The Actions That Follow Chapter 3

	—CHAPTER 3—

	Ashi's life was going nowhere.
	Here she was, a twenty-seven-year-old woman, living in a big city, and she had nothing to show for it. She had been working towards a Bachelors in Natural Science, and transferring to the University of Burlington was the final stretch. Even still, she was on her own when it came to tuition, which was surprising considering who her Father was. But Ashi wanted to prove that she could make it on her own, and she made every attempt to distance herself from her Father’s controversial reputation.
	The day she found out her Father was "the great AKu" was supposed to change her life for the better. And for a long time, it did. No longer did she and her sisters have to live under the strict tutelage of her awful Mother. Their new Father was much more lenient with them; they had the freedom to do whatever they wanted, and with their Father's immense wealth, they had the means to as well. She was now the child of a wealthy entrepreneur. Lavish mansions, fine dining, and first-class travel was now hers to enjoy. Her world was once small, but now the sky was the limit.
	AKu promised them whatever they desired, and he certainly meant it. But what she eventually realized was that what THEY wanted was supposed to be what HE wanted. If their Father ever wanted things a certain way, he would get it. Nobody could tell him no. One day Ashi asked him what he did to get where he was, and he replied, "nothing"; AKu told her that only ever made others do things FOR him, and as his daughter, he encouraged her to live accordingly.
	For a long time after that, the young girl mulled over what her Father had told her. He always seemed so happy, could the key to that really be doing nothing yourself? She thought about it, being waited on, hand and foot. Like one of those guys in the robes with people feeding grapes; she saw it on a "cartoon" the other day, something she was never able to watch until recently. Laying on a couch and watching tv was certainly relaxing, but she would always get bored before long, and pine for the grass she used to lay in, the sky she looked up at, the sun and clouds that patched the ground with dark spots. She couldn't imagine lying around like that her whole life; after all, you can't do martial arts on your back. Well, maybe some of it you could, but it was usually done standing up, and Ashi preferred it that way.
	On the other hand, her Mother always told her to be focused. Driven. Tenacious. She always painted the world as a cruel, unforgiving place, where only the strong survive. "If you truly want something, you must take it for yourself. Otherwise someone will steal it away, and you'll be left with nothing. Do not concern yourself with others, you can only ensure your own survival." Her Mother's words rang in her head. "Never relent. ALWAYS. ATTACK."
	As obedient as she was to this advice, it didn't always work in her favor. The only time she really put it to use was in her karate class, and while she could demolish any of the other students, she always ended up flat on her back against Jack. He was impervious to her Mother's advice, and she never understood why. And now her Father is telling her to get someone else to do things for her. How could she watch out for herself if she needed someone to do that too? And why would they help her in the first place if everyone was only out for themselves.
	Something didn't add up; one of her parents was mistaken, but who? Could they both be wrong?
	Ashi pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind. If she let them distract her, the world would surely steamroll right over her. Better now to follow the man who is charged with raising her; surely, he knows what's best for now, she thought.
	So Ashi and her sisters became true daughters of AKu. They lived with him in his billion-dollar mansion, seated atop the highest property in the Californian west coast. She and her sisters were given every luxury: they could have any toys they desired, could eat any food whenever they wanted, and weren't told when to go to bed OR when to wake up. But Ashi's favorite part was the balcony. Her enormous new home had a grand balcony that overlooked everything. She could see an orange-soaked landscape down below, and a deep blue ocean stretching over the horizon. At daybreak, Ashi's Father would sit with her on the balcony, and they would watch the sunset fall behind the sea. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She looked up at him and said, "Daddy, I love you". Her Father smiled down at her, patted her head, and lovingly replied, "My dear daughter".
	Ashi felt like a princess in one of those colorful movies her sisters keep showing her; her Father was the king, and this was her castle.
