, This is serious business."

Shampoo shouted "Then why stupid old man turn so pale over being offered so
much money? Is stupid reaction!"

Jaddo winced as each word left Shampoo's mouth. He turned to see both Kiber
and Masahiro looking at Shampoo curiously. Perhaps they had failed to notice
anything out of sorts.

"Does she always talk like that in Japanese?" Masahiro asked.

"Does Shampoo talk like what?" Shampoo asked.

"She's such a kidder," Jaddo chuckled. "Always speaking in that pidgin talk
because she thinks it's cute. Right, Shampoo?"

"What does stupid old man mean pidgin talk? Shampoo does not talk like a
bird."

"Oh dear god," she heard him mumble under his breath.

Kiber's response was to say, "I think it's rather cute. And more
importantly, I think most of the fans will too. Keep it."

There was a note of finality in the statement for which Jaddo was eternally
grateful. However, despite the lack of damage from Shampoo's little
'speech', there were still other matters that needed taking care of. "This
offer is a bit much, I have to admit. I'm afraid I have to ask what the
catch is."

"No catch," Kiber said, carrying an almost imperceptible hint of what might
have been hurt in his voice. "Consider it part of our appreciation for the
years of service you've given us in training top-ranked fighters for our
organization. Under my management, everyone that works earnestly and hard
for the betterment of OMC will be rewarded."

"This is quite a reward. I could probably retire comfortably on this," Jaddo
muttered.

"If you so chose, no doubt," Kiber said, sounding pleased despite the amount
of money that was involved. "And you'll notice Shampoo will be making triple
the standard rate for each victory, as well as the standard clothing and
food allowances. Rest assured she'll be taken care of as well."

"I'll say," Jaddo agreed as he continued looking over the contract, trying
to find a catch. "What's this part on the end of her payment schedule?"

"Oh, just a little something I threw in to help motivate her for any
extra-curricular activities we might encourage her to participate in, though
there is no requirement that she do so. We are not in the habit of coercing
our employees into activities they do not want to do. She is a fighter first
and foremost, and that is our primary concern. The rest is just icing on the
cake, if I might use the old clich�."

"One half of a percent of all merchandising profits?" Jaddo nearly shouted
as he arrived at that part.

Shampoo frowned but kept her opinions to herself this time lest she did
cause damage to her bargaining position. Still, to be offered nothing more
than half a percent was insulting. At least they were paying her three times
more per fight. She could live with that.

"Given what our marketing experts predict, I assure you that is nothing. If
our analysis of the market is correct, so long as she is not defeated within
her first month in the Imperial Arena, all of our initial investment will be
covered. You can assure me she won't lose in the first month, correct?"

"Not a chance. She ain't that soft."

Kiber seemed pleased by the assurance. "As I thought. Upon watching her last
night, I believed much the same thing. Now all you need to do is sign the
contract."

Jaddo's hand was nearly trembling as he placed his signature on the
document. He had Shampoo sign it as well, showing where she had to write her
signature. Learning how to write her name in Japanese had been easy. She was
good enough to read and write Japanese without a problem. Her writing skills
were better than her spoken fluency in the language.

Once Kiber placed the documents in an official-looking folder, he gave Jaddo
a satisfied smile. "Well, that's settles it. I must say, it's been a
pleasure doing business with you. You are a tough negotiator."

A snicker rose from the corner where Masahiro sat.

The compliment unnerved Jaddo again, as did the look of intent interest he
continued receiving from Kiber. He felt like every one of his molecules was
being dissected and analyzed. That it was coming from a man of such
importance made it even more uncomfortable to an old, unimportant (at least
to someone like Kiber) trainer like himself. And then there was the
perpetually smiling Masahiro. As much as Kiber's personal involvement was a
curiosity, Masahiro's presence was even more so. He had taken no official
part in the proceedings, and actually seemed to prefer watching events
unfold from his corner. The relationship between him and Kiber seemed too
casual for it to be Masahiro observing or evaluating the man that would be
one of his most trusted subordinates when he took over the company, assuming
Kiber still held the position at that time. And there was the inordinate
amount of attention he was directing to Jaddo as well as Kiber, and how very
little attention he was paying to Shampoo, presumably the reason they were
here. The situation was too peculiar to deal with. Now that the generous
contracts had been signed, it was time to leave.

