Chapter Text
There are some things in this world that are constant. Sure there’s the usual culprits; death and taxes, water is wet, fire is hot. But some constants are not as sure as they appear. Everyone who knew Nabiki Tendo knew she was the Ice Queen of Furinkan, a ruthless mercenary out for her own gain. That was fact. Everyone “knew” she refused to be a morning person, everyone “knew” she gave up the Art in pursuit of monetary gain after her mother died. Those “facts” were part of a carefully crafted facade, that no one questioned them was another carefully laid layer.
In reality, she was more invested in her martial prowess now more than ever, and actually took delight in it being one of the most guarded, and blatantly ignored secrets in Nerima. Everyone knew exactly who she was and what she was about, her being a martial artist - let alone being one of the best in the ward - was a laughable thought. Even within her own family she had the advantage of keeping her most well-guarded secret.
Her father barely saw anything that didn’t fit his own narrow world view ever since her mother passed. He’d long since stopped training any of them in the art, and he barely gave Akane any tips anymore since she was flailing about on her own.
Kasumi wouldn’t care one way or the other either; she had long surpassed everyone else in the Tendo family in her own way, her aura of simple serenity made her practically invulnerable to all but the most malicious of people. Nabiki was sure she was the only one in the family who knew how scary her older sister could really be.
Akane, on the other hand, would be absolutely crushed if she found out her apparent layabout of a sister could wipe the floor with her and not even break a sweat. It wasn’t a dig at Akane’s skill as a martial artist, far from it in fact. For someone self-trained, Akane was scarily close to breaking that last barrier into the truly great combatants. She’d offer to train the younger girl if she didn’t already know she wouldn’t be taken seriously at all.
It was for that reason that she set out to work by herself. Incidentally, she grew rather fond of early mornings. Waking up long before the sun usually meant finding herself alone, save the rare occasion Kasumi was meditating by the koi pond. These were the perfect opportunities to sneak away from it all, to go out into the night and further her knowledge in the Art without attracting much if any attention to herself.
This morning was no different, Nabiki had just finished a brutal session in the dojo going over a difficult kata, inspired by all of the techniques she’s managed to pick up over the years. She was by no means a master in any of the disparate styles, but that was the beauty of Anything Goes; you take what you can use and make it your own. There was a beauty in the chaos, being able to string a serene Tai Chi sequence into an aggressive Chu Gar burst tended to disorient all but the most competent opponents.
It was, however, very difficult to string different styles together. Different stances just couldn’t flow together without telegraphing your intent, so most of her current self-training was focusing on minimizing the gaps in her transitions. There was no real way to tell if what she was doing was working without finding a sparring partner, preferably one who wouldn’t loudly broadcast to the world what she was doing. As much as she took pride in her abilities, her largest asset was not showing potential enemies what she was really capable of.
She was currently laying on the dojo floor, having just finished another run of her kata. “I still don’t get how Akane does it,” she thought aloud. “I just can’t see myself improving like this. I need to find another sensei soon…” She kipped up to her feet, glancing at the wall clock she left over by the door: 0515. She sighed as she started tidying up after herself. If she was quick she could beat Kasumi to the furo, and be back in her room before Akane was up and about.
She finished picking up her equipment - the towel, water bottle, and wall clock she brought with her - and left the dojo, sliding the door shut behind her. “Hopefully something changes soon,” she mused to herself as she quietly entered the house.
–
“Girls, I have some exciting news!” Soun Tendo had burst into the room excitedly, a rare sight ever since… Nabiki didn’t want to think about that. Whatever it was he had to share must’ve been big; he didn’t usually do more than make small talk at breakfast. Kasumi shot a subtle glance at Nabiki, her way of asking if she knew anything. She shrugged as she took a sip of her coffee. “So spill, what’s got you far too excited this morning?”
He put on a stoic face. What he was going to say would probably irritate his idea of Nabiki, but she was probably just as curious as her sisters. He cleared his throat and continued, “Well, Nabiki, we’re going to have a house guest soon. An exchange student from Kenya, she’s said to be fairly gifted academically.”
The sisters looked at each other. Nabiki was trying to gauge the other two’s feelings on the matter. Honestly it seemed both of them were more annoyed than she was. “Are you serious?!” Akane of course was far more overt about it. “You didn’t say anything to us about inviting a strange person to live with us!”
“Akane is right, father,” Kasumi added, “It would have been nice to be told to expect guests.”
Soun let out a hearty laugh. “Well, you three needn’t worry, I personally vetted the girl myself.” He looked to his oldest. “Kasumi, you’ll be happy to know that she is quite the stickler for cleanliness.” She looked a bit thoughtful at that statement, but said nothing. “Daddy, I don’t think that’s what she’s worried about…,” Nabiki thought to herself. Kasumi had a system, and any time it was thrown off she was an emotional wreck for days. Not that it would show outwardly, but anyone who paid attention to her - so in this house really only Nabiki - would see how much it really bothered her.
