Bitterspring City: Umi and TJ, Sibling Duo

[maestro]

The sky was covered with clouds over Bitterspring City, the sun being blocked out and the threat of thunderstorms loomed. In a small building that was transformed into a dojo/shrine, Umi was hard at work teaching her bushido class. It was a small class, only two students, one boy and one girl, showed up today out of her usual four. The other two had recently quit due to their parents pulling them out based on Syndicate activity. Umi was regretful of this, but had grown used to the way some people treated her and couldn't let it distract her from the two students who remained. "Alright, one hundred downward strokes, and go!" she exclaimed as her students nodded and began their warm up. 

Umi left them to their warm up and went over to where Saito was sleeping on a nearby table. She pet him on the head "Enjoying your rest, Saito?" she inquired, to be met with a snoozing sound from her Pokemon. She turned back to her students as they began to finish up their strokes and she grabbed a shinai nearby. "Alright class, that's enough warm up. I want both of you to get to your ends of the ring and we are going to spar for a moment. Remember the point system, and no head shots. If I see a head shot, you will receive one penalty head shot from me. Understand?" she instructed. Both kids nodded in agreement as they went to their respective sections of the ring. Umi put her hand in the air "Best two out of three...and...begin!" she said as he hand came down and the kids began to lunge at each other, neither with their protective gear on.

[Ink]

Even walking outside the shrine/dojo, out in the busy streets, one could hear the two enthusiastic students of the dojo and the loudmouth that was their instructor. TJ had never understood why the Syndicate had such issues with foreigners going to a new region. It wasn't new here. It had happened back in JNPR as well. There were transplants there, some to try to fix the poke ball systems, and others just because they wanted change in their lives but they were always treated the same. It didn't make any sense, unless the Syndicate feared someone slipping in their grasp because they were not registered properly.

TJ's demanor was sour anyways. He was returning home an array of lovely purple and blue because he had started a fight with a few members of a street gang that had been bothering some poor girl. He said it was because they owed him money being on his turf. He would have been less bruised if he had the triplets. Whey had he left them home today? Oh yeah, to clean out junkyard out back. There was an empty lot behind them that no one ever used that was filled with scrap and other junk. He was gonna turn it into his ring where they would spar.

The trick was getting there and not being seen. Sticking to the darker side of the shrine as he slipped in he walked slowly towards the back door. He didn't need to bother his mother or his sister today. he's have the triplets patch him up.

[maestro]

As TJ began to slip by Umi, who was too busy watching her students to notice him, Saito began to fidget. He let out a low hum as TJ began passing by a rack of shinai, and suddenly the shinai left the rack and fell on top of the unsuspecting 'ninja'. The crashing was enough to catch Umi and her students' attention as TJ was now lying down with all her shinai on top of him, and Saito just fell back asleep.

Umi now looked perturbed and marched over to where TJ lay, tossing the shinai off of him "TJ? What are you doing, sneaking around and knocking over all my shinai?!" she exclaimed. Upon further inspection, she caught the bruises on him, most of them looked human fist sized, which furrowed Umi's brow. "Oh...that's why you were sneaking...you were fighting again! How many times do I have to tell you to stop getting yourself hurt so much! Boys..." she said, pulling him up from the ground. 

She looked over at her students "Two hundred over head strokes. And when you are done, do three hundred more" she demanded. "But...sensei...my arms are..." cried the boy. "Five hundred over head strokes then! Saito, make sure they do what they are told!" she snapped as both students gulped at the stare they received and immediately began their training. Umi just sighed and led TJ into the back where she kept the medical supplies. She sat him in a chair and began to look through the cabinets for her First Aid kit, addressing her brother "So...to what do I owe the honors of seeing my brother a bloody mess yet again?" she inquired.

[Ink]

As Umi led him back to the back room TJ flicked Saito lightly on the nose. "friggin rat..you could have let me by just once..."