Jaddo rose to his feet, indicating Shampoo should do the same. "It's been a
pleasure, gentlemen. Now I'm afraid I have to begin an early evening workout
for my student. After all, I want to make sure she's in top shape for you."

Kiber shot to his feet in a rush. Even Masahiro seemed caught off-guard by
the suddenness of Jaddo's desire to leave.

"Actually, I must ask that you stay for a moment," Kiber said.

"Oh, why?" Jaddo asked, wondering what they were trying to pull now.

Before answering Jaddo, Kiber pushed an intercom button on his telephone and
said, "Mari, send her in now." Turning his attention to Jaddo, he said, "Now
that our business is concluded, there is someone I would like you to meet."

"Someone you want me to meet?" Jaddo did not bother trying to hide the
suspicion in his voice.

"Perhaps, I should say, someone I would like you to meet again," Kiber
corrected.

Realizing there was no easy way to back out of the situation, Jaddo prepared
for the worst. He hated surprises.

The doors to the office parted once again for the woman who had escorted
Jaddo and Shampoo to the room. Jaddo's first reaction was to say he knew
damn well who the woman was, then he saw the other person that the woman had
opened the doors for.

"Kyoko," he whispered softly enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Shampoo looked at the woman that had been ushered into the room and that her
mentor almost seemed to be staring in awe at. She was short, no more than
five feet tall, if that, and Japanese. That was easy to tell both through
her bearing and demeanor. She appeared a bit on the plump side, though the
white kimono she was wearing, with its obi wrapped around her midsection,
hid her figure somewhat. However the round face with its chubby cheeks poked
above the outfit, and from that it was easy to tell the days of being
slender were far behind. There was gray shot through her hair, which was
wrapped in a tight bun on the top of her head. Her features might have been
attractive at one time, but age had taken its toll, and Shampoo would not
have thought of her as anything other than matronly now. Not a very
attractive woman, which made Jaddo's reaction even more peculiar, since he
seemed almost in awe of her.

Shampoo noted the other men in the room watching with a rapt attention that
had been absent earlier in their conversation, especially on Masahiro's
part. There hung in the air a feeling of expectation. Silently, Shampoo
decided to watch the events unfold with a close eye.

Kyoko moved daintily into the room to stand before Jaddo. He seemed to tower
over the short woman, although there was no question that she now held the
advantage. Softly, almost melodically, she spoke. "It has been many years."

The voice seemed to snap Jaddo out of his stupor. "Indeed, it has."

With the tension somewhat broken, Kiber stood and gave the deepest and most
formal bow yet. Masahiro did likewise, saying "Greetings, Mother."

Kiber said, "Forgive me for not mentioning Mrs. Otani's presence, or her
desire to meet you again, earlier, but I did not want it to affect our
dealings. It was a case of business first, then pleasure. I hope you
understand."

Shampoo certainly did, and was incredibly grateful for it, given the fact
her mentor still seemed to be in awe of the diminutive woman before him.
Given his current state of mind, had he met this Kyoko earlier, he probably
would have signed Shampoo over to slavers without a second thought.

There was an enigmatic smile on Kiber's face as he said, "I'm sure you two
would like to reminisce over old times. Since our business is concluded,
feel free to take a walk through the gardens and enjoy yourselves. There
will be no one to disturb you at this time of day. It will give you the
privacy you no doubt would like."

"It would be pleasant to speak of the past, would it not, Jaddo?" Kyoko
said.