Their father continued, looking to the youngest sister now, “And you, Akane, will be happy to know that she’s also an accomplished martial artist.” Her anger evaporated almost instantly, Soun said the magic words that would mollify her at least. Unknown to him, however, was that this information also slightly piqued Nabiki’s interest. Chances were she wouldn’t be much of a fighter, but it would be fun to see how she handled Akane’s “light sparring.”
“Nabiki,” her father finally turned to her, she wondered what aspect of this Kenyan girl he would think appealed to his view of her. “Please be kind to her.” All three sisters let out some form of exasperation, Nabiki for her part couldn’t help but have her forehead meet the table. She did recover fairly quickly, however. “Daddy! I’m not bad, am I?” Soun stared at her stoically. Akane glared. Kasumi tried to stifle a giggle. She sighed. “Don’t answer that… Look, I promise not to cause an international incident… This year.”
Akane kept glaring, but Kasumi could no longer hold back her laughter. Nabiki giggled as well “One out of three isn’t bad, I’ll take it!”
Soun cleared his throat again “Anyway, I knew you girls would be on board once I explained everything.” He really didn’t explain much of anything, and only Akane seemed one hundred percent okay with it. “That said, she should be here any moment, she was very excited to meet you all!”
For the second time in nearly as many minutes, Nabiki’s head met the table. “You can’t just spring something like this on us with barely any warning! I hope this doesn’t become a trend…”
Before anyone could say anything, there was a knock at the door. Nabiki rose from her seat at the table “Ugh, I’ll get it. Don’t worry, I won’t try to sell her anything.” She padded down the hallway to the front door. She did wonder what this girl was like; how was she raised, what was her home like, why did she choose to study in Japan specifically? Sure the information gathering aspect of her “Ice Queen” personality was one of her many fronts, but she did still genuinely like learning things about other people. She cleared her mind so she could slip into the Ice Queen persona and opened the door. “So, you’re Elen - whoa…”
At the door was an absolutely gorgeous young woman, wearing red jeans and a sleeveless white turtleneck. Her silvery-white hair was a fairly short pixie cut, providing a contrast to her dark brown skin. The most striking thing about her though was just how tall she was, she had to be pushing two meters. “HiMyNameIsTallYou’reVeryNabiki!” Nabiki slapped her hands over her mouth, she couldn’t even remember the last time she was so thoroughly flustered. The woman giggled at that reaction. “Jambo, Nabiki! Don’t worry, I get that reaction a lot.” Her stance shifted a bit, as if a spring lost just a bit of its tension. It was subtle, but Nabiki could see it. She was wrong to prejudge her, this girl was definitely a fighter. “Maybe it will be interesting having her here.” She recovered her composure, it wouldn’t do to show that side of her to her family. “Uh, well, are you coming in or what? Daddy was just talking about you.”
–
Nabiki had insisted on helping her get set up in the guest room, and with the two of them it should only take a few minutes. She did notice Elena packed kind of light, most of her clothes and toiletries could fit in one bag. “I appreciate the help, Nabiki, but I really can get this done myself.”
Nabiki smiled. “Sure you could, but then I’d have to fight my sisters for your attention.” She had just finished bringing in extra bedding. “So what has it been like, traveling the world?”
Elena was putting her clothes in the closet, “What makes you ask that? For all you know I’ve only ever been home and in Japan.”
“Oh, it’s just the way you talk. Your accent for one, sounds like a mix from a few different places. Remind me to ask you about your time in the UK.” She finished her task and leaned on the wall next to the door. “Also, your Japanese. There’s nothing wrong with it, but you’re stringing together dialects, you’ve stayed in a few different regions since arriving here.”
The Kenyan girl giggled. “What can I say? I enjoy meeting new people and seeing wonderful places.” She was going through her second bag, this one for keepsakes and other souvenirs. “You’re very observant, you remind me of a friend I met out by Okutama. Speaking of, I guess it’s my turn to ask a question. But first?” She casually tossed something from her pack Nabiki’s way. She easily caught it, a Meiji bar. She raised an eyebrow as Elena smiled back. “For your help. Now, your father warned me about you. I'd like to think I'm a pretty good judge of character, and you haven't set off any of the alarms I look out for. So why was he telling me to watch out for you, Ms. Tendo?”
Nabiki sighed. That damned playful tone of hers completely disarmed her, she rendered her completely unable to slip into any of her feint personas; something about this girl just brought out the natural honesty in her. “She’s kind of like Kasumi in that way,” she thought to herself. She looked at the new house guest with a sad smile, “Lets just say I have my secrets, and leave it at that. They tend to pry less if they think I’m going to charge them for being in the same room as me.” She opened the door and walked out into the hallway. “Maybe you’ll learn one of them, If you wake up early enough. See you downstairs, and thanks for the chocolate.” With that, she closed the door behind her.