Ark 16 Episode 30: A step-mothers love/ Like father like daughter

Diversity: The day had been long and tiring for the doctor. She'd bounced between seeing a few patients at the Akasawa Clinic, stopping by the university's lab dedicated to her work known as the ASW research facility, and lastly taking another test run with her newest secret project, known as Project New Mecca- a plan to eventually undermine and usurp Yani. Michiko arrived at the Akasawa-Tasanagi home in the pitch black Escalade, not decked out in rims but simply dark all the way around- even to its deeply (rather illegally) tinted windows. It looked more like the police force had arrived rather than the homeowner whenever she pulled into the paved driveway.

Exiting the vehicle Michiko approached the front door, fiddling with a few access cards before pocketing them. The house before her was a six bedroom, four bathroom manor. It extended beautifully upwards, angular and symmetrical save for the extended garage on the right side for the vehicles that would be Keyomi, Kin, and Sora's cars once they got their licenses. The home was a collaboration of shades in ivory and coal with accents of burgundy along the plexiglass windows. At the broad door which looked rather normal save for its thickness gave away its interior metal defense, Michiko held up her hand and pushed her thumb against a scanner before then speaking her full name when a machine greeted her. She reflected on the years every time she gave her name as she strolled into the door and pushed it with a slight effort to close behind her. She'd created the Narcissus Pods, which was a great source of income. It was that creation shortly after Keyth's disappearance that had become her main way of getting out of the apartment and getting a nice, safe home big enough for the children. She'd also picked up three jobs. The creation of her clinic where she served as a doctor and manager, working in the research department at the university every so often giving lectures and displaying her methods, and occasionally working at KasaiHana High to provide vaccinations and to inspect the students for diseases, mutations, and other such nasty little health issues that may prove disruptive to the educational environment.

The moment she stepped in the lights came on, small luminous bulbs built into the ceiling that cast a warm glow over the dark cherry hardwood floors as she began forward past the staircase towards the kitchen, laying down her knapsack of paperwork and boring files upon the table as she went. As she turned into the kitchen she spotted Sora waiting for her.

Her and Keyth's biological son Sora was only fourteen but looked more along the lines of seventeen. Finally over his illness, all of the treatments and medicines and steroids had caught up with him in a massive, almost mutated burst of growth. He'd gone from 5'2 to 6' even, and from scrawny to bulky over a six month period. She knew he was okay now- but she still feared him growing ill and possibly dying, so she was still providing Sora with treatments that made him stronger and kept him healthy.

"Evening Sora." The doctor said, her midnight hair tied back and her half-moon glasses dipped along the bridge of her nose as she came around the counter with heels making soft resonance upon the floor.

"Hey Mom." He replied with a smile. He was his father's son, a spitting image now in terms of body mass and musculature, wearing an old black T-shirt that once belonged to Keyth and a pair of jeans. "I waited up for you." Sora then continued. He was perhaps a mother's boy, but he had never known Keyth. Keyth disappeared before Sora was old enough to remember him. But Sora was full of questions about Keyth, and always admired the stories albeit they were sometimes brutal and Michiko painted Keyth in a heroic light.

"I see." Michiko said, already moving to a locked cabinet where she kept his medicines- a special mixture that was built just for him. She usually loved trying her things on others but this time she had kept this especially for Sora- unknowing of its effects (ill or otherwise) on others. "Here, lift your shirt." She turned to him with a syringe in tow, a small 1.5'' inch needle at its end. When Sora lifted his shirt rippling muscles could be seen as Michi pinched her son's skin to get a small amount between her thumb and finger then stuck the needle between them. She injected the medicine and safely disposed of the needle while turning now to the fridge. "Have you eaten? Where are your brother and sister? I have several missed calls from the high school, did I miss something important?" She paused from her sifting through food items only to peer back at him- as if he might have something peculiar to say in reply to that.

Thunrian: Kin shook his head, grimacing as he tossed and turned in his bed. He felt hot, as if his skin were about to explode ripping out of his flesh. He got cold sweats like this quite often. As if something were smothering him. It was unbearable! The heat continued to fire off in waves through the boys flesh, shooting his head left to right as he began to pant at an increasingly rate. Kins eyes exploded open. When he awoke he had been in another world it seemed like. Above his head had been a massive moon. Shining down over his head and he had been running with a pack of wolves. His body was different in this dream. His muscles larger, his hair wild and his eyes a bright gold. The wolves all shifted into human form. Each of them looking about the same age as Kin. There bodies moved in unison and with grace as they flipped and tossed themselves into the air. The dream would come to a stop when he fell through a world of glass. It shattering all around him ! Drifting in a sea of darkness until he landed in an area similar to where he had been prior. He slipped into the trancendant world untill he had caught his footing. His body hitting the ground on his feet. But he was changed.