Shampoo thought she detected a trace of hope in that voice, as though afraid
that he might refuse the offer. There was hardly a chance of that. With the
way Jaddo was behaving, Kyoko could have asked him to lead her through the
pits of Hell, and Shampoo doubted he would have cared.

Jaddo answered as though he were still dazed. "Yah. Talking would be very
nice. Which way is it?"

"This way," Kyoko said, and offered her arm to lead the way. After a
moment's hesitation, Jaddo accepted the arm and matched her steps with a
practiced ease, despite her short stride. They walked quickly, leaving the
room, and were out of sight within moments.

Shampoo just stared at where her mentor had disappeared, knowing full well
her presence would not be wanted. Someone offering Jaddo a free briefcase
full of ten-thousand yen bills would not have been wanted. Not knowing what
else to do at this unexpected turn of events, Shampoo merely remained where
she was, wondering what to do next. She just hoped these two men didn't have
someone from her past to meet. Knowing her luck, it would be Mousse or
something.

Kiber started to say something to Masahiro when the latter cleared his
throat and nodded in Shampoo's direction. She noted Kiber, the man who
minutes earlier had spoken so highly of her that he offered a great deal of
money to put her under contract, almost seemed irritated by her presence.

There was a finality to his voice as he said, "You can go now. There's a
guest's lounge located on the floor below us. Go to the office at the end of
the hall and tell the secretary there to give you directions."

Kiber's attitude was that of talking to a lowly subordinate, one that had
just been dismissed. Shampoo knew better than to protest, and instead
pondered what the sudden change could mean as she followed his orders and
headed down the hall.

Once out of sight and the doors closed behind her, Kiber again switched back
to his thoughtful expression.

Masahiro said, "So, big  brother, what did you think of him?"

Kiber was pensive, though a small smile played across his face. "He was a
most... interesting man. He had a very unique presence."

"He's a very unique character, all right." Masahiro agreed, even more amused
than before. "For a moment there, I thought you were going to hug him."

"I'm fairly certain he'd have cracked my skull open if I tried something
like that." Kiber laughed at the picture he visualized in your mind. "I
admit, I liked him. I liked him a lot. Even more than I thought I would."

"Going to arrange another meeting?"

"I'll think of some excuse or other. I can throw some money at him for some
inane project or something I'd like him to do for us," Kiber said, a
thoughtful gleam in his eye. "But for now, it's their moment. I wouldn't
take that from them for the world."

Masahiro nodded in approval. "It was nice to see mother so happy. She's been
a bit down lately. I thought this might cheer her up. Father did not mind
when I approached him with the idea, so I didn't see any reason not to bring
her along. Since you were intent on meeting him anyway and thought the time
was good, it seemed an ideal opportunity. "

"Indeed. I'm sure mother is grateful for this chance to talk with him after
so many years," Kiber agreed as he continued staring at the doors they had
exited just a few minutes before.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jaddo walked through the gardens of the OMC building, which were more like a
small park than any garden he had seen. It took up nearly the entirety of
the floor, and served as the line of separation between the business floors
below them and the executive residents' quarters that were above. It was
this sort of opulence that made the corporate sector the envy of Hong Kong.

There were small groves of trees scattered throughout, each carefully
maintained without a branch out of place. Thousands of flowers of nearly
every species imaginable lay in beds spread throughout the gardens,
displaying a carefully crafted plethora of colors that were aesthetically
pleasing to the eye. Paths bisected the gardens, allowing the visitors to
draw close to any kind of flower they wished. The paths were composed of
dirt, giving one the feel of nature beneath their feet despite the fact the
entire 'park' was surrounded on all sides by glass and concrete, even from
below. Or perhaps that was why they were there, to help people forget for a
brief while that they were living on the most industrialized island on the
planet.

Kyoko seemed to read his thoughts. "It is quite impressive. Perhaps one of
the finest tended gardens in the Empire."

"And about the only place a gardener can get a job in Hong Kong."

