Tlieso's Story
The sound of a single footstep woke the young girl from her sleep. Pulling the covers up over her head she feigned sleep as a old woman shuffled into the room. "Miss? Young miss you must get up" the woman said as she set down the tray she was carrying.
The muffled reply that came from the covers was met with a swat from the elderly woman. "That is enough sass from you Miss. Now get out of bed before you're late for school."
Wincing as her foot touched the cold marble floor Tlieso smiled at the woman as she was handed a cup of tea. "Mmm oolong my favorite, Thank you Shinju." Sipping her tea she walked into her bathroom to prepare for school.
Walking down the hallway she heard a noise coming from the closet & stopped. "I know you're in there Nobu so you may was well come on out cause you're not going to surprise me."
As the teen boy stepped out of the closet scowling, she stuck her tongue out at him & raced down the steps. Easily out distancing him she turned to make a comment when she ran into something. Looking up from the floor the man she had run into looked down at her sternly. "Young lady, what have I told you about teasing your brother?"
"Not to get caught?" she replied with a grin.
Giggling as he picked her up, "Hi Daddy. How was work? Did you kill anyone?"
"Young ladies do not ask those kind of questions."
"Fine, I need to go to school anyways" she pouted.
"Whatever am I going to do with you?" he asked as he set her down, "Now get to school."
As she ran downstairs to the waiting car he called to her brother, "Nobu we must speak." Standing before the young man he said "Master Ichoban tells me that you have failed Sojutsu yet again. Have I not made it clear to you how important this is? You are my flesh & blood & I am very disappointed in you."
He turned & walked away from his son & wondered what would become of him. As he walked past the window he saw his stepdaughter gesturing angrily at their driver & pointing at the closed car door. He smiled as he watched the little girl get into the car whose door was now being held open for her. "My little Oni"
2 Years later………
Tlieso tugged at the obi tied around her waist. Unaccustomed to wearing such an elaborate gown she moved slowly across the room, still fidgeting with the restrictive belt.
"Stop fidgeting young lady, this is a special occasion and your mother wants you to look presentable."
"I know Shinju, I just wish I could be presentable in something more comfortable" the young girl sighed. Sitting down in front of the mirror the elderly woman began to style her hair into an elaborate knot.
"Young miss, the kimono is a part of your heritage and you should be proud to wear it."
Looking at herself in the mirror she replied, "Yes but the half of me that's not Japanese wants to be comfortable."
"You almost ready kid? Mom says they should be here in a couple minutes." said the young man standing in the doorway.
"Nobu!! You're back!!" Jumping up from her seat, she hurried to greet him but tripped when the long robe tangled around her ankles. She started to fall forward but caught herself easily and gave the young man a hug. "I'm so glad you're back! When did you get home? Did you learn all kinds of cool stuff? I've been training, wait til you see what I've learned." At 16 Nobu was 6 years older than her & while she was already far more athletic then he was much more intellectual. She idolized him none the less.
They allowed their aging maid to usher them downstairs to stand with their parents.
Standing stiffly in her formal robe she looked over her stepfathers guests. They were the usual group that came over a couple times a year Master Hikaru, Master Tadashi, Mistress Emiko, Lord Masahiko and Master Terou. She bowed to them and noticed that Master Tadashi seemed to be sweating profusely, "Ick" she thought to herself. Something didn't seem right her senses screamed at her, she glanced at her brother to see he noticed anything. Nobu was busy staring at Mistress Emiko, beautiful and powerful she was everything Tlieso hoped to be.
5 Years later…
Sitting on the hard wooden bench outside the Headmasters office she stared at her reflection in the glass across from her. A small dark haired girl stared back at her with deep green eyes, one of which was beginning to swell shut as a result of her most recent actions. She leaned back against the wall with a sigh, closing her eyes she took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind.
“..started it, we weren’t doing anything. She attacked us like an animal. I tried to ….”, the words appeared in her mind unbidden. Tlieso’s eyes flew open as she looked around her to see who was talking. The hallways were completely empty.
The door at the end of the hallway opened and a tall, distinguished looking man entered with a small woman walking behind him. Her parents had arrived and her father looked very angry. Very, very angry.
“Young lady, you have displeased me. Fighting in school is not proper for a young lady of your station. We will discuss this when we get home, now come with me.”
As she walked into the office trailing her parents she heard a voice mumbling, “Filthy half breed, eta, mongrel.” Looking around the room her eyes came to rest on a tall boy sitting between his parents. A smile came to her face as she saw his split lip, bruised cheek bone and torn clothing.
“Filth!! I’ll make you pay for this!”, the words came at her like daggers but the boy never spoke.
Concentrating on him, Tlieso thought to herself, “If he doesn’t shut his mouth I’ll break his jaw next time.”
Hotori’s shocked look caused her to break out in laughter and earned her a stern look from her father. She looked at the floor to hide her smile, she could hear his thoughts. “This is excellent!”, she thought to herself.
Seating herself between her parents she looked out of the corner of her eye at him.
Hotori’s angry thoughts invaded her mind again.
“Shut up!” she screamed silently back at him. His eyes filled with tears and he covered his face in his hands. When he brought his hands away Tlieso saw the blood on his hands and the look of horror on his face. Her triumphant smile was caught by her father, glancing at the bloodied boy he raised an inquisitive eyebrow at his young daughter.
“Have we finally discovered our gift little one?”
Her eyes widened as she heard his regal voice in her mind.
“Miss Tlieso, I am very glad this incident amuses you,” Headmaster Shizue said, “But your actions are irresponsible and unladylike. Your actions shame yourself, your family and this school.”
“The Headmaster had started on one of his rambling speeches“, Tlieso thought to herself. “Now he’ll never shut up.”
Tlieso’s father rose to his feet, glaring at the small man sitting behind the desk. “Master Doshi, while many of these people may value your opinions I for one do not. My daughter has never brought shame to her family or herself. As for her shaming this school, I think that your recent sports car purchase might be quite alarming to the parents of this school . Especially considering your meager paycheck.”
Hotori snickered while his parents hide their smiles behind their hands.
Turning to face them her father vented his rage, “ Mr. Yakuzi, I would not be so quick to judge others before I looked closely at myself in the mirror.”
“You have no right to speak to me with such familiarity Mr. Bayushi!” Hotori’s father rudely interrupted.
Tlieso’s father stopped and stared at the man, when he spoke his words were barely a whisper,” You will refer to me as Lord Bayushi or you and your lovely family will pay for your disrespect in ways you cannot imagine.“
“Headmaster Doshi I trust that we will not have any more unpleasant meetings like this in the future.” The man nodded to everyone in the room. “Good day to you all.”
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