Loose Ends

Hiroshi shrugged a bit. "It's fine. The attention didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, but its a first for me. Who's your friend?" He didn't know who she was, but figured it be rude just to ignore their presence without acknowledging it.

Jack nods to the young woman by him "This young lady is the Secret Avenger! She's an associate of mine who has something on common with you." he explains.

This gets a surprised look from Haruhi "Wait, really?" she asks "What's the thing I have in common with this fella?"

"What is she a Farian too?" Hiroshi didn't see anything else at least relevant with what they talked about just moments ago that made any sense otherwise. He didn't think this was the training person or they likely wouldn't be having this conversation.

Haruhi tilts her head slightly "Farian? Isn't that something you do after eating too much cabbage?" she asks.

Jack shakes his head "No. It's what this young man's race is. As well as Natomi." he says. Natomi hardly refers to her race, though she Had mentioned it before, so Haruhi's confusion was understandable.

She nods slowly "Ohhh... so why does, uh, this hot guy think I'm a Farian?" she asks.

Jack expected this question "It's because you both have similar power pools. Fire." he says as he nods to the young woman "Do you think you could ask Natomi if she would be willing to comes out here?" he asks.

Haruhi nods and heads on in. Jack watches her leave "She Is, in fact, a Farian. But she was born on Earth and raised as a Human, so that's what she believes she is." he explains to Hiroshi.

Hiroshi supposed that made sense if no one ever told her or knew about her hertiage. He was just mildly surprised she didn't know by now hanging around Jack's group. That being said, he did have a small question before Natomi and Haruchi returned. "By the way, did you get my message about the Symbiote and its ability to track Sarah by phermones? I was wondering if maybe you had some way to trick it that way into a trap. Jason said its a 50/50 chance if it hurts her or not and its not something I wanna gamble with. She already had two close calls before."

Jack nods "Yes, I got your message and it's being handled. However, you should know that there are more of those things running around. Not just two like before." he says in a low tone "Meaning, as much as we would like to devote the bulk of our resources to helping Sarah, we need to think on a larger scale." he says, referring to the age old adage 'The needs of the many...'

Hiroshi understood what he was getting at, it seemed it would be up to him to maybe figure something out. He wasn't sure he entirely agreed with the old adage, but he supposed those who did were better people then he was.

Not too long after, Natomi came forward. "All right you called Jack? "

Jack smiles at his teammate "I sure did. I have someone I'd like you to meet." he says as he presents Hiroshi "This young man is a fellow Farian. He's like to ask you something." he says as he moves aside so they can talk about their business.

Hiroshi wasn't sure what to say at first so he just went with honest. "Well let me offically introduce myself . My name is Hiroshi, it's nice to meet you two. I was kind of hoping maybe I could learn to use my abilities a bit more, or at least learn a bit more about what I am. If you have the time that is and want to."

The ninja was quite for a moment, mulling it over then smiled and nodded. "I don't see why not. I'm already teaching someone. I'm likely gonna have to indivualize your training and see what I need to work with you on. If Jack brought you along that's good enough for me."

Jack nods "Well, get him a visitor's badge and show him around. He's your student now." he says as he lifts into the air "I'm gonna go on patrol. Contact me if anything comes up." he waysa as he takes off.

"So will I be training with anyone else?" Hiroshi asked after a moment.

Natomi thought about it. "Sometimes. A lot of times its going to be solo since I can give my complete focus to someone and tailor things to them. For now, your debut training is just us so I can see what I'm working with. I'll get the badge and we'll get started."
If anything like her other student, the indivalize route one on one was the absolute best way.
________

Aika was having a rather conflicted at the moment which may or may not explain why she was at a bar getting a buzz. The only downside were men hitting on her. Sure she was getting divorced, and sure the ego boost was a thing but she wasn't interested nor was it the time.

Somehow or another she ended up seeing a therapist. Why? There was absolutely nothing wrong with her, but she had figured if she was going to get some people off her back and get closer to her target she'd go through the motions. It hadn't turned out as she expected, and a slight to her pride she had taken the medication.

She was fine, thank you very much. Except taking the crap made her see and feel stuff she thought was long gone. Aika wasn't sure if she wanted to continue taking the medication, but what the therapist said and that she couldn't simply brush off.

Drinking at a crowded bar seemed apt.

Marcen comes walking over "Well hey there. Decided to join on up?" he asks.

Hitomi was following him "He's kidding. He already knows why you're here." she says.

"I'm gonna be using holodeck 3 for a few hours." he says as he and Hitomi start off again.

* *

*She's in there... I have to get to her...* S-2 thinks as it waits. It felt the same hatred coming from a Human, as it felt for Mother. The same betrayal as it felt. If it could convince the Human that they shared the same goals, they could be unstoppable! If nothing else, S-2 always supposed it could just possess the Human.

Hiroshi saw them before, though he wondered how many members were active in the whole group. He supposed if he hadn't become a free lance Hunter maybe he would have ended up here at least part time but no point in dwelling on it.

They were lead into one of the free holodecks and here was when the training would start but he wasn't sure how well he would do. It was just the start so the expectations couldn't be too high.

The holo program settled to a mountain like area once they were alone, Natomi after a moment turned to her new student, crossing her arms. "All right, something I want to know before we continue. Why do you want to become stronger?"

That was something Hiroshi didn't have to think much on. "For a while I was able to coast by with just natural talent and the basics when Suki was active, but over time its become less and less. I feel like I stagnated a lot, The time I was at the mountains I got lucky, but I won't always be. And, I know its cliche but its true but I want to be able to protect those close to me better."

Natomi didn't answer, but she smiled a bit. "Good answer. So, how far along are you with your fire?"

"Not that far, I think." He admitted. "I can make fireballls, and got a named techique. It's basically kind of like a fire aura. I haven't been able to do much else since everything I learned is self taught. A bit off topic but related, I know its way off, but do you know how to make armor out of your element? And can it look closer to actual armor?"

"No. And yes." Natomi responded. "I don't know how, sorry but I do know about it so its something I'll help with what I can, read up on it how to do it myself." She held out a hand and a long sword formed, it was obvious fire element, but it looked more solid and made out of a material rather then just a fire sword. "See? It's purely cosmetic but it can be done for something you have in mind. Due to the supernatural nature of our fire, we can do things with it average users can't. That's where your real strength is going to come from, how far you can push this and not how much you can lift but you'll need both."

The older woman made the blade vanish. "For now let's focus on walking before we run and get some basics in our routine."

_____

As much as Aika loathed to admit it, at the moment she wished she had someone to talk to that wouldn't judge her as much. It was why she couldn't exactly talk to 'friends' though she wupposed that wasn't the right wording.

Briefly distracted by her brooding she hadn't noticed someone slip something into her drink while distracted.

Taki was sitting with a Hunter doctor as he examined her hand. It had been healed up pretty good, but it still ached from time to time and he told her that it would likely always do so, especially when it was cold out. Not too good news for her.

"So, I hear that the other Hunters are now seeing you in a different light. How do you feel about that?" he asks as he massages her hand lightly "A few weeks ago, they saw you as weak and little more than a fangirl playing dress up and now, they look at you with respect." he says.

Taki shakes her head "Honestly? I thought I wouldn't care how they saw me... but it feels good to be seen as an equal, I guess." she mumbles, wincing slightly "But truthfully, I don't constantly fight against the Oni, often by myself, for the recognition. I do it because there are some really dangerous Oni out there and I'm the only one who can Really stop them." she mumbles.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear," Abraxus says as he was standing by the door.

The doctor frowns slightly "Mister Abraham, I'm with a patient. If you need help with anything, I'm sure another doctor can help you or you can come back later." he says.

Abraxus shakes his head "I'll only be a moment, Doc." he says as he walks over to Taki "When you're done here, I would like to have a word with you, if you want. I'll treat ya to lunch." he says as he heads back out.