That elicited a soft, girlish giggle from Kyoko. One that sounded out of
place on a woman of her years. "You always had such a sense of humor. I
think that was one of the things I've missed the most about you."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence on his part. After the silence
became almost unbearably thick, it broke with Jaddo's carefully chosen
words. "I missed a lot of things about you, too."

A bit of sadness seemed to overwhelm Kyoko's features, but it quickly passed
and her soft, pleasant smile returned. "There were many things that each of
us liked about the other. I'm sure that as much as we have changed over the
years, those things remain the same."

Jaddo chuckled. "Actually, I've probably become sarcastic and cynical since
then."

"Dear Jaddo, you were always sarcastic and cynical. You're probably just
worse now."

Jaddo gave a start, then saw the little glimmer of mirth in her eyes. "Yah,
I guess I was. And you're right. I am definitely worse."

The jest seemed to ease the existing tensions between the two. Both became
more relaxed and comfortable with one another.

In much brighter spirits, Jaddo said, "You haven't changed much over the
years. I knew it was you as soon as you walked through the door."

"Did you? I hadn't noticed," Kyoko said, not even bothering to hide the
deception. "It is nice of you to say such things. After all, I have put on
some weight since the last time you saw me."

Jaddo blinked and seemed to look her over again. "Yah, you're right. Well,
you had several kids, so it's to be expected. But honestly, I didn't really
notice it until you said it just now."

Kyoko seemed in shock at the statement, then became amused again. "Oh,
Jaddo. You always were good at flattering me without even realizing it."

"I used to speak my mind around you without being afraid of sounding
stupid," he said plainly.

"I was always more reserved," Kyoko admitted. "My upbringing, I suppose."

"You'd have been that way even without being raised as a 'proper' Japanese
noblewoman. It's just the way you are. There's nothing wrong with that,
anymore than I'm naturally brash."

The years between the two seemed to melt away with each word. "How is the
leg? I never did get a chance to find out how bad the damage really was."

Jaddo shrugged. "It's not bad, really, unless I do a lot of running. Then
I'll get a dull ache in it that takes a while to go away, and I can't run
worth a crap. More like a quick scamper. To be honest, I've gotten so used
to it I forget I have it. Not like I have to use a cane or something."

"Good." Kyoko paused a moment and detached herself from Jaddo's arm. She
bent down to smell some roses. "The flowers smell especially lovely here.
But not as nice as my gardens back home."

"They this big?" Jaddo asked, surprised.

Kyoko laughed again, not quite so girlishly this time. "Not at all. The
Otani ancestral home isn't that large, certainly not large enough to support
this sort of thing. However it's more... natural, for lack of a better
term."

"Yah, there is a sort of artificiality to this place."

Kyoko looked out one of the nearby walls of glass that allowed the sunlight
to come in and bathe the plants, helping to maintain their finely cultured
growth. She looked over the majestic view of Hong Kong presented before her.
"I confess, I never cared much for this island. I want to see the land and
hear water running through streams and rivers. I want to smell something
related to nature, not just gas fumes, crafted metal, and people crammed so
close together that they perpetually smell of sweat."

"Definitely not the place to be if you want that sort of thing," Jaddo
agreed. "I don't mind it so much. I spend a lot of time in the country now
though, and I grew up surrounded by nothing but the Outback. That can get
boring pretty fast. I like the feel cities got, myself. Not that I disagree
about things being too 'civilized' here. You need some open spaces. Stuff
like on the mainland or back in Japan. I prefer those kind of cities."

"We grow up used to one thing, so when we get older we desire something
else," she said philosophically.

Another length of silence stretched between them. Finally Jaddo blurted out,
"Are you happy?"

Kyoko smiled at the question. "I wondered how long it would take to get to
this point. I thought for certain I would lack the patience and ask first. I
suppose I am more used to small talk, given the various functions I must go
to and speak mindlessly with mindless people. Never let it be said that just
because a person has money or influence that it makes them interesting or
intelligent conversationalists."