Transformed into a powerful majestic beast. And infront of him had been shadows, vicious shadows that all lashed out towards The transformed Kin. He fought through the leagues of shadows untill he had been swallowed up by those same shadows. Engulfing him in a sea of black, drowning him. But... This too had only been a dream. Kin awoke finally in the real world. On a Saturday mourning... Ontop of a Goat.. It had a tag. ' Smithys farm care' was what it read. Had he stole it from there? His clothes a bloody mess and beside him had been a dead cat... Like it's carcass had been broken and ate into. Kin rubbed his head, wobbling to his feet. He looked around.. He knew where he had been. But why was he here... He had just been in bed. He looked down at his pajama pants only to open them after feeling something... Off. " Hair! " kin said as he found an abrupt patch of pubic hair. His first patch... Had grown over night. Confused he made his way home sneaking In through the window so he wouldn't show any suspicion towards michiko. That woman had been a hawk. If she noticed anything out with kin, Keyomi or sora then she would have went out of her way to make sure that they had been ok. Like any good mother. Kin had made his way into his room... These nights where he ended up outside had been occurring alot lately. He figured it may have revolved around puberty. But he knew something else had been going on. That dream, and waking up in odd places... It happened frequently.

Even Keyomi began to notice odd changes with Kin. Her striaght A student little brother. Began to flunk his grades... Rapidly. The issues soon became Apprant to his teachers in school when he began to get in more fights Kin, who wouldn't lift his have to swat a fly... Had started to fight in school. Of course he'd get beaten up, and Xochitl would always come to his rescue. But his over-aggressive nature just grew, and grew. Kin had locked himself in his room these past few days. Telling michiko lies about going to school, only to turn around and come back home. He didn't want to worry her with whatever he had been going through. " This will pass Kin..." He says to himself. Gripping tightly to a pillow as he shook rapidly, breaking into a cold sweat.

Diversity: The boy grew quiet, biting the inside of his cheek. He loved his mother but he was also trying to cover for his siblings. Having been weak and sick for the majority of his childhood, he was finally starting to be strong and having to prove it- or so he felt. So at the mention of how his brother and sister were doing, Sora clammed up. The silence let her know too as she fixed herself some dinner while waiting, hearing only his silence.

"Sora?" She said sternly and turning back to see him. The fourteen year old had scurried wisely away to avoid what conversations may come.

Michiko gave a long sigh and picked up her bowl of fruit before moving to the phone. Soon after putting in a code, voicemail started to play to her. "Ms. Akasawa, we've had several complaints about Keyomi's bullying again. Please do something with your daughter, or we will seek out the school board." Michiko rolled her eyes. Of course- Keyomi was always rough but now she was just growing more and more aggressive and dominant. And uncontrollable. Then another message played. "Ms. Akasawa, we confiscated a student's cell phone after they'd been circulating media. The video we saw was of your son Kin Tasanagi fighting with another boy..." Michiko mashed the button to make the recording stop.

"Kin..." She sighed. Now that was unlike him. She turned on her heel and began to her room with the bowl...

The woman emerged after a while, wearing a long pair of sweatpants and a fitting quarter-sleeve V-neck top. Her hair was down for once, longer than it used to be but she kept it from growing more than three inches past its old length of rich smooth flat midnight blue. She'd put her glasses away and made her way to Kin's room in a set of dynamic black ankle socks.

Knocking was overrated- it made the mood too light when she needed to be serious. She took to his door and pushed it open slowly, stepping into his room and peeking at him on the bed. Her eyes briefly wandered in their unique hue of skylight and whiskey. Paintings and pictures broke away from the usual display of action figures, video games, and comic books. Her eyes closed for a moment as she recalled a dream like place. It was black in her mind but she could feel the night air, and beside her was a beast. Her Beast; and just like that she felt her fingers in the thick wily black mane of a man whom she loved like a fire. She could never forget that visually lackluster memory where everything else was so crystalline, even though his face was starting to age away, distant. Gold and black was all she could seem to recall, and she saw the last fragments of his pictured memory in her sons Kin and Sora.

"Kin, I thought I'd check on you. I'd like to... talk." Michiko said, shutting the door behind her as she began over towards him, taking a seat on the foot of his bed.