* *

S-2 had seen someone spike Aika's drink and thought that Maybe it should head on in there, but had a Much better idea. When she passed out and those Human's took the woman out, Then it would make it's move. It would possess Aika, use her to beat the men off. It didn't want to kill them, like it probably should, because that would attract too much attention. So, S-2 would leave that little 'Gift' to Aika when she came to. Patients... that's what was needed now.

In most times, one would expect Aika to take the drink, pass out and the men take care without it being suspicious. Aika didn't however which pissed the men off. They tried to persuade them but she wasn't having any of it and they couldn't push too hard without tipping her or anyone off. After. that she left towards her car.

Taki was finished with her doctor's visit and she wasn't too thrilled about the news of her hand hurting all the time. The doctor prescribed her some pain meds to use as needed. So that was good.

She looked around for the mess hall and while she Had been there before, she didn't make it a point to learn the layout, because she didn't like spending time here.

But she eventually finds and heads on in. It was pretty empty at the moment, as most of the Hunters were on missions at the moment. But Abraxus was there, looking over some reports. The Hunters had bought a Ton of Data Padds from Paragon Corp, so they were trying to go paperless for the moment, like most companies.

Abraxus looks up "Taki..." he stands "Thank you for taking me up on my offer for lunch. Come on, let's go get some real food." he says as he ushers her out of the mess hall.

* *

*Well That didn't go as planned...* S-2 thinks bitterly as it latches onto Aika's car to follow her home *It is now time to get aggressive, I believe...* it thinks.

It wasn't too long before Aika arrived home, and sure enough there was no one home. She had no idea what her former husband was doing and didn't care, and Hiroshi was out. 'Probably spending time with those girls that won't give him any attention the way he wants.' She thought bitterly.

Taki and Abraxus head to the local WcDonald's where Abraxus buys Taki anything she wanted and the two sit down "Okay, so the reason I asked to speak with you, for one, it to thank you for what you've done. Honestly, it would have been too damn hard for the Hunters to put the Oni Overlord down. But because of you, we didn't need to. You may have saved many lives, both Oni and Hunter alike. So thank you, Taki." he says as he slides an envelope over to her.

She looks at it "What's this?" she asks as she looks it over, then into it. It was full of cash! "Whoa! What the heck?" she looks at Abraxus, a bit confused and shocked by this.

Abraxus nods to it "That's for you. For taking out the Oni Overlord." he says "I know you aren't associated with the Hunters, but you deserved something for what you did. So I talked the Hunters into paying you for your services." he explains.

Taki puts the envelope into her bag "Okay, you've got my full attention. What did you want to talk about? Because, I'm not joining the Hunters, if that's what you were gonna ask." she states.

Abraxus nods [color#e0e0e0]"I know. That's not what I was gonna ask. I was gonna offer to have some of our magic users teach you some new spells."[/color] he says "Because, for a while now, I've noticed that Nixa doesn't Really know very many spells, and I figured it was time to fix that. To give you the tools to do what you've been doing all this time."

* *

S-2 followed Aika in, but kept it's self out of sight *I need to be very cautious... this Human is very paranoid...* it thinks as it keeps her in sight *When she's asleep... yes. That will be the time to make my move...* it thinks as it tries to find her bedroom.

Aika wasn't stupid, she knew Hiroshi liked that Taki girl and he also hung around those others. Whether they liked them or not wasn't relevant to the woman, only the fact they were around she saw them as a threat regardless. Maybe less so with the medication and such(which she Didn't like taking) but she did end up falling asleep.

________

Hiroshi was done for the day, but he was also somewhat tired from the training he had done. Right now though he just wanted to head on home, maybe go to Youtube to learn how to cook better since it was one of his goals but he was in no rush. He'd get something to eat Before then, because, well he didn't exactly trust his cooking.

Taki thinks for a bit "You know, I Might just take you up on that offer." she says "I'll have to get in touch with you after I talk to my mother and gran-gran. They were both Nixa before me and they might know some spells I could use... like a healing spell..." she mumbles the last part.

Abraxus nods as their food arrives "It's an open invitation. Whenever you choose to, come on down and we'll get you set up." he says "We'll also see about paying you for your services in fighting the Oni, should they pop up again." he offers.