"You haven't answered the question," Jaddo reminded her.

"Then I shall: Yes, I am very happy."

A great burden seemed to be released from the older man's shoulders. "Then I
made the right choice. I kept tabs on you as best as I could, even with how
far away I was. From what I had heard, you sounded happy. And I saw a couple
of pictures of you at those functions you talked about, and you had that
genuine smile of yours, not that fake one you put up when it's expected of
you to smile."

"I know what you mean, though you are one of the few people I ever met that
could tell the difference." To prove her point, she gave him one of her
sincere smiles.

"I figured if you could smile like that, and more than once, you were happy.
But every now and then, when I was thinking about the past and called into
question some of my actions, I'd wonder."

"Then wonder no longer. I am a very happy woman. Not all the time, no one
can be happy all the time and still be sane, but I am most of the time, and
for that I am grateful."

"So am I." The conviction in Jaddo's voice could not be clearer.

Satisfied that the truth was known and accepted to him, Kyoko then said,
"And now I ask you the same question: Are you happy?"

Unlike Kyoko, Jaddo considered the question for a moment before saying,
"Yah, though there are still a lot of things I'd like to do. Lots of goals
to accomplish. A lot of the time I'm more content than happy, and sometimes
I'm downright miserable, but overall I'm satisfied with the life I lead."

"Then that is good." Kyoko said. "I never knew how well you adjusted to the
life of a wandering fight trainer, if you were just doing it to make a
living, or if you enjoyed it."

"Enjoy it, definitely. I'm not one of those people that needs things to tie
me down to one place, though I don't think I'd object if that happened one
day, especially since I'm not getting any younger. But I enjoy the freedom
being a wanderer gives me, and being responsible primarily only for myself
makes life a lot less stressful. Like being on an extended walkabout, I
suppose."

Kyoko seemed surprised by that. "I would think you would feel some
responsibility for the people you teach."

Jaddo shifted uncomfortably, "Well, I do, but they ain't like kids that
aren't almost grown up already. Except the last one, she's a major pain in
the butt. She's younger than most of the ones I taught and is always a real
handful. She's usually brain dead dumb and hasn't got a bit of common sense.
Wish I'd never run into her, and I'm glad I finally sold off her contract."

Kyoko smiled. "Jaddo, you're protesting far too much."

"No I'm not."

There was a warning tone in the older woman's voice. "Jaddo, I know you. You
always tended to complain excessively that you didn't care about people that
you really care a great deal about, but did not care to admit to it."

It took Jaddo a minute to sort that out. "I always loved the way you'd
string together sentences using a lot of the same words to confuse me."

"You always considered that charming, as I recall," she said with a hint of
a smile. "I tried to do it to Kyosuke, but he never enjoyed it as much as
you did. I haven't had the opportunity to do it in years."

"I didn't enjoy it that much." And this time Jaddo made certain not to
protest too much.

"But I did," Kyoko said, still highly amused. She settled down a little as
she said in all seriousness, "Do you think about the past much?"

"Are you trying to ask me if I think we made a mistake?"

She sighed at his ability to cut to the chase when the mood suited him; a
habit that still eluded her. "Yes."

Jaddo considered that as well. "If you had asked me as many as ten years
afterwards, I would have probably said yes. But an old man like me, that
doesn't have passion flooding his body and screwing with his mind, can look
at things with a clear eye and see what really would have happened without
optimism and faith blinding him."

"There is a place for passion in the heart," Kyoko said.

