"Side Dishes", part 2: A meeting, and a little impromptu introduction. Otherwise known as please don't lynch the writer day.

Side Dishes In The Feast Part 2

NOTE: This is yet another collection of scenes from around the Feast, along with an intro of a new character. Please excuse me if I managed to screw anything up, or offend anyone. Feel free to ask questions.

Decidedly Low Tech

    The Turkish Tapestry room had an extraordinarily decorative door. It was hidden in a difficult to find area of Sir Mumphrey Wilton's home, the perfect location for an alleged assassin. A dark, distant corner at the end of a long hallway. It was almost intimidating to approach the door and gently tap on it.

    Yuki Shiro volunteered for that frightening task. She was much less easily intimidated than most, especially Al B. Harper, who either was following her closely or attempting to hide behind her.

    Rumors were keeping Al B's mind busy and his voice quiet. He heard that the Asian assassin within was inhumanly quick and deadly, that she would as soon look at you as kill you. That she could be set off by the wrong word, the wrong glance. After all, she tried to kill Mumphrey once, and the only thing that saved him only by a hair was a twist of fate.

    But all of those rumors faded away when he saw the Asian assassin, shorter and smaller than either him or Yuki, open the door. She had silky black hair cascading down past her shoulders, and she wore a smile, even though her eyes looked tired, and she wore socks on her feet but no shoes. He felt even more at ease when she greeted them.

    "Good evening," she said.

    Yuki froze for a moment, considering what she should do or say first. She opened with a quick bow, and then introduced herself and Al B. "I'm Yuki Shiro," she said, "and this is my friend and associate, Al B. Harper."

    The Asian woman bowed in return. "Keiko Takashi," she said briefly. "Why did you seek me out?"

    "Al saw you walking around earlier," Yuki explained. "He asked Asil which room you were staying in." She smiled. "Honestly, he was afraid of you. I made him come here to face his fear."

    "Hmm." Keiko looked around the purple haired Yuki, and noted Al B standing behind her. "Am I frightening?" she asked.

    Al B. shivered a little. "I...I heard rumors about you being a deadly assassin."

    "Not tonight I'm not," Keiko said with a slight smile. "Tonight I plan to relax and enjoy watching the guests here interact."

    "So what are you doing in your room?" Yuki asked. Al B. cringed, hoping that Keiko wouldn't take offense.

    Keiko looked behind her. "I was taking a short nap. The jet lag was becoming awful."

    "Oh!" Al B exclaimed, "That explains the socks."

    "No." Keiko looked down. "I'm in socks because I like how it feels to walk on the rugs without shoes." She stepped aside suddenly and waved her arm, suggesting the two of them come in. They both did so, and sat in a small reception area near the door.

    "This is nice," Al B commented. "My room isn't this cozy."

    "But it has enough room for two people," Yuki added. She quickly looked at Keiko, waiting for a reaction, but Keiko didn't move a muscle.

    "What do you two do?" Keiko asked.

    "I'm a private detective," Yuki said. "Al helps me out, but mostly he works as a freelance scientist and physicist."

    Keiko nodded. "Both sound interesting. I work as a police detective in Garden City." She smiled. "I have the same job as you, Yuki, only I have more paperwork."

    "What are you planning to wear to dinner?" Al B asked.

    "I haven't decided," Keiko replied. "I have a red kimono, and a black dress."

    "They're both your color," Al B blurted out.

    Yuki stared at him curiously.

    "I will probably choose the kimono," Keiko whispered, partly to herself. "A dress may attract too much unwanted attention."

    "No kidding," Al B said, "Especially with CSFB! around."

    "Red kimono it is," Keiko decided. She looked at Al B and smiled. "Thank you for helping me."

    "Uh...no problem." Al B scratched the back of his neck nervously.

    "Excuse me for a moment, please." Keiko requested as she rose and headed outside the room for a moment.

    Al B looked at Yuki. "She's kind of nice for a supposed bloodthirsty killer," he told her.

    Yuki laughed.

---

The Many-Angled Mini-Plot

    In the hallway outside the Turkish Tapestry Room, Keiko suddenly appeared in the way of a figure she saw approaching the bathroom only a couple of yards away. She was taken aback when she realized that the figure was essentially just a semi-transparent blob. She guessed from the guest list that it had to be the Manga Shoggoth.

    "Excuse me," she asked bravely, "Are you planning to use this bathroom?"

    'No,' the Shoggoth bubbled. 'Are you?'

    Keiko smiled slightly, trying to give a show of politeness as she added, "No, but I'm a little possessive about this bathroom. I'm trying to keep anyone from making a mess of it."

    'If anyone attempts to make a mess I shall digest it," the Shoggoth told her. 'Feel better?'

    "Not...entirely," Keiko replied. "But I appreciate your attempt to help."

    The Manga Shoggoth seemed to be distracted when Yuki and Al B. Harper stepped into the hallway to see what was going on. He shuffled closer to Yuki, who backed away slightly. 'You are composed of many interesting compounds. May I take a sample?'

    "No!" Yuki jerked her arm away from the Shoggoth.

    Keiko looked at the Shoggoth, and then at Yuki. "I thought something was odd about you. The artificial hair, the eyes. The Shoggoth saying you are made of interesting compounds."