	But it wasn't long before her life became a little too reminiscent of a dizz knee movie (was she saying that right?). Only three months had gone by, and already her Father was around less and less. AKu would tell his daughters that he had to oversee people who were doing important business on his behalf, and he would leave them under the supervision of the many servants present in the vast mansion. Whatever they needed, they could go to a servant and he would quickly provide them with it. They were still getting everything they asked for, as long as they didn't ask to speak to their Father; he specifically ordered his servants to "NOT LET THEM DISTURB AKUUUU!!"
	But of course, Ashi missed the quality time she had been spending with her Father, and all the toys and ice cream in the world couldn't fill the void when he was gone. She played with her sisters sometimes, but they all seemed perfectly satisfied with their new living situation. It made her feel wrong, why was she the only one not getting it? She thought back to her Mother, looking at her like she was a weak little thing. And right now, she was. Just a little girl who missed her daddy, and she had no one to turn to about it.
	The years went by, holidays past, and visits from Dad were scarce. But near the end of Summer after the girls all turned thirteen, Dad came home with some "exciting" news. He said he had enrolled his daughters into Winterwood Academy, "the most prestigious girls boarding academy in the country—no, the world!". He handed them each a brochure, and it looked like a nice enough place (but Ashi quietly wondered where all the snow was). The entire inside of the brochure was a professionally developed shot of the building and school grounds with text over it, and stock images of smiling girls in uniform holding books strewn about. On the back cover, the school's mission statement was printed in stylish cursive, an eloquent spiel about "traditional values" and "the girls of tomorrow". They were set to leave by the start of September, and their Father assured them they would be attending a place where they would thrive.
	Ashi was disheartened that she would have to uproot herself all over again; the sisters would be home for holidays and summers, but for the most part they would be living at school, away from the kingdom Ashi now called home. She wanted to speak up, but she saw how excited her Dad seemed about the whole thing; the last thing she wanted to do was disappoint her Father. So when August came to a close, and the weather started to turn cold, Ashi and her sister's packed their things and got in their awaiting limousine, bound for their new academic home.
	Upon arrival, it was clear that the brochure did not do justice to the school's outward appearance. The grounds were located in a secluded hillside, surrounded by a dense forest of that had only just begun to adopt autumn hues. Ashi looked around in awe at all the nature she was surrounded by; maybe this place wouldn't be so bad.
	But once the semester started, and the girls got into the swing of things, Ashi learned that her newest home was a more like a step backwards. Not only was she back under constant supervision, but this time it was by an entire faculty. They had strictly regimented times for eating, sleeping, studying, recreation, and even hygiene; the only positive factor was that their judgmental glares were nothing compared to the looks her Mother used to give on a daily basis.
	The workload was quite difficult as well. With her Mother, Ashi only had to worry about following directions, and being perfect in doing so. Now, on top of that, she had to worry about all kinds of academic assignments. How many sixteenths in a quarter? What is the capital of Nebraska? What is the powerhouse of the cell? So much new information was being fed to her all the time, she felt like her head was spinning. The worst part was that every room had an enormous window, bordered by colorful stain glass. Sunlight would always shine in on her morning classes, the glass provided a view of the trees and nature outside, that lie tantalizingly close, yet still so far out of reach. The woods surrounding the campus were strictly off limits; the only times any student was allowed to go in was on scheduled nature walks, and even then, they were heavily supervised.
	Ashi didn't really make any friends her entire time she attended the academy. The dorm rooms were arranged alphabetically, so of course Ashi ended up rooming with one of her sisters; it wasn't a bad time, but Ashi wished she could bond with someone who wasn't blood related to her. She had a few acquaintances she saw in and out of class, but never got the chance to really know them. She wasn't alone, but she was definitely lonely.