"True," Jaddo conceded. "It gets you to try for things you wouldn't
ordinarily try for and makes you feel good when you achieve them, but it
also has this bad tendency to make you do really stupid things as well
without the least bit of thought. Then you end up causing a bunch of pain
and misery to those around you. When I think back to that time when I was
nothing more than an up-and-coming fighter and you were the daughter of a
minor noble family in an arranged marriage to the first heir of a powerful
one, I remember what went though my mind and how stupid I was. I was deluded
to think that I could get us out of that situation simply by winning the
tournament and becoming a citizen. I mean, sure, it sounds all noble and
romantic at the idea of going on television at my moment of greatest triumph
and declaring my love for you, but after you get a bit older and wiser, you
come to understand what really would have happened. There would be a big
stink about how some dumb pug that beat his way into getting a citizenship
thought he was better than a prestigious noble family that heads one of the
largest zaibatsu's in the empire. There would have been a lot of hard
feelings and rumors because of it. Even if somehow we could have beaten the
odds and gotten you out of the arrangement, which I doubt, there would have
been a big stink and plenty of perceived dishonor. Probably a lot of
ostracization too. I would have felt guilty every moment of putting you
through that. Sometimes I thank god Li was able to put me down in the semis
so that it didn't come to that. No, so long as I know you're happy now, I
don't have any regrets about not winning the tournament. Dreams might be
good, but if they aren't realistic, you can't feel bad about losing them."

Kyoko nodded demurely. "I remember what it was like back then as well. Our
love for one another ran so hot that there wasn't a day I didn't think about
you. Actually, there probably wasn't an hour I didn't spare you a thought. I
held the same romantic notion that we could somehow ignore the rules and
marry and force the world to change and accept us and our love. I think
perhaps I was more devastated than you when you lost, seeing you lying in
that bed.  It was then I knew in my heart we'd never be together. I almost
wished you had asked me to go with you instead of leaving on your own in the
middle of the night afterwards."

"I knew you'd accept, and after what went on between us that night, I knew I
couldn't do that to you. I'd have never made you live a life on the run that
you weren't suited for. I loved you enough to let you go."

There was a bit of moisture in the corner of one of Kyoko's eyes. "I
remember right afterwards cursing you for being a coward and leaving me
behind. I thought you had lied to me and just used me to satisfy your lusts.
But after my temper cooled, I understood what you had done and why, and that
you were correct. It was the only real option we had."

Jaddo let out a tired sigh, one that carried the weight of years in every
sound from being locked away for so long. "I'm glad we finally had a chance
to talk about this. Almost thirty years is way too long not knowing what the
other felt."

"Indeed." The moisture was gone from Kyoko's eyes, and there was a look of
serenity about her that had not been present before.

Jaddo gave her a sheepish look. "I heard you got married a little after I
left. I admit, I felt a little jealous about that, even though I knew it was
going to happen."

"Kyosuke loved me, Jaddo, I knew that even before the tournament. It was not
just an arranged marriage for him. It would have been one based on love."

"You're an easy woman to love."

"Flatterer," Kyoko accused again. "He was a good man. Very noble and caring,
mindful of me, and always trying to make sure I was happy. He knew there was
something wrong even before that night, but I never had the heart to tell
him my feelings for you. He knew there was someone else, but he never tried
to find out. I discovered later that he was determined to be the best man he
could be to win my heart instead of merely trying to outclass whoever his
rival was. He felt that if I was to love him, it had to be for what he was,
not what he could act like if he had to."

"Pretty smart guy," Jaddo admitted. "I actually looked a bit into his
background when I found out he was engaged to you. Everything pointed to him
being a typical nice guy. Actually, he seemed a heck of a lot nicer than
most of the other nobility. I hated to admit it, but I would have preferred
he was a scumbag, then I could have justified doing anything to protect you
from him. I never would have left you if you were engaged to an asshole. But
it wasn't that easy. He just had to be a decent guy. Probably better than me
in some ways."

"He is," Kyoko admitted. "But you are better than him in other ways. Each
person is unique, and you two are no exceptions."

"Even though I'm an exceptional guy," Jaddo said.