He lounged in the chair, his sour look not changing and his sister demanded an answer. She kept a calm grace about her but he could tell she was seething. Poor kids were gonna have their arms fall off. "Look... they had it coming. Thugs were on my turf..." He inspected some of his bruises. They weren't too bad. He knew he had a cut above his eye and maybe on the back of his head. He wasn't sure about that on though, it was very tender to say the least.

"If I had taken the Triplets out with me today it would have been different... but I mean ten to four would hardly have been fair odds for them. Not that those losers know about fair..." He was avoiding the real reason he got in the fight. He saved the girl, she thanked him, and they went about their business like he didn't exist. that's all it would ever be. He was a foreigner. As long as she was ok it was fine right? And this way he kept his reputation as a bad ass.

He knew his sister didn't buy his line, that she knew he wasn't fessing up but he didn't want her worrying more that he's playing avenger or something. She would scold him and tell him to leave things like that to the police. He couldn't do that, so he didn't tell her unless she made him.

[maestro]

As TJ gave her his excuse, she just gave him a blank stare that showed she didn't buy a word he said. She just sighed and shook her head as she walked over to him with the rubbing alcohol and band aids. She pulled up a stool next to him and began rubbing the alcohol on one of his bruises. "You have your reasons, and I respect your privacy...but don't lie to me" she scolded as she gently squeezed on of his bruises in retribution, then going over it with the rubbing alcohol again.

"Honestly, this whole turf thing, you are like a rooster fighting for dominance in a barnyard. I mean, what is it worth? What exactly are you fighting for?" she inquired as she began to dab the cut over his eye. She knew his image was important to him, and to an extent she understood, but not to the same extent. She had sacrificed her own advancement in JNPR in order to come over with TJ and Megumi, to a father that still would not give her the time of day. 

Soon, her anger defused and she adopted a more sober tone "I can't stop you from getting into fights...but you know I don't approve of that. This whole turf war thing, acting like you own the streets, it will get you more than just bruised one day. Eventually, I fear you are going to bite off more than you can chew....and...I just.." she said, her words now becoming hard to come by as she began thinking of worst case scenarios. 

[Ink]

Don''t you do it... jut stop right there.... aww crap there goes the forlorn sister look with the tears coming... fuck... why do girls cry... its like an unfair advantage...

He had been fine with the harsh healing he was getting from his sister. She was always a little rough on him in her own way to try and get him to stop fighting but the pain never bothered him. What bothered him was when she started to pout or tear up. Both her and his mother did this and he found it terribly unsettling.

"Hey hey hey... turn off the waterworks..." He shifted uneasily and squirmed to look away from her. "I'm just doing what I have to... I'm the man of the house and someone has to look after us.... If i keep people off my Turf and keep the streets safe by making the thugs to scared to come around I repair some of the damage done by my sperm donor's idiocy. Less thugs means you and Mom are safe..."

He fidgeted a little before continuing softly, "And there was a girl involved. She was real cute and they were bothering her, I knew where it was going. So I took care of it. She was thankful... and then I didn't exist again... as usual... but she was safe and thats what matters right?"

[maestro]

His words were comforting to her, enough to where she held off her tears and her mind stopped wandering around. Still, she hated that he thought it was all on him to protect their family. As she continued to apply the alcohol and eventually ointment, she chimed in "You know it doesn't have to just be you to protect our little plot of land..." she mentioned, recalling a time where some thugs broke in and were met with the blunt end of a boken to their knee caps. "I'm not defenseless and helpless...but...I do appreciate you caring about me and mom. I wish that people wouldn't look down upon us the way they do, but that is the life I chose to have when I came over here with you and mom so we could be with....well...so we could have a new start" she said, covering up the obvious pain of their father.

