Chapter 2 - Together

New York City
Chinatown, Manhattan
Friday, September 27, 7:58pm

As Sarah was finishing a term paper, she was listening to the radio. One station in particular was playing nothing but love songs that had a female narrator with a sexual tone in her voice saying comical and strange comments when it came to identifying the name and the theme of the station. "Whatever cruising means to you, here's music to cruise to... Emotion." After a few seconds, she then stated, "More mood swings than your pregnant wife, Emotion 98.3."
"I only wish that you could see
The feelings hidden inside of me
My heart wants you to know
That you hold the key

So tell me is this real?
If this is love I feel?
Is this a dream or just some fantasy?
Stars will always glow
When you learn to see

Look up into the sky and see what you can find
The answers they're its part of destiny
Then look into your soul
I promise you will know it's not just a dream
Together we'll find the answers we need to know

With hands held tightly
Are eyes will be open
Into are brave new world
Where gentle kisses whisper
For you and me"

When she was done Sarah put her work away, took off her reading glasses and turned off the radio. It had been two weeks since the casino ballroom and after saying their goodbyes, Sarah traveled back to the U.S. Before leavening she asked Kage-Maru to come and visit her for a few days. She was hoping to talk to him about staying there with her in order to continue their relationship. Smiling too herself, the kiss they shared came to mind. At that moment, that night had been perfect, it had been her first kiss and she couldn't have been happier that it was with Kage. But the more she thought about that moment, the more she felt as if they had moved just a little too fast.

One could hardly call that night a date, they still didn't know each other that well but she knew that it wasn't just a kiss, and she also knew that they were not going to jump into bed with each other right after that. "Hahaha!" That last thought caused her to laugh out loud. But Sarah very well knew that they were not those type of people, Kage-Maru was too much of a gentleman and he respected her too much to assume that was going to happen.

Wearing her dark orange sweatshirt, a short straight-cut dark brown skirt, and long dark brown boots, she knew that Kage wouldn't be arriving until 9:00pm. To past the time she decided to watch some TV, although the real reason for that was because her brother was competing in the Daytona USA race today. Before it began they showed pasted racing clips and played the songs Rolling Start and Let's go Away. After a few minutes, Sarah could see that her brother was of course winning and decided to change the channel. She then came across another racing competition called Sega Rally Championship. Although Daytona had better vehicles and racing arenas, Championship did have slightly better music. Coming to Channel 6 News the redhead female news anchor, April O'Neil, started to report about recent events that took place in Virtua City.

"And we're back, for the past few weeks we've been following a story that started with a detective in Virtua City that uncovered an illegal gunrunning operation and was able to trace it back to a powerful crime syndicate called E.V.L. Inc. This detective was able to compile a large amount of evidence, but sadly he was discovered and assassinated. This detective's identity will not be given in order to protect the family. Fortunately some of the evidence managed to make its way back to police headquarters and a special task force was put on the case. This task force was lead by police officers Michael Hardy and James Cools." The news channel then showed quick scenes of shootouts with the police, the criminals and civilians running for cover and shouting, "Somebody help me!" "Don’t shoot me!" "No!"

"They were able to put a stop to this organization that was lead by Joe Fang and his followers Kong, the King and the Boss. Although Joe Fang was thought to have been killed in a helicopter crash... but his body was not found. All of the surviving criminals have been sent to a maximum-security federal pen and could face the death penalty or life in prison. This is April O'Neil for Channel 6 News, we'll see you tomorrow night."

Canal St. Station

Once again looking as if he was some type of hired processional, but this time his long black hair was down, wearing a unbutton black suit, a plain white shirt, black jeans, black boots, and carrying a black gym bag, Kage-Maru stepped off a commuter subway train and headed for the nearest payphone. Putting in 25 cents and pushing Sarah's number in, her phone only rang once before she picked it up, "Hello?" Just hearing her voice brought a small slime to his face, "Sarah, it's me." "Kage, where are you?" "I'm at the Canal street subway station." Looking at her watch, it wasn't 9:00pm yet, "Your early, it's only 8:27pm."

Even though she asked him to come and visit her, he hoped that he wasn't intruding into her life, "I'm not too early am I?" "No Kage, not at all... in fact I really feel like getting out of the apartment, also... I want to talk to you about something... well two something's." "All right, I just need to stop by where I'm staying at and I'll be right there." "All right, see you soon Kage, bye." "Bye."

Once he hung-up the phone, Kage felt the presents of someone moving right behind him putting something in his pocket. Without his quick senses and reflexes, he never would have seen him. Ninjas couldn't hide from other Ninjas. Before completely disappearing into the crowd of oncoming people, Kage was able tell that the person was a young Japanese man with short black spiky hair wearing a black jacket, dark gray jeans, and black boots. Reaching into his right side pocket he pulled out an envelope. Opening it and taking out a letter, he noticed a red a tattoo of an I-Ching symbol at the top.

"My name is Thomas. You said you wanted information about a secret group called Judgment 6 that you dealt with just a few weeks ago. Before we can give you that information, you have work for us for a time. Don't worry, it's the kind of work I know you're looking for, but you can make the choice if you want to join us or not. Many scattered Ninjas will be meeting at the location that's written on this letter. Be there tomorrow at 12:00 midnight and be dressed as who you really are. There's also a location to an apartment building we've got set up for you. The rent's been paid for 3 weeks, there's food and refreshments prepared for you. You can live there for a time. One more thing... your bike is there." Putting it inside his suit pocket he headed towards his new residence.

Lower East Side

Quickly arriving outside his apartment building but not wanting to waste any time, Kage hopped onto his motorcycle and headed towards Sarah’s location. But before starting it up, he was pleased to know that it was his old bike. It still had such features as a small computer with a targeting system, where it could fire kunai throwing knifes.