Thunrian: Kin turned over. Eying his step mother with a surprised expression on his face. " Hey mom.." He said shuffling up so he'd sit up right. Kin already knew what she wanted to talk about. The first thoughts that submerged in his mind that Sora had ratted him out. But he knew better than that. " If it's about my grades! I'm gonna get them up, I've just been... Distracted with a lot of things... Mom. I wanna go back to private school. " Kin said shaking his head. " I thought I could do it, I mean Keyomi did it. So I thought I could to. But there animals. All the kids are vicious animals. I thought that things would be different in public school but it's worse! And I'm having all of these..." He stopped himself. Seeing his door open. Keyomi had been listening with a smirk on her face down the hall. The faustrated kin rushed to the door and slammed it shut. Where Keyomi could be heard breaking out into sinster laughter. Leaning against the door he sighed. " I'm going through... Guy problems..." He said in a low tone. Looking down at her feet. " I blame everything on that school. I can't make friends maybe I'm not cut out for it. " he said slumping down to his butt while he sat against the wall. " Bet... Dad didn't have these problems when he was my age. "

Diversity: Michiko listened with an almost pained sensation in her chest. Kin didn't like it. Sora loved it. Keyomi was flourishing- enough so that it was almost getting her kicked out. The woman only turned when Keyomi cracked the door open and then Kin raced to shut it. A slight sigh escaped the doctor as she stood up and walked over to her son upon the floor, kneeling beside him and then resting on the floor with her legs folded.

"Kin." She began gently, reaching out to him to take his hands. Michiko rarely showed physical affection, and she touched no person but her children in motherly gestures. The only other person she'd had any kind of physical non-medical contact with had been Hiro, in slighted short gestures of him touching her shoulder or brushing past each other- a sign she trusted him. "My dear Kin..." She sighed again and would drift a hand upwards to brush her fingers through his hair.

"You can talk to me. I may not understand everything, but I put up with your father until... for a while." She felt a pang of ache, pushing at the sore scars of a broken heart. "He couldn't be anywhere. I don't think he made it far in school before he must've cut up. Your father couldn't focus much, not until he was older..." She closed her eyes. Talking about him was hard still. She preferred to just avoid the topic but sometimes she cracked, perhaps once or twice a year, and spoke about Keyth more intimately. "You can do this." She whispered. "You're a Tasanagi. And you're my son too. You can overcome anything and everything, trust me. The kids there... they're awful. I tell you what-..." She paused and would think over something, her eyes coming open as she would sit upright a bit more.

"You could do what I did." She said quietly. "You're smart enough. I'll help you... You can graduate early. I'll talk to the board of directors, and I'll try to come home earlier on the weeknights to help you with your work..." She opened her mouth to say something else, and felt suddenly like Keyth was there with her, like his influence had stained her, and she found herself suddenly smiling a slow cracking grin. "And if those kids keep messing with you...." She took a breath. "Let me know." Suddenly her voice was grim and while she was being comforting, there was a seriousness to her that made it eerily truthful- a promise. "I'll handle it if anyone keeps on messing with you at school. You focus on you, and getting out of there being the best you can be. Everything else will fall into place." She offered him a kind smile and reached up to his hair once more. Dark thick wild hair. Her heart tugged achingly in her chest but lovingly at once as she cared for Kin as if he was her own flesh and blood, her own soul connected with his.

"I love you son." She smiled, patting his knee with her free hand. Thunrian: " And I love you to mom." Kin said allowing her to take his hand. " But I can't ask you for help.., I'm sorry I broke down. But... If I don't handle this and fight my own battles. Then I'll never grow to be who I need to be. I.." He looked up at her with a scowl on his face, but it had been one of determination. " I have to do this! Cause dad would want me to be strong! And I have to set an example for sora! He's my baby brother... " He stood this time, opening his hallway door so him and Keyomi would have been face to face with one another. That same look on his face as he stared into his sisters eyes. " And most importantly... I can't let Keyomi be right about me..." He said huffing his chest up. Stating her down while she smirked at him. " Michiko I'm going out. " she said turning on the balls of her feet and walking down the hall with a light strut.

Diversity: Michiko watched him move and rose to her feet, peering past him to see Keyomi. Keyomi wasn't asking permission to go, she was just going. And she couldn't stop her- yet. But if she kept on this route, spiralling out of control, Michiko would find a way to take action.

Without a word she looked back to Kin and would offer him a smile. "Okay Kin. But think about early graduation. I think if anyone is smart enough to do it, you are. And your life could really begin, without the bullying and bullsh-... crap, of public school and teenagers..." She then took a deep breath and walked up to him while patting him on the shoulder, gently sweeping past him.