	Even with these challenges, Ashi made it through her four-year career at Winterwood Academy (but she still never saw a single snowflake). Her grades were above average, but they were nothing to write home about; at least not with the "higher learning going on at that school. The girls waited for their limo to arrive, their Father coming to take them home again. Pretty soon it pulled up, and door opened to reveal...not their Father. Instead a large, intimidating man climbed out the driver's seat, and opened the limousine door. Out stepped a skinny man with a narrow face, and blue hair that was spiked up to look almost like fire. He wore an all-black suit that reminded them of their Dad's, and he spoke in a voice that sounded much like his only in a much higher register. He introduced himself as Derek Morgan, AKu's top assistant, which made Ashi wonder how many her Dad actually had. He had been sent by their Father to pick them up and deliver them to his house, while AKu himself was on a "business venture". Ashi heard him talking on his cell phone in the car, and he mentioned her Dad being caught up in some "water dispute" whatever that meant. She didn't like the look of this guy, and he was apparently her Dad's right-hand man? Why would he hire such shady people, she wondered?
	After four years at Winterwood, now seventeen years old, Ashi and her sisters had been given a year break from their studies, and she needed something to do with herself. Her Mother came to visit at one point, and tried to coax her into getting involved with her career; Ashi finally learned what her Mother did for a living, ran a successful health and fitness program that people all over the nation had been using. The large muscular woman who used to watch over the daughters when they still lived with Mother finally made sense to Ashi. But after spending four years in a school that emulated her early years, she wasn't about to go back to "serving" under her Mother.
	Instead, Ashi asked one of her Father's servants to get her the number of the best martial artist money could buy. It had been so long since she even thought about her favorite past time, and now she had the time and the means to really get into it. She ended up getting referred to a band of travelling hunters, known as the Imakandi. They were renowned for their superb hunting and tracking skills, but they were also skilled martial artists; there were rumors that they served as mercenaries, not for money, but for a "worthy hunt". Apparently though, they would only agree to teach someone once that person found them, as they would seclude themselves in whatever they took temporary residence in, and the woods just outside of town seemed like the perfect place for them.
	With four years hiking experience under her belt, Ashi geared up with all sorts of wilderness essentials, and headed out to find her soon-to-be mentors. The Imakandi were well known for marking their territory, and that was how she was going to find them. Ashi followed the strange footprints and noticeable scratch marks on the trees. Just as soon as the sun went down, she saw an orange glow up ahead. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the Imakandi campsite; a bonfire roared in the middle, illuminating their marked faces and the teepee-like lodgings they had built.
	One of them approached her, "What business do you have in our territory, girl?" The man was rather intimidating, but Ashi stood firm. She didn't come all this way to wimp out now. "I have come to learn your ways. I followed the trail you left, and it lead me to this place." His face remained stoic as he replied, "Then you have passed the first test. Come over to the fire." He led her to the group of men sitting around the fire, similarly dressed and built, except for one. A much older looking man, with a fierce mask covering his face and loud beads around his neck, wrists and ankles. She was seated across from him front of the fire, and the smoldering blaze only seemed to intensify the old man's piercing gaze as he watched her through his mask. She sat there, unsure of what to do, when one of the other men held a wooden bowl of pink petals in front of her. She looked across at the old man, and he nodded to reassure her; she grabbed a handful of the petals, watched the old man mime throwing something into the fire, and followed suit with what she held. The petals sizzled for a moment or two, then the old man raised his hands and looked up, as if giving reverence to the moon. Suddenly, the fire turned blue and shot up into a pillar of flames, which caused Ashi to retreat slightly. The flame died down enough so that she could see the old man again, who looked her in the eyes for a moment and nodded. One of the men spoke up, "The Shaman has spoken, you are worthy of our ways." Ashi had no idea what just happened, but was glad the ordeal wasn't for nothing. First thing in the morning, she was to begin her training.
	Over the course of the next year, Ashi had learned many new skills from her Imakandi mentors. Her senses had improved drastically, she was now an expert tracker. They taught her to hunt and trap animals, but she wasn't comfortable killing and eating anything; good thing the Imakandi only hunted for sport. They had also taught her a multitude of new martial arts techniques, which when combined with her sharpened senses, made her a force to be reckoned with. Her final test was a spar with the leader of the tribe, whom she had sparred with multiple times throughout the year. Like their subsequent matches, Ashi didn't win, but her mentors assured her that her performance was acceptable regardless. She was now an honorary Imakandi, and though they offered her a chance to stay and travel with them, Ashi declined. She still had a family to go back to, and even though they weren't always on the same page, she wasn't going to outright abandon them for good. The tribe understood her sentiment; they escorted her out of the forest, wished their student the best, and retreated back into the forest.
	From the woods, Ashi walked all the way back to her home; after her training, walking a few miles was nothing to her. She walked into her home expecting a big welcome after being gone so long, but all she got was a dismissive hello from her sister's, who had barely noticed her absence in the first place. They had really taken on the flighty rich girl persona; they sat there in their expensive clothing, scrolling away on their fancy new smartphones. Ashi felt she was the only one to hold on to her independence (or whatever was left of it after Winterwood), and her time with the Imakandi only strengthened that feeling. Her Dad was nowhere to be found—big surprise—but he soon returned from who knows where with an important announcement: the girls were going to college.
	Before any of them could ask him which one, he clarified that THEY would be the ones to decide where they attended classes. And it didn’t have to be unanimous either, each of the seven teens could pick any school they wanted, regardless of what the others chose. Almost all of them were excited now, they prattled on about what schools they wanted to go to; Harvard, Stanford, Colombia, all the top schools were brought up as the girls deliberated on where they should go. The only one who wasn’t visibly excited was Ashi, and AKu took notice of this.
	He knelt beside her, “My sweet Ashi, why do you not celebrate with your sisters? You have an exciting four years ahead of you at the university of your choosing, no matter the how costly it may be!” He lifted her chin with his index finger, “After all, the daughters of AKu deserve no less than the finest academic institutions! You are certainly lucky to share my blood.” He chuckled at his own joke, but the wording only made Ashi more uncomfortable. She started to explain, “Well, Father, that’s actually the problem.” His beaming face turned to one of confusion, and she went on.
	“Our whole lives, we’ve only been receiving all these luxurious things because of you! Of course, we’re you children, so it makes sense that you would do all of these things for us. But…I don’t feel like I deserve these things if I didn’t work for them.” Ashi looked at her Dad for some kind of confirmation that he understood what she meant, but he just stared at her blankly. Before she could start to get discouraged, she went for a different approach. “W-What I mean is…I DO want to go to college, the one that I choose. But, I want to get in on my own. I’m not a kid anymore, I want to prove to myself that I’m capable!”
	AKu stood up and blinked, processing what she had just confessed to him. Were his ears deceiving him? Was his own flesh and blood saying that she wanted to be accountable for her own actions? The very thought of such a concept made him shudder, and he was about to put his foot down on the matter when he looked down at Ashi. She was staring up at him with bright eyes, and a tiny dimpled smile; it was such a pure sight that for a second, he swore he actually felt something. Disgusting, he thought. But he could not ignore his daughter’s pleas, no matter how deplorable they seemed to him. But rather than shooting her down outright, AKu thought of an ingenious idea, and cracked a devilish grin to himself.
	He looked at her again, while stroking his goatee. “Oh, my dear sweet Ashi. It does your old man’s heart wonders to see his own offspring with such a desire to take control of her own life, you remind me of myself when I was your age. Yes, sixteen is a pivotal age that paves the way for one’s future success!”
Ashi chimed in, “Dad, I’m eighteen”.
	His face drooped for a moment when she said this, but he quickly brushed it off, “O-Oh yes, of course! So sorry about that, you know how your old man is with time, ha-ha!” Her Father stood up straight, as though he was about to give an inspirational sermon. “But what I’m getting at is that you understand the crucial age in which a young woman such as yourself, on the cusp of adulthood, must take hold of her own destiny! And so, dear daughter, I am giving you back the reins, so to speak. I won’t spend a dime towards your higher education, I will leave it all to you.”
	Ashi’s face lit up with excitement, until her Dad threw in a “BUT…!” She paused; “but” what? Was there some sort of stipulation to her Father’s promise?
	AKu spoke again, “I will only respect your financial independence, if you make your living working for your Mother’s organization. That is my only demand.” Her heart sank; she had to go back to work for her Mother? Only this time she would ACTUALLY be working for her, and that sounded ten times worse. It was a tough call: either she accepted her Father’s money to get her into a prestigious school at the turn of autumn, relenting to a life of vapid luxury, or willingly become an indentured servant to her Mother, for the sake of buying her own way into a modest college eventually (realistically, she had no idea how long she would be working to pay for school).
	But this was the only way she could be free to provide for herself, and wasn’t going to be scared away. She was no longer the scared little girl that was always looking to impress Mommy; she was officially an adult now, one that spent an entire year in the woods, vigorously training with legendary martial artists. She was clearly more than capable of handling herself, so what did she have to be afraid of? Whatever her Mother was going to dish out, she could take it.
	Ashi and her Father shook hands; he agreed to stay out of her business when it came to school, and she was going to pay her way through school working under her Mother. It was the perfect arrangement, especially for AKu, who had been getting angry calls from his ex-wife for months now, about how he never let her visit their children. What better way to shut her up then to send her one of her daughters as an indentured servant for an indeterminate amount of time. After all, he never really believed Ashi would be able to pay off her tuition on her own. She would eventually come crawling back, unable to support herself in the scary real world, but until then he—or rather his servants—had one less mouth to feed. The devious AKu was killing two birds with one stone.
	That following week, while her sisters left for their respective schools, Ashi left for Pennsylvania, her old hometown, where she started working for her Mother’s nutritional centers. Her business had expanded greatly since AKu came back into their lives. Even after getting out of prison, he was still obligated to pay alimony; with his enormous wealth, a few thousand bucks to the ex now and then was of little concern. But her Mother had put that money to good use, especially considering she wasn’t actually supporting seven kids any more.
	Her business started as a small compound in the local business district, but in the ten years Ashi had been on the west coast, that small compound was now a fifteen-story office building that acted as the central hub of over a dozen fitness and nutritional centers around the country. The state government had finally caught on to the alimony she wasn’t using on her kids, but her business had already gained enough traction to sustain itself at that point.
	After she got a tour of the building and its facilities, Ashi’s Mother showed her to her workstation. It was a traditional office cubicle; a brand-new PC sat there on the desktop, next to a metal filing cabinet, a telephone, and a whole lot of empty desk space. Her Mother explained the different jobs that Ashi would be doing, each one sounding droller than the last.
The last step of the tour was a visit to her Mother’s office, to discuss the “finer points” of the job. As soon as Ashi stepped into the room, her Mother made it very clear that there would be no nepotism in this office.  “You are on the same level as the other employees; less even, since you’re new. Punctuality is your first task. You are to be here every morning at or before Seven AM sharp. That means you are clocked in NO LATER than seven. Is that clear?”
	Ashi weakly replied, “Yes, Mother” but it didn’t cut it.
	“ARE. WE. CLEAR?”
	“YES, MOTHER! WE ARE CLEAR!!” They stared each other down for a moment.
	“…Good, then I’ll see you tomorrow morning. When?”
	Ashi had turned to walk out, but stopped dead in her tracks, and turned back around rigidly, “AT or BEFORE seven AM SHARP.” She said sarcastically.
	“Excellent…I’ll see you at home.”
	“Yeah, okay.” Ashi closed the office door behind her and let out a heavy sigh. This was going to be a challenge.
	It wasn’t, but that was precisely the problem. She spent eight hours Mondays through Fridays, doing menial tasks to promote the company’s products. One of which was to pick out phone numbers from a list and call them to solicit the various supplements and services the company offered. Ashi was a glorified solicitor, but at least the pay was decent. She was only getting a basic salary though, and she secretly wished her Mother wasn’t against nepotism; maybe she’d have a bigger paycheck.
	A year into her new job, she was now tasked with driving the company car to other businesses, to organize the selling of the company’s products at other outlets. Ashi liked it a lot better than sitting in a cubicle, filing paperwork and making calls, but she usually had to make the drive in the middle of the day, and the commute was horrible.
	Three years later, and she finally had enough to put a down payment on classes at the University of Pennsylvania; now she was balancing her job, and a full course schedule, with the Natural Sciences as her selected Major. During the day, she worked at the nutrition company, and then in the evening she would make the commute to campus for her night classes. Ashi would’ve loved to live on campus, but the cost of residence life would have made the tuition much worse, and she would have to work for her Mother until she was in her sixties.
	Ashi was successfully balancing work and school, but it was taking its toll on her. Before she started her classes, she was back at her old martial arts academy, only now she was taking the adult classes. Now she was truly the top student; her training with the Imakandi put her leagues above her classmates. She could even give the instructor a run for his money in a spar. It was the perfect way to blow off steam from her boring desk job.
	But now she had no time to fit those classes into her schedule; she was off Saturday and Sunday from both work and school, but martial arts classes weren’t held on weekends. The only solace was the college parties that were held on Friday and Saturday nights. She wasn’t well acquainted with anyone from the University, but these parties were open to everyone, so it made little difference to anyone if she was there.
	But her presence certainly wasn’t ignored. While Ashi herself had never acknowledged her “womanly” developments (aside from her time of the month, something impossible for her to miss), but the male partyers took immediate notice. Many of them would approach her, offering her drinks and trying to get her some place private. But Ashi, with no experience in flirting, simply dismissed the strangers. But the drinks they gave her definitely helped her enjoy the party, as well as taking the edge off after such a stressful routine. The only men Ashi got intimate with at parties were a Mr. Daniels, a captain, and one of the founding fathers, and they were all very good to her.
	Ashi spent the next three years going through the motions like this: work during the day, class at night, and excessive alcohol consumption on the weekends. It was sustainable for a while, but then her performance at work and in class; both her Mother and her professors took note, the former had scolded her for her poor work ethic. The lack of nepotism was once again apparent, as Ashi’s Mother threatened her job if she didn’t pick up her slack. Her professors warned her that if she didn’t get her grades up, she wouldn’t pass the semester. And drinking was doing nothing to solve these problems accept push them to the back of her mind for the time being.
	Ashi finally decided she needed a change. The next few weeks, she spent her free time at work looking up Universities with much cheaper tuition, but one that wouldn’t be too much trouble to get to. Eventually she settled on the University of Burlington, with a tuition nearly a quarter of what it was at Pennsylvania, it was only some ways up north from there as well. But getting there was another issue. She could always take a bus or train, but maybe it was time to tap into her…parental influence. She too out her cell phone, hit speed dial number 1, and waited for her Father to pick up.
	Having agreed to send his “top assistant” to drive her up to Vermont, Ashi finished up her business in Pennsylvania. Classes were finished by this point, and Ashi managed to pass her finals, if just barely. She spent the next week working extra hours, and as painful as it was, she had a good amount of money saved up at this point; enough to find decent place in Burlington, and to cover the first semester’s tuition at her new school until she found work up there. She had officially transferred her credits to Burlington, and now she simply needed to wait for Derek and his entourage to pick her up.
	But when the car pulled up, the person who got out was certainly not Derek. Instead, a rather tall man in a purple zoot suit and an orange ascot stepped out, apparently unaware how out -dated his ensemble really was. He also wore a dark blue rice-patty hat, and Ashi quietly joked to herself that this guy must be employed in her Father’s rice fields.
	He went up to her, took off his hat and bowed to her; “Mademoiselle, allow me to introduce myself! I’m Skylar Mooney, better known as, SCARAMOUCHE!” He shouted flamboyantly with his arms outstretched, then went to shake her hand. “Pleasure to meet ya, babe!”
	Ashi shook his hand, looking at him warily. “Scaramouche” (what’s with these guys and nicknames?) then took her bags for her, putting them in the trunk as she got in the passenger seat. He closed the trunk and hopped back into the driver’s seat’ “Buckle up, babe! We’re in this for the long haul, OH YEAH!!” He shouted as they sped off toward the expressway.
	But what happened to Derek, wasn’t he the top assistant? Maybe Skylar had answers so she decided to inquire him about it. “Hey, what happened to Derek? Usually my Dad sends him…not that I’m ungrateful about you doing this, I’m just curious.”
	Scaramouche looked at her curiously, the name didn’t ring a bell to him, but when Ashi clarified that she was talking about “Demongo”, it all came back to him. “OH YEAH, I remember that guy! He got busted a looong time ago, I’m surprised you haven’t heard about it.”
	This was news to Ashi, “Wait, what do you mean “busted”? What happened to him?”
	“Well this happened before your Dad hired me, so I only know this through hearsay, but apparently he had an entourage of ex-felons that were working off book, and apparently they weren’t too willing. He’d been plucking them straight out of prison, even before their sentences were up; too bad there’s no one to do that for him now, eh?” Ashi thought back to all the scary men Derek surrounded himself with, and the news that they were all convicts made sense to her.
	Skylar spoke up again, “It’s actually kind of funny, where he got busted is where we’re headed right now! Ain’t that a coinky dink?” It certainly was a coincidence, it seemed her Father and his associates had a lot more ties to Burlington than she was aware of. “Your Dad’s been to that place multiple times the past few years; apparently he had kind of a feud going with one of the cops that busted Demongo, but it’s been over for a while now. Your Dad made a couple power moves, and eventually that cop overstepped his boundaries and got arrested himself! I think the charges got dropped or something, but I haven’t anything new about him. The guy probably skipped town, what a disgrace he must feel like! Plus, your Father hasn’t been back there in a year or so, I hope you didn’t expect to see him, babe.” That wasn’t a joke, but Ashi still found it funny; when did she ever expect to see her Dad? Maybe on a tv ad or a billboard, but rarely in person.
	Everything Skylar told her about happened in the city Ashi was intending to make her new home, and the fact that her Father had such a presence there made her uncertain if she was making the best choice. While she wasn’t about to abort the whole thing, she was definitely going to keep quiet about her relation to him.
	Skylar broke her train of thought when he spoke up, “So this is all news to you, your Father never told you any of this?” He asked, suddenly wondering whether he’s said too much. Ashi scoffed, “He never tells me anything about what he does, I wouldn’t even believe he had a job if his face wasn’t plastered all over the place. I could get a better update on his work from a newspaper than from him. It’s like he’s got this double life or something, and he always puts his business before his family. He could at least have the decency to give his daughter a lift somewhere, but instead he sends you—no offense.” Skylar waved his hand dismissively, “None taken, babe.”
	She continued, “It’s just…sometimes I feel like he only takes care of me when it suits him; like I’m just another employee he has to manage.” She looked ahead solemnly, and Skylar didn’t know how to respond, so they sat in silence for a good five minutes.
	Eventually, he spoke up again, “So, ya like jazz?” he said, switching on the car stereo. Suddenly a funky but blaring tune started playing through the speakers; drums, a bass guitar, and a frenzied flute played a jazzy melody that was all over the place. To Ashi’s surprise, Skylar started scatting along with it. She had to admit, he was pretty good. But the novelty was bound to wear off before their journey was through, and after a while, Ashi wished she had taken the bus.
	About four hours and five freeform jazz CDs later, they arrived in Burlington. Ashi was pleased with the scenery as they entered Vermont, and was looking forward to the many excursions she would go on in the many woods and mountains not far from the city.
	As for residence, she briefly considered living on campus since she was attending classes anyway, but decided against it; Ashi had been commuting to her old school all this time, might as well keep the streak going. They found her a nice apartment in the University District, so at least she was close to campus. She was fully prepared to make the down payment herself, but Skylar insisted that AKu gave him specific instructions to cover her initial living expenses. He also gave her a check for five thousand dollars, signed by her Dad, which she reluctantly accepted. At least she would be able to focus on school, and hold off on job hunting for a while.
	Once she was settled in, Skylar said “au revoir” to Ashi and left for who knows where. This was the first time she was living truly on her own, instead of always just feeling like she was. The possibilities for what she could do now excited her; the only schedule she had to live off of was her classes, which she could actually take during the day now. She was free to decorate her new home however she pleased, and she could go wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted. The new-found freedom reminded her of when she first started living in California with her Dad, but the memory of those times saddened her a bit. She missed feeling like everything was falling into place, and the fact that she felt a similar way now made her wary.
	That uncertainty ended up reflecting in Ashi’s behavior. Outside of classes, she never went out or made friends; only going out on weekends to local bars. Her Father had been sending weekly checks, enough for her to afford a living, which robbed her of any motivation to look for work. The days began to bleed into each other; she rarely left her apartment, only for class or to buy something essential. Otherwise, she just ordered in. It didn’t take long for the local sushi place to get her order memorized; now, she only had to say her name over the phone and they would get right on it.
	Finally, she finished her last semester, passed all of her finals and got her Bachelor’s in Natural Science. It didn’t make her feel any better though, it only meant that now Ashi really had nothing to do; she wanted to pull her hair out, something had to change.
	Ashi finally decided to go to a bar for the first time in a while, as she had been drinking alone in her apartment as of late. Not the most monumental change of pace, but it was a start. She found this modest place downtown, called “Da Samoorai’s Pad”; the spelling of “Samurai” was a turn off for her, but not enough to deter her from going in. Ashi bought a light beer and went to sit at one of the high tables on the left side of the room. From here, she had a good view of the college students who were clearly having the time of their lives. They were chugging beers while crossing arms, playing all sorts of drinking games, and some were getting rather intimate.
	Ashi watched a frat boy in a tank top as he mingled with a sorority girl, and they seemed to be hitting it off. Moments later, their faces were locked in a messy struggle, and the girl was running her fingers through the boy’s gelled hair. Something about this bothered her; she had never concerned herself with boys, she never had the time for such trivialities. Puberty definitely made that sort of thing hard to ignore, but it’s not like she met that many guys anyway. There were a couple guys in her classes that seemed to show interest in her, and she would talk to them over text for days, but once it came up who her Father was, they would make themselves scarce. Yet another reason she hated being a daughter of AKu.
	Suddenly, someone behind her slammed his hands down on the table, and she and the rest of the bar turned to see a large Scottish man, screaming at the guy with a beard seated next to him. She could barely understand his accent or his Scottish colloquialisms, but what she got out of it was that he wanted his friend the bearded guy to meet someone. He should’ve told him to shave, too, she thought.
	But after the Scottish man stormed into the bathroom, poked his head out, then went back in, Ashi turned back to look down at her drink. That guy seemed to be in a similar predicament to her, but the difference between them was that he had a loud friend to encourage him to change. That was probably what she needed to, someone who cared about her enough to make her do what was best for herself. Her whole life she had to be that person for herself, but after all these years, she had stopped paying attention to her own advice. She had always been alone, and now she was finally realizing that.
	What broke her train of that was a man that stepped into her line of sight, and a weak “hello”; she looked up from her glass to see the bearded man, looking at her through tired eyes and a couple hairs that hung over his face. Something about that look seemed familiar to her, but she couldn’t quite place it.
	She raised an eyebrow, and responded with a careful “hello” of her own.

																—END CHAPTER 3—

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