Umi had picked herself up and began to walk towards the cabinet to put up the medical supplies. The moment TJ brought up the girl, Umi stopped in her tracks and stood there for a moment. She slowly turned around to her brother, "A girl, eh?" she said accusingly, her brow furrowing a little. Umi then turned her back on TJ and continued to walk over to the counter and set the glass bottles down as she rummaged through the cabinets again. "And here I thought that you were doing it for your 'turf'...see, I knew you were lying to me" she said as she pulled out a small box. She pulled out a small square package and held it up to TJ "Were you at least going to use one of these?!" she inquired holding up the condom to her brother. "You get yourself beat up for that?! I swear you get dumber by the day! Maybe I should use your head as my training dummy, because at least you fit the dummy part!"

[Ink]

TJ just stared at his sister dumbfounded by her accusation. He was to shy to ask a girl out no less do anything with one. He had never even been kissed by a girl if you didn't count family. "What are you saying you looney woman!" he scrambled to stand knocking over the chair. "I can't believe you would accuse me of that... she was in trouble... and I'll bet those guys that had her about half undressed already were not going to use those for her sake... Save your dummying for them, unless you would have rather you have had me stand there and watch ten thugs gang bang a chick against her will!"

With that he stormed out of the room and through the back door to where the the unused lot was. The crash of the door slamming first open, and then closed behind him, echoed through the shrine and the house by proxy, alerting his mother that he was home. She would likely go to Umi first to see what was wrong and that was fine with him.

He was happy to see that the triplets had really cleared the place up. they had eve taken some of the left behind furniture and set it about for resting places. They constructed a covered pavilion area to train under from scraps and even training equipment as well. the rest of the junk was piled as net as possible and tightly on the perimeter up to about ten feet. It was good.

He stopped at the long couch and plopped down on it. though he had not spotted them at first the triplets quickly appeared and piled on top of him. making wild gestures and asking him what happened. He waived them off with a placating "give me a few" and then laid his arm over his eyes. His three tyrogues, Bruce, Clark, and Barry, named after the secret Identities of his favorite super heroes, just laid there waiting.

[maestro]

Umi winced as the door slammed with enough force to echo through the dojo. Umi's cheeks just puffed up as she yelled "Fine! Be that way!" she them grumbled "See if I ever care about my brother again" she stated sticking her tongue out at the door, even though she didn't really mean what she said. She shut the cabinet doors and went back to where her students were both laying on the floor breathing heavily. She sighed "Sorry about that, guys. I think that is enough training for today...you should probably get home. Your parents are probably close to getting home" she said as she helped both kids up and put their shinai on the wall next to their name plates.

Upon the children leaving, a voice came from behind Umi "So your brother has returned? Sounds like you both got into a fight again?" inquired Megumi. Umi turned around and met the gaze of her mother "Oh...yeah...the numbskull got into a fight again. He said it was for this girl, so I decided to tease him a bit....guess I pushed him too far" she admitted. Megumi just gave a soft chuckle "You children are always getting under each other's skins. I'm glad I have two children that have so much energy" she said as she approached Umi and gave her a hug. Umi returned the hug and then pushed her mother away "Sorry mom, I'm all sweaty from training, I don't want to get your clothes are messy. I'm going to go heat up a bath, and I guess I'll go apologize to the numbskull" Umi said as she bowed to her mother to dismiss herself to the bath. Saito had fallen on his back, arms out stretched, showing a happy sleeping Pokemon.

As Umi went to the bath, Megumi casually walked over to the pavilion to see her son laying on the couch with the triplets around him. She slowly approached him "TJ? I heard from Umi that you got into another fight. Are you alright, son?" she inquired as she turned to all three triplets and gave a respectful bow to them for permission to approach her son.

[Ink]

The triplets, upon seeing TJ's mother approach hopped off the couch and backed away. They were not afraid of her, though they knew she had the scary mom powers. They had experience the scary mom powers, but they loved her just like TJ loved her. They always made sure to show respect. It got them hugs and sometimes fresh cookies. TJ said she spoiled them, but he did too.