"Even though you are an exceptional guy," Kyoko jokingly agreed. "After you
left, I was devastated. I thought I would never love anyone again. And then
there was an incident, something I did which would have dishonored Kyosuke
immensely if it had come to light. But instead of being angry or belittling
me, he proved to me the depths of just how much he cared about me.
Truthfully, even I was shocked by it. When I understood just how deep his
feelings ran, and what he was willing to sacrifice for me, I felt that
perhaps love could flow both ways between us given time. And it did. By the
time our son, Masa, was born, I knew I had fallen in love with Kyosuke. I
still am, even to this day."

That was a surprise to Jaddo. Not that she loved Kyosuke, he knew that a
long time ago from the pictures of her he had seen shining radiantly upon
his arm. What surprised Jaddo was that Kyoko had done something so bad as
she described. She had never been anything but the proper noblewoman, save
when it came to their relationship. Since she did not mention whatever the
incident was, and that was certainly by design, he respected her privacy and
did not pry. Besides, whatever it had been was nearly three decades old, and
did not matter now.

Kyoko turned the conversation back to him. "And you. Has there been anyone
special in your life?"

Jaddo shook his head. "Lots of different women, but none I'd want to settle
down with. I'm not as bad as Beef was, mind you."

"Few people could be. Their libidos don't run that deep," Kyoko said in only
half-jest.

"True," Jaddo snickered. "Still I never know when the next woman I meet
might be the right one."

"I am glad you are still hopeful. When I found out you were not married yet,
I feared it was because you still harbored feelings for me. I would have
felt terrible if that was so."

Jaddo shook his head. "First few years that might have been true, but I got
over it. I mean, I really and truly loved you as much as anyone can love
another, and you'll always hold a special place in my heart that no other
will ever have, but after a while, I got on with my life."

Kyoko nodded in heartfelt agreement. "The human spirit is a resilient thing.
Given time, any wound inflicted on it will heal. It's just a question of how
long. At least that's what I believe."

"Yah, same here. I've been around a lot of the world and met a lot of people
that went through some serious crap in their lives. When they get the
chance, they tend to bounce back. Even a hard-line cynic like me can agree
with that. And you and me are luckier than most since we're resilient by
nature. Makes healing easier."

"Though not always easy," Kyoko pointed out.

Jaddo nodded in agreement at the thought, remembering his own initial
difficulties, and not just in getting over their relationship. He had lived
too much of an interesting life to not have felt the abyssal lows as well as
the mountainous highs that came from being willing to risk his wealth,
heart, and health as often as he did.

Seemingly talked out for the moment, and each having cast off ancient
burdens and uncertainties that had remained shackled to their person for
what felt like an eternity, they strolled around the gardens in silence some
more. Their walk remained uninterrupted. It was a curiosity, given the time
of day it was and the number of residents that lived in the building, but
the pair had the entire floor to themselves. Jaddo suspected this was by
design more than fate. It was one of the advantages to being the primary
owners of the building, he supposed.

Kyoko stopped abruptly and bent down so that she could smell some of the
flowers. It was while she was on her knees, smelling the lilacs and turned
away from him, that she quickly said, "Jaddo, what did you think of the men
you met?"

Thinking nothing of how quickly she spoke, Jaddo considered what to say, or
more appropriately how to say it. This was a bit trickier than the
conversation they had before, given the subject matter. Their past
relationship was easy. When it came to children, now that was hard.
"Masahiro looks good. Looks a bit like you, actually. Reminds me a little of
your brother. He smiles a lot, though, and it's one of those sly ones
instead of a big bright one. Kind of acts like he thinks the joke's on
everyone else. That can turn people off, but I don't really mind it, as long
as the joke isn't on me."

Kyoko's look was unreadable as she said, "Masa does have an unusual sense of
humor. He finds the most peculiar things amusing. When he was growing up and
his odd behavior become obvious, I wondered about it. Eventually I just
realized it was part of what made him the unique person that he is. But
you're not the only one to remark upon it. Still, he is a good child. I mean
man." She gave a soft chuckle that seemed to be directed to herself. "It's
hard to think of them as being grown up. No matter how old they become, they
will always be your child to you."

"Wouldn't know about that. Never had any myself, so I'll have to take your
word for it."

Jaddo missed Kyoko stiffen slightly. "What did you think of Indra?"

"He seemed okay, but I swear he was looking at me funny the whole time. I
thought I was the one whose contract he was buying instead of Shampoo's.
You'd think he's never seen an Australian before or something."

Kyoko kept her face turned away from him as she said, "It is important to me
that you get along with him. He is very close to the family. He and Masa
were raised as all but brothers to one another, and Masa looks up to him
terribly so."

"I'd say it's a bit more than, 'raised as brothers', if I was a betting man,
which I am."

Kyoko turned around, startled. "You know?"

Jaddo gave a slow nod. "Yah, it's a bit obvious when you see them next to
one another. You can see the resemblance in their eyes and cheekbones. Skin
color might throw you off a bit, but I meet lots of people with a mixed
heritage. You learn to look past that sort of thing."

The small woman seemed taken aback. "I did not realize you knew. I assumed
from your earlier statement that you were ignorant of the matter. I didn't
think you would guess, to be honest. I didn't believe there was anywhere
near enough evidence for you to realize the connection."

"I'm a perceptive guy," Jaddo said with just a hint of cockiness.

"Much more than I gave you credit for." She saw a bit of hurt on his face at
the declaration, but it was only momentary. "Now that you know, does this
change anything?"

Jaddo looked at her, a bit confused. "No. Can't see why it would. But, I
think there's something I should say, and I hope you won't be insulted or
anything, but I'm only saying it because it needs to be said and I care
enough to say it."

"Yes?"

Jaddo placed his hands on her shoulders, not a romantic gesture, but one of
friendship. "Even though Kiber is your husband's kid out of wedlock, don't
hold that against him. I know it's odd to hear me say that about the guy
that was essentially my rival, but it's not Kiber's fault who his parents
were. And you know with what we... ah shared, it would be kind of
hypocritical to dislike him or his father because of a dalliance he had,
even though he did love you and all. Nobles are sort of like that. It's kind
of expected of them, almost. Fidelity is defined as 'only sleeping with the
people you're really attracted to' or something with them. And if he thought
you still loved me, he might have done it as a way to patch up his own
feelings, or get back at what he felt was a betrayal or something. I'm not
telling you how to feel about it. It's just my feeling on the matter, and
you know how blunt I can be, even with you. Why are you snickering?"

Kyoko could not hide her mirth. "Let us just say I have my reasons and leave
it at that. Suffice to say, I most definitely do not hold Indra's parentage
against him, and neither do any of his siblings. Have no fears of that."

"That's good to hear. Like I said, he seems like a good guy, except for all
that staring."

"And Jaddo."

"Yes?"

"I take back everything I said about you being perceptive."

"What? Why?"

"Now if you were perceptive, you would know, yes?"

"Well, yes. I mean no. I mean why don't you just tell me what-"

Kyoko placed a finger to his lips. "I think we have talked enough about many
things for today. Let us just enjoy each other's company and walk the rest
of the way in silence.

A sigh escaped Jaddo's lips. He always found it hard to deny Kyoko anything,
and this was no exception. Deciding her statements were probably just a case
of her being playful, like she always used to be, he agreed to not say
anything else as they continued their stroll around the rest of the gardens,
allowing for a brief while to let the cares of world outside of garden to
melt away as the basked in light radiated by each other's company.

And when Jaddo thought about how he had anticipated the day would go, and
how it ended up turning out, he was left to admit that even by his
standards, it had proven to be a most interesting day.

And he found himself wishing it would never end.


Xxxxxxxxxx

Yes, 'Donna Cheng' is exactly who you're supposed to think it is. I promised
Donny I'd insert him as a lesbian in one of my fics.

Special thanks to:
L.B. Drifter
Chris Horton
Wade Tritschler
Jurai-Knight
Jim Bader
Ryan Anderson





















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