Taki thinks for a bit *How would they know if I fight the Oni?* she thinks to herself, but figures that they just will "Okay. I'll let you know what I decide." she says.

Abraxus slides a card over to her "My numbers. If you decide to join us for training, give me a call and I'll let the master casters know." he says.

Taki had to stifle a snicker at this, as she puts the card away "You got it. Though I don't plan on joining the Hunters, Maybe I'll do what Hiroshi's doing, and be a freelancer." she says. The money Certainly was good and if part timers get That much, how much were full timers making.

Abraxus thinks for a moment, there were only a Few freelancers, Hiroshi and Mad being the most notable ones "I think that can be arranged. Give me a call and let me know. We'll start you off on small missions to gauge how you handle them, maybe pair you up with someone. Then offer you better missions." he explains.

* *

As Aika head to bed, S-2 makes it's move, but slowly, as to not wake her up. It glides over her bare skin, caressing every part of her body before it soaks into her skin *Now... to get comfortable... I shall let her sleep for the time being. She will, undoubtedly, notice her body having 'Strange' cravings tomorrow...* it thinks as it 'snuggles down' for the night.

The min meal was Just what Hiroshi needed and now he could focus on other things, as that cliche commercial said you weren't really you when you were hungry. He did have some studying to do, both school and some stuff Natomi sent him. She said he was pretty gifted but it still take time and hard work, which of course was to be expected.

Jason had mentioned that Ra would have to do some sort of repayment for misdeeds and while he wondered what it was it was out of his hands. As long as he eventually got his family that was what was important.

Taki finished her meal, but Abraxus didn't even touch his. He just got it to go, and gave it to Taki anyway. She suspected that he had eaten before they met up. Still, she had Plenty of things to think over.

She gets home and notices that Fumitsuki was home as well. She smelled something good cooking "I'm home..." she calls out to her sister.

Suki looks around the corner, she had her apron on "Taki! Welcome home." she says, looking a bit embarrassed "I, had hoped to have this done by the time you got home..." she wipes her hands off as she walks over to her sister "Listen... I'm sorry about how I'd been treating you since I got back..." she mumbles.

Taki waves a hand "That's fine. I assumed it was because I dragged you away from your real family before you were ready to leave." she says, though, she had a good idea the real reason why.

Suki shakes her head "N-no. That wasn't the reason... Jason told me, about you and Hiroshi... and I guess... I thought he would wait for me... I realize now, that I was being selfish and asking for him to basically put his life on hold..." she says, not meeting her sister's eyes.

Taki sighs and places a hand on her older sister's head "Suki, you don't have to worry about me and Hiroshi. I like him, you bet. Who wouldn't? But, when we, uh, were 'together', I seriously thought I was gonna die the very next day and, I didn't want to have any regrets in my life." she explains "Besides, we both know that he's had a thing for you ever since you both were little. His feelings for me are something new. All you have to do is step up and reclaim what's yours. What's always Been yours." she says as she pats Suki's head, softly "His heart."

* *

"But is it Really out of your hands?" Jason asks "You can always climb back up to the Lookout and challenge Bow for a wish from the Dragon Balls." he suggests "Hell, I'll even coach ya on what you need to do." he offers, which was Much more than he usually does.

Hiroshi turned to them. "I mean..unless its something not involving a fight there's no way I can win against Bow, Ki or not. Besides, would Ra want to even come back with his family waiting for him on the other side? I wouldn't want to take that from them."

Taki and Suki had dinner and gone to bed. Both had taken turns in the bath. Their parents would be coming home tomorrow and Taki was wondering how their mother would react to Suki being suddenly back. It was no real secret to Taki that their mother favored Suki over her. While she still loved them both, Suki was the favorite child. Still, they should be surprised about the events of what happened in the time they were gone.

* *

Jason shrugs "Why not just wish him and his family back to life?" he asks "Give them a chance to actually live as a family together." he points out.

"That sounds good, but what's the plan after I challenge them since you mentioned coaching?" Hiroshi asked.