TJ raied his arm from his eyes and looked up to see his mother. He wished he could have looked more like her. Yet every time he looked in the mirror he could see his father... and he hated it so much. She was so kind, with soft features. Umi looked like her. The fact that anyone would want to hurt either of them made his blood boil.

He sat up a little and rested his elbows on his knees. If she was inquiring she had already talked to Umi. "I did... I ran off some thugs over by the underpass. They were going to rape a girl... I didn't have any choice this time... I know Umi says that I should leave it to the police... but you know they can't be trusted, the Syndicate has them in their back pocket and the slums of Bitterspring, especially our area JNPRsprings , so hilariously named because this is where they put all of us. The cops don't even come here. Just syndicate thugs and gang bangers. It's my turf now and I'll keep it safe. Me and the triplets... Grandpa wouldn't stand for this crap if he were here..."

His head sunk lower as he thought of his grandfather. "Why did we even come here mom... I want to go home... at least there I'm the only one picked on..."

[maestro]

Seeing her son look so sad broke Megumi's heart, but she remained her strong mother self for him. She walked up to the couch and knelt down, sitting on her knees meditation style and tried to comfort him. "We came here to be with your father, even though things here are not as fruitful as we had hoped. But, we still have each other, and that is what is important. It is the sacrifice we all knew we would make when we left. Although your sister will never admit it, she never wished to leave home either." Megumi leaned over and placed her head on the chest of her son, smiling "You both are very strong to endure all of this, and I apologize for putting you both in this position. I hope for the sake of my children that this world can provide for you better lives than I have been able to provide"

His mother picked herself up from her knees and smiled down on her son "Never change who you are, son. You have a big heart, as does your sister. She means well, even if her words sometimes sound spiteful or rude. You both work hard to make our lives easier...and I will do my best to make both of your lives easier as well. We are family, and together we will make it through this time. You are my son, and no matter what happens, I will always love you and your sister" she said confidently as she bowed to her son and the triplets. "Oh, and for the triplets, I have a fresh batch of cookies coming out of the oven soon. Feel free to come and get some if you wish"

Meanwhile, in the bath, Umi was lounging in the hot water and relaxing. Suddenly, Saito teleported onto the counter next to her and began to lay down. It was then that Umi began to just speak her mind, mostly out loud but also towards Saito. "He really is a big dummy, isn't he? Getting himself hurt like that and worrying me....still...if what he says is true, he did save that girl today, so I guess I should cut him some slack." Saito slumped forward, already asleep as Umi sighed at him. "How much longer do you think I'll be able to keep my two students, Saito? The others were pulled because of Syndicate pressure on their parents...it's only a matter of time before I lose these two. Then, what? I'll lose my dojo and my shrine...and we will go right back to a slum house. I...don't want mom and TJ to have to live in those conditions...." she said, now just talking out loud in a somber tone as the weight of pressure began to sink into her.

[Ink]

As his mother left he motioned for the triplets to follow her. They deserved to have some cookies, they worked really hard today and their work paid off. They smiled and chased after mom chattering at her in their own strange poke language and running around her like kids, or cats, both images worked. He then stood up and took off his shirt revealing more bruises. many were old and still healing but the most visible ones were new ones layered on top of old so that his skin was mottled and off color. At least he was toned, just battered.

He walked over to the hanging heavy bag and started to punch it, taking out his frustration and anger out on the weighted bag.With every punch he tried to let things go, and as the anger seeped out of him he began to think of what he could do to at least keep this land, this area of the city safe.

When he finished his practice and the triplets had come back he had an idea of what to do. "If we want this area safe we need to be able to do everything here. We need to own this part of town. We need the Syndicate out. They have three warehouses here in the slums. If we wreck them, I mean utterly destroy them maybe I can open things up to negotiation with them. In a sense. Its that or I find someone better to take over, since I can't actually hold this territory alone... I wonder if there is a bike gang or something else that would be good here... one that wouldn't destroy the area..."