Chinatown

Riding through a somewhat busy street, Kage had a pretty good idea what Sarah wanted to talk about, "Most likely it's the kiss we shared... I won't blame her if she says that it was the heat of the moment. The last thing I want to do is ruin this relationship with her." Sighing and scratching the back of his head, he hoped he hadn't already wrecked it. Thinking about his past in terms of what he didn’t have just a few years ago such as having friends you could rely on, someone to really talk too, someone to truly care about, your work making some kind of difference in the world, money to spend on someone and a normal place to live in or someone to live with. The Hagakure clan only provided work that only a shadow warrior could do no matter if it was just or unjust. If the enemy outnumbered you, you're on your own, you don't receive backup or any help. If you’re caught you commit hara-kiri, HQ was a temple from ancient Japan, where you train, eat, and sleep in.

:That was it, back then that was enough for me. Anything else seemed completely useless... pointless... now... I of course need far more than that. Living a solitary life with no real future and being told what to do with no questions asked... I don't need to be like Oni-Maru or Dural and end up the way they did. 3 years ago I declared that I would follow the voice of my heart and fight for the things that are worth protecting... if I die fighting... I would rather it be for a cause that is actually worth dying for. There’s no question that I would give my life for Sarah and her friends, I would do it in a second no matter how many times. We'll see what happens with this group I’m meeting tomorrow..."

What Kage-Maru had in his life when he was just a mercenary Ninja, which was nothing, and what he has right now, which is still nothing, he knew how important it was to have Sarah in his life. How important it was to make this work.

Orchard St.

Parking his bike right outside her apartment and coming up to the intercom, he pressed her number. "... Kage-Maru?" There must have been something wrong with the intercom, he could hear her but there was a lot of static. "It's me Sarah." Buzzing him in, the door unlocked, "Remember I'm on the 3rd floor, apartment number 11." Walking through the door and up the steps, the place was empty and very quiet. Once he came to her floor he rang the doorbell and it only took a few seconds for her to open the door as he could hear her racing towards it. "... Kage." Dropping his gym bag they slipped their arms around each other, holding her tightly he breathed in her sent, "She smells like... like perfume soap."

Slowly pulling away she looked up at him and smiled, "You look good with your hair down." Taking his right hand, she led him into her apartment, "Come in." Once he was inside Kage could see a small kitchen big enough for only three people to walk through, one bathroom and then the living room, which was also the bedroom. Sarah’s dark brown couch was about four feet away from the TV. Her couch was one where it could also be turned into a bed.

Sarah pointed to the right side of the futon, "Have a seat... like what I said on the phone, I want us to talk about something... I really want to get it out of the way." Sitting right next to each other, Sarah placed her left hand on his and gently rubbed it, "I want you to know that I thought of you often for the past 3 years... and... I very much want to continue this relationship, so..." taking a deep breath she didn’t exactly know how Kage would react or what his answer would be. Still remembering that he had a mission to accomplish, to watch over her, so she was confident that this could work between them, that they could be together. She had never met anyone like him before and she knew that men like him almost didn’t exist anymore. "Would it be too much to ask if you could stay here in New York so that we could continue this?"

With a small smile on his face, Kage took Sarah's hand and answered, "It wouldn’t be too much to ask at all. I would love to stay." With a smile on her face, she brought his hand up to her lips and kissed it. For the next several seconds, the two just looked at each, almost repeating that moment after Sarah bandage Kage's arm. Snapping out of it, she reminded herself of what else she wanted to discuss. "One more thing..." once again she was nervous, how would he react to this? "About the kiss at the ballroom..." but before she could finish, Kage said, "Do you think it was too fast? That we were caught up in the moment?" Sarah quickly nodded her head, "Yes, I do... but I don't regret it... it was my first kiss ever... I'll always remember it." With his right hand he gently stroke her cheek, "It was my first too..." pleased that he understood, Sarah then said, "And it's just that... we haven't even been out on a date yet."

Kage nodded his head and with that he stood up, "Well, I'm here now... lets go." Standing up Sarah asked, "Ok, but where to?" Taking her hand he answered, "It's up to you, or we could just ride around the city for awhile."

To be continued

Another's Notes: Sarah is a college student and she was born in San Francisco, California, but whether or not she went to college there and what she was studying... I don't know... she probably did go college in San Francisco. But I've moved it to New York City. It's not a city I really want to use because New York City has to be the top number one overly used city ever... there have been too many stories that have been based there in movies, TV shows, books, comic books, video games and on so. But there are some locations in NYC that I want to use.

The ending to chapter 1... originally I wasn't going to end it on a kiss, but a strong tight hug, I didn't want them to rush anything. But then I thought... why not? They don't have any experience in this and I want them to make a mistake... somewhat... and of course realize it.

The song at the beginning is the ending music of every VF episode in English
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86lDRsnU92g

In this chapter, I of course have other Sega video games making appearances such as Daytona USA (the songs played in the game like Rolling Start and Let's go Away), Sega Rally Championship and Virtua Cop. Three games I played a lot on the Sega Saturn in the mid and late 90s. I got the idea for mentioning the events of what happen in Virtua City from Virtua Fighter anime episode 22 when they see themselves getting shot Virtua Cop style.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ-DW-w1HrA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4GtHF9Bq7o
I think the whole thing with Evil Inc. from Virtua Cop 1 is based on the Chicago Mob during the 1930’s, they were known as Murder Inc. The April O'Neil that I’m using is of course from the 1987 series, although she was more of a field reporter. I want to try and use other characters from other fighting games and stories.

Kage's outfit is based on one of the many clothes that you can choose in Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown. It’s pretty much the same kind of clothing he wore in the anime when he wasn’t in the Ninja outfit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FJRxXcZ2Gw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9J_997tZgI

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment