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Yondi

The Actions That Follow Chapter 4

Jun 17th, 2017
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  1. —CHAPTER 4—
  2.  
  3. The girl replied, “Hello”, looking at Jack warily.
  4. Good start, but where should he go from here? He could offer to buy her a drink, but that might make it seem like he trying to score. Plus, a lot of girls were touchy about that sort of thing nowadays; she might get offended that he assumed she needs a man to buy her things.
  5. While he thought of what to say, he was sort of just staring at her. Her eyes darted back and forth uncomfortably, then back at him with her brow raised expectantly. This brought him back to attention, and he quickly blurted out “AREYOUALONE?”
  6. “W-What?” she stammered, overwhelmed by his sudden reaction.
  7. He pulled it together, “I-I mean, would you…” How should he word this? “…like some company?” Yeah, that works.
  8. Her eyes squinted a bit, probably contemplating his offer. “…Sssssureeeee”, she said with blatant uncertainty. He put his drink on the