[maestro]

Umi finished her bath and retreated to her room to put on her evening kimono. It was a rare sight to see her in one, only her family really saw her wear girlish clothing for the most part. She tied her hair back, only ever feeling really comfortable with it in a pony tail, and dismissed herself to go find her brother. Alright Umi, just suck up your pride and apologize to him. You pushed a bit too far with the joke, and he at least deserves your praise for helping out the girl. Just...don't let him see you are distracted with your own thoughts she thought to herself.

She made her way to the pavilion where TJ generally was found. Sure enough, there he was with the triplets enjoying their time together. He was muttering something to them, but she was too far away to make out what was said. She did, however, notice all the bruises on his body, a sight that was often hard for her to see but knew it came with the territory of such a fiery younger brother. She approached the pavilion, bowing to the four, then walked up to them. She smiled at the four, kneeling down and gently patting the triplets on the head and then looked up to her brother. "Hey...TJ...uh...look, about earlier...I...just wanted to say I'm sorry. I pushed the joke a bit too far, and didn't mean to upset you" she admitted. "What you did for that girl, it was admirable, and I didn't give you the praise you deserved" she admitted, although it was clear that it was hard for her to do so.

She walked up to her brother and wrapped her arms around him softly as to avoid hurting any more bruises and gave him a small kiss on his cheek "I really am proud of you and the triplets, even though I may not act like it at times. I know we aren't in the best of living situations, but I do appreciate all you guys do so I can maintain the shrine and dojo. Don't ever think I'm ungrateful, got it?" she stated.

[Ink]

TJ hated this. His sister being all sweet and nice, when he knew he was about to break her heart. But something had to be done. Someone had to stand up for them, and if all the adults were too scared to do so, he would be the one to send the message. It was time for the syndicate to leave JNPRsprings and leave the people living there alone. He pushed his sister away gently and turned from her.

"I'm glad the shrine is running and you have the dojo... but how long will that last UMI. You lost half your students in one sweep because the syndicate is putting pressure on this area, on us. Our father doesn't stand up for us and so we are left to flounder about and suffocate under their heel. If they had no presence here anymore then many of the families would come to the shrine, for we remind them of home... and your students would return and more... and mothers goods would sell because no one would be afraid from buying from her... a marked target. It's got to stop Umi..." He punched a car hood that had been strung upright for practicing. The dent left was sizable.

"I've got a plan to remove them from power here, and It will involve replacing them with another group, but at lease this one will allow us to live our lives. I won't lie and say it'll be the easiest thing or safest thing in the world but this way I can make sure you and mom are safe for good.." He didn't face his sister, knowing that she was likely to blow up on him at any moment... and he hadn't even told her the plan yet.

[maestro]

Umi was confused at TJ when he pulled her away and turned her back to her. It wasn't uncommon for him to not face her when talking, she knew that he had a hard time being honest if he was looking her in the face. The powers of an older sister, she assumed. But generally when he acted this way, he had something on his mind. She was expecting him to be upset over the fight he had earlier, or her treatment of him, but she was not expecting what she heard.

As he told her his thinking, Umi found herself staring wide eyed, not really knowing how to take what he was saying. One thing was for sure, she felt he was getting in over his head. She quickly bolted to the front of him and began her retort "Are you crazy?!" she scolded. "I admit, I wish we had better living conditions, but we can't fight the Syndicate. If we get on their bad side, we might lose everything! And father isn't going to help us!" she argued. 

Umi shook her head "And what about you? If you cross the Syndicate, they might kill you...I...I can't stand to see that happen, TJ. I...I don't know what I would do without my little brother" she said, her tone diminishing with that last statement. As if being summoned by the conversation, Saito suddenly appeared, teleporting himself on top of the car that TJ punched, falling backwards into the dent that he created and began to snooze. Umi grasped TJ's shoulders, her face looking desperate "I want to have a better life, I understand your feelings...but there has to be a better way..." she pleaded.