    Yuki sighed, and looked at Al B for a moment. "I have a synthetic body. But my brain is human."

    'Not even a finger?' the Shoggoth asked.

    "It's impolite to ask a woman to donate body parts," Keiko scolded the Shoggoth. He fell strangely silent after that. Keiko looked at them both and turned back toward her room. "I suppose I'll see you all at dinner." She nodded to the Shoggoth. "You as well."

    'I will be looking forward to it,' the Shoggoth bubbled. Once Keiko left, he turned his attention to Yuki again. 'Do you work for Section Nine?'

    Yuki seemed confused by his question, but then the reason dawned on her. "No," she laughed. "But I can see why you would think so. I'm a private detective."

    'Oh.' The Shoggoth sounded disappointed. 'There is someone I would like you to meet, Private Detective Yuki.'

    "Why does it sound like the title of an anime when he says that?" Al B wondered to himself.

    Immediately after that, Al screamed and stumbled backwards when a large object came tumbling out of the Shoggoth's mass, something which shouldn't have been able to take up the same space without being visible, yet wasn't at all visible before now.

    The Shoggoth slime covering the large object melted into a puddle, and a girl in her late teens with long black hair emerged. She opened her eyes and looked around...she appeared to be Chinese.

    'I found her wandering the streets of Mangatown,' the Shoggoth told them. 'She calls herself Liu Xi Xian.'

    "And she can survive hiding within you?" Al B asked, perplexed.

    'She carries within her the power of the ancient elements,' the Shoggoth replied. 'She understands more than she sees, and sees more than she understands.'

    The girl rose slowly to her full height of only barely over five feet tall. She looked at Yuki and Al B as she blinked slowly, trying to get her vision and mind to the here and now. She wore a long white tunic that resembled an oversized shirt with a solid collar and slits on both sides from her waist down, and a red symbol painted on her chest. She also wore what seemed to be white pants and white moccasin-like slippers.

    "You want me to find her family, right?" Yuki asked.

    'Her parents and grandparents are dead,' the Shoggoth said. 'If she has family left, they would be in China. She was bought by a resident of Paradopolis in Shanghai and brought here but she ran away.'

    "Bought?" Al B asked.

    'She was purchased to become someone's wife.'

    "And now she's your wife?" Al B asked jokingly. He backed away in fear when the Shoggoth made a sound that seemed too much like a growl.

    'She is being trained with Ebony. She has much power and must learn to use it responsibly.'

    "What's this power you keep mentioning?" Yuki asked.

    "I have been taught," the young woman replied slowly, in broken English, "My mother and grandmother to use five element."

    'We are also teaching her English,' the Shoggoth added. 'Already she can speak nearly as well as Yo.' He turned his attention to Liu Xi. 'Can you please solve the shortage problem with this bathroom?'

    "Water, Metal, and Earth," Liu Xi clapped her hands together and looked upward.

    'I should mention,' the Shoggoth added as he rolled a careful distance away from Liu Xi, 'She is on her way to mastering Void as well.'

    Yuki stepped back and pulled Al B behind her gently. By the time she looked up again, the bathroom seemed the same...only there was another directly across the hall from it, which seemed to have crammed itself between two rooms.

    "Is this...real?" Al B asked. "Or if I go in there, will I be in someone's room?"

    'Void is the space between reality,' the Shoggoth explained. 'Her currently level of mastery is what allowed her to appear from me without going insane. I assure you, the bathroom itself is real. I advise you not to think too deeply about where it is, however.'

    "Why? Will it disappear?" Al B worried.

    'No,' the Shoggoth warned, 'But you might.'

    Liu Xi smiled for the first time since her arrival, and giggled. "He is making joke. Bathroom is safe."

    Al frowned, still panting from thinking about the idea of walking into the wrong bathroom and disappearing. "I...I didn't know he made jokes."

    "I'm very pleased to meet you, Liu Xi." Yuki bowed to her slightly, and the young Chinese girl bowed in return.

    Liu Xi then turned to the Manga Shoggoth and asked him a question in Chinese.

    'Yes. You are correct,' he replied. 'Please excuse us,' he directed at Al B and Yuki, 'We have other matters to attend to. High Priestess Ebony requires an onsen.'

    Al B turned pale again and watched in horror as the young Chinese girl simply stepped into the Shoggoth's mass and disappeared, and then the Shoggoth himself became smaller and smaller until he vanished from sight.

    "You're in the Lair Legion," Yuki said, "Isn't this something you see all the time?"

    "I have a very analytical mind," he admitted. "Yes, I see it. But I don't think I'll ever get used to it."

    "Hmm." Keiko observed from her partially open door as Yuki and Al B walked away. "That was interesting."

-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2004 by Jason Froikin, and may not be
-- reprinted without permission.
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
-- Lui Xi Xian is an original character by Jason Froikin
-- Keiko Takashi is part of World Class (C) 2004 by Jason Froikin

Post By Anime Jason Wed Dec 29, 2004 at 12:57:17 am EST	Subject "Side Dishes", part 2: A meeting, and a little impromptu introduction. Otherwise known as please don't lynch the writer day.

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