Her face was wet and her plight became that of a lost, little girl.
"Show me then," she said through a couple of sniffles, "show me the way. Teach me how in ways my father won't do. Help me to find my vengeance." She then managed a soft smile, "Be the sisters I don't have."
For the moment, she wasn't thinking of tobacco, which her lungs were grateful for, nor liquor. She had a new found fuel to gain justice.
Rin spoke. "We don't even know your name yet. I am Captain Rin and I will be in charge of you now. It is rare for a new recruit to meet with the Matriarch at such occasion. We will give you a test to show how serious you are in accepting this path, since grieve and rage are deceptive witnesses."
She revealed a blade and placed it into the recruit's hand.
"This is your crossroad. You can move away and forget this ever happened, go on the path you had in mind before this encounter. Or... stain this blade with the blood of a Bretonian soldier. Run or fight. Choose your own destiny."
She looked at the knife. It was of Kusari design but otherwise nothing special. She then looked into the eyese of the woman.
"It's an honor to meet you, Captain. I am Emiko Sato. I will kill a soldier which I shouldn't have much trouble doing. I will be a few days in my mission but I will complete it. Am I to meet you somewhere upon completion?"
"I think Emiko needs a more sophisticated task than this. Come with me Emiko." She walks with Emiko away from the table. Rin and Misaki watch them leave and shortly after they start another conversation.
"What is it that you truly seek? Your home is gone and you can't go back there. And even if you could, it is changed beyond that which you can handle. I would suggest to leave your old home behind and make a new home. Find a new purpose and channel that rage. If you truly meant when you said 'Be the sisters I don't have.', then I suggest making your new home here in Kusari, amongst our sisterhood."
"Rin can be very straightforward. she talked about the severing. It is basicly a test of devotion where the new sister shows her resolve. Seeing your background, I understand why she chose that. It is very much tied to your past, but I believe you would do better to leave it all behind you. Am I wrong?"
She found the Matriarch to be someone she started to like. She has her composure back but was still upset. For now though, she was calm but to the point.
"No, I cannot go back as there is nothing to go back to," she explained. "In a way, I have begun making a new life. I visit Honshu often and spend time at my father's Erie camp. It's quite peaceful. But, one can't roam forever." She then hung her head, "I have little to offer you right now. But, if it's family you offer, it is a good start."
"I don't intent to take away the family you still have. You said your father is a zoner? We have no quarrel with them, so I would not object with you visiting him when you see fit, same goes for your grandmother. But I must warn you never to betray the sisterhood. We deal with traitors quite efficiently."
The matriarch started making her way back to table. Rin's and Misakis voices became louder as they reached the table.
Rin: "You need to lay off the sake, Misa, you start to sound like a rogue."
Misaki: "Ofcourse you would know that, Rinnie-chan."
They looked up when the Matriarch took a seat again. "We will change the nature of her severing."
At that moment the man who met with the three Chrysanthemums earlier that day came into view and sat down at a table on the other side of the room. It was a Kusarian man, possibly in his late thirties, dressed in a business suit. It was not long until he noticed the Chrysanthemums and started staring at Misaki with a leering smile.
"It is that chauvinistic pig again." Misaki said with anger in her voice. "It is likely just another Samura goon, posing as a black market dealer. Can I just waste him already? He likely doesn't have those explosives anyway."
"I think it is better to let Emiko handle this one." the matriarch said while observing the man. She noticed his ring with a row of emeralds on it. "Emiko, this will be your severing. Take care of that guy for us, but don't do it here on this station, and bring the bloodied blade and his ring back as proof."
Emiko just smiled. "I've so got this. If you don't mind, I need my table to myself long enough to entice him." With that, she went into the ladies room to freshen up a bit. As her hair was thick and long, she fixed it to where the blade was hidden in her large hair bun between the sticks. Normally, the sticks were all she needed but for the Matriarch's case, she made accommodations for the knife and it wasn't visible. She also removed her kimono to apply a touch of perfume on spots of her dragon tattoos running up the sides of her body. She then put her kimono back on and headed for the table and just as she asked, the sisters had gone elsewhere. She sat back in her chair and ordered a bottle of wine and while she waited, packed her kiseru. When the bottle arrived, she sat back enough to where the kimono showed her figure after pouring a glass. She lit the kiseru, inhaled that first big puff and exhaled it upward and made a glance towards the man in the suit. A message was sent to him with the waiter inviting him to join her.
She greeted him when he arrived, her smile matching his. He was a handsome man and he looked powerful. She took notice of his ring and taking his hand, she admired it. She saw no other rings on him. He was single and powerful and to her, a perfect score. Her kimono showed just enough cleavage at the top to draw attention. She played the tired yet bored traveler and that the encounter with the three other women was a failed negotiation to get the last available room on the station.
"New Tokyo is so much better," he explained, "I can take you there." He then smiled deeply as he looked her over, "In a place I know well."
She agreed, needing to take her ship with her so as to not leave it. Before they left, he shared her kiseru with him and along with some wine, took time to earn some trust with him. Collecting her belongings and the bottle, they left for an unknown location on New Tokyo.
The three Chrysanthemums walked towards the docking bay. Before Emiko went to the ladies room, the matriarch told her she would send a sister to meet her back at Roppongi in two days.
"I have high expectations of her." the matriarch said. "She seeks new purpose after losing all that she had. If she can focus her anger and pain, she could become a very valuable operative."
"I still hoped to kill him myself..." Misaki looked behind her in the direction she came from. "That perv deserves a more painful death than she will probably give him."
The man didn't disappoint. He brought her to a waterfront resort outside the city limits. The only things she brought were her bag which contained her kiseru and the bottle of wine. It didn't take long for him to get to the point of what he was after.
"I brought you to a very nice place on my credits," he stated. "You can at least show me your thanks." He admired her as he stood before her, running his fingers over her face and down her body. "So young, so beautiful. I rarely get that combination."
She took his hands and held them a moment, looking into his face. "Do with me as you like but no touching my hair and I like the top." She then released his hands and went to her bag, taking out a small camera. "I also like to video what I do. It's.....erotic."
He nodded his approval as he again ran his fingers down her sides, beginning to part the kimono. She didn't resist, allowing the man to reveal her.
"You wear no undergarments," he commented.
"Not for my clients," she answered. He just smiled as he looked at the body before him. A black dragon tattoo ran up her left side from the base of her buttock to the top of her breast while on the right was an identical tattoo of a red dragon. Every line and curve were identical. The only difference was their color, the red dragon symbolizing sexuality and intimacy while the black symbolizing anger. They were perfect and seemed to move with her.
"Smoke," he told her. "Inhale deeply. I want to watch your body as you do."
She did as he requested, inhaling deeply the smoke from her kiseru, holding it in her lungs while he watched before billowing a cloud of smoke around them and then, she passed it to him. "You do the same." He did so and then rose, coming behind her to grope her.
"You truly are a beautiful woman," he said softly as his hands roamed her body, "You would look so good at my side."
"For the right price," she answered with her head cocked to the side as he kissed the flesh of her neck.
"Ten thousand credits to escort me to tomorrow's meeting," he replied.
"Make the deposit and it's done," she replied. With that, he took his datapad and transferred the ten thousand credits. She smiled after he did it, knowing that she had him hooked.
"On the bed," she ordered.
Taking the top, she rode him, letting him watch her body as she did. She waited for her moment to strike. When he cocked his head back and closed his eyes for a moment, she reached up and pulled the sticks from her hair. What he didn't know was that they had poison tips. By the time he looked up to see her hair falling, a stick had entered his rib cage from both sides. His eyes opened like saucers as they plunged deep into his chest cavity collapsing his lungs. Unable to breath, there was nothing he could do.....but die.
With a look of pure evil on her face, Emiko took the knife and held it high over her head. "Never again will you take advantage of a woman you male scum." With that, she plunged the knife through his sternum and into his heart up to the hilt. She then pulled hard to make a deep cut in his chest, removed his heart and placed it on his chest with the knife still in it. Quickly getting up, she found a small wood box and placed the heart, knife and all, in the box. Quickly, she dressed herself and shut the video off, placing it in her bag with her hair sticks. Under the cover of night, she dragged the body outside into some deep brush where some animals might find it and quietly left. An unaware taxi driver took her to the landing pads of New Tokyo where she left the planet.
Two Days Later
Dressed in a different kimono, she was back at Roppongi, awaiting the arrival of the Matriarch...or whoever she would send, enjoying her kiseru and some wine.
The matriarch arrived early in the morning on Roppongi. She decided to come herself as she saw something in Emiko that intrigued her. She didn't know what it was yet. With her came Misaki, this time dressed casually, but still armed and she seemed more focussed today.
The Matriarch spoke: "Ohayo gozaimasu, Emiko, did you encounter much difficulty?" She sat on the other end of the table. Misaki stayed at the door and observed the room."Seeing you here means that you haven't changed your mind."
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