"And when you start to have certain feelings about girls you can't really explain, feelings that make you blush and bashful, and your waistline starts to get... hairy, let me know. I won't be awkward about the sex talk, I promise. I'm a doctor after all." Michi turned back at him and winked playfully- a rare gesture for her.

A few hours passed
Meanwhile...

Keyth had been on his way home still but before he rushed back into Michikos arms. He had to speak with some of his friends to secure some kind of procedure against Yani. So there he was. Standing there in front of Dukes home. His memory of duke had been blurry. But he remembered him. He remembered that he had been his friend. And when they were a lot younger than what they were now. As he stepped took a step forward a male in a black ninja uniform would leap down infront of Keyth. Katana in hand. Keyths nose twitched when he caught whiff of what had been wrapped around the blade and it made his eyre slant and glare like some wild beast. " Angry bloom.." Keyth said as he got down into his stance.

The Oko~tsu burūmu AKA Angry bloom. Is a garden all around the Akagi home, this plant was crafted, made to kill oni's with the poweful posion properties that break down organic flesh into dust. It targets the host on a physical scale. But the very spores of the flower transcend into the core of the Onihoruda and devour the Oni inside along with killing the host on the outside. The flowers also work on normal humans though it takes longer. Onihrouda's are powerless to the plant and can only be cured once entered is to drink there own urine. Due to the properties of the urine it would burn out the poison completely.

The plant sat around the length of the blade spiraled upwards all the way to the tip of the blade. " Your an assassian. But from who..." Keyth said as he got into the base form for thunderous paw. The ninja lunged swinging his blade left to right towards Keyth. But the warrior simply dodged left to right before he used the back of his hand to smack the blade off course to the right where he proceeded with a boot in the gut to the ninja and then a round house kick in the head sending the ninja soaring into a tree. Keyth stood, waiting for the ninja to rise only for him to cross his arms. " Sloppy form. Your blade style isn't swift enough. Try again." He said as if lecturing the ninja who grunted with a female battle cry. Charging right at Keyth.

He put both hands behind his head as he dumpy dodged left to right. He'd pull a matrix, leaning back to dodge a decapation strike. Only to spin while leaning back and come up with a crushing uppercut that would blast the ninja into the air. Keyth leaped into the air. Summoning Yamisuki and flipping 10 times before he came down with the blade I. Attempts to split the ninja in two! The ninjas golden eyes caught attention to his sudden blade and used her own to block the technique. Only to get blasted back down to the earth when the blade was snapped in half. Keyth landed on both feet. His blade gone again. " Interesting. But your not quite strong enough, you need to learn to focus your chi." " Don't go trying to lecture me now old man! You had ten years to do that..." The ninja said getting into her stance. Tossing the broken blade to the side.

Keyth got back into his stance. A smile on his face. Signaling her over with his hinder finger. The ninja dashed, swinging left to right with her hands in a wild mess! He simply dipped and doged through at all. His body gliding left to right as he dodged the attacks ! Doing so before he pivoted back and went in the offensive for himself.

It consists of him unleashing a powerful barrage of punches and kicks at an extremely fast rate, 6 kicks, 3 with the left, 3 with the right, all aiming at the stomach, 3 punches with the left and the right. Each punch with a bone chilling effect. All aiming at the chest area, before ending with a powerful kick to the face, using the explosive technique of thunderous paw, launching the opponent backwards and inflicting a large amount of damage.

The ninja had been distorted as all of the attacks landed and she landed in the grass. Her mask had been knocked off now. Revealing it to be bone other than his daughter Keyomi. Keyth looked down at the young lady. Studying her face untill he caught glimpse of her golden eyes that glowed when his made contact. " Keyomi..." He says surprised to see his child. " Youve grown... So much. Why we-" " Why was I trying to take you out!? " She said standing to her full height. " Because I hate you old man! You made me a promise that you didn't keep!" She says screaming at the top of her lungs. " Does Michiko know...?" " No ! She doesn't know your back... And neither do either of your sons! I thought you'd Atleast be man enough to go to them yourself yet here we are!" Keyth remained silent. " Yes, we are... Aren't we. Tell me how did you discover of my return? " he said crossing his arms. " The BoomNetwork. It picked you up moment you stepped foot into the city. Claymore knows your home to..."

Keyth sighed in disbelief. " I see... It'd be safe. If none of you knew I was home... It'll endanger you all at this very moment. I'll have to do something then about this... " as Keyth spoke. Keyomi was about to respond when Keyth shadow swiped over to her and fired a solid chop to the back of her head. Knocking her out on contact. " You won't remember any of this... " Keyth said making his way forward to his destination. " Its best this way..." He said, leaving her unconscious body right where she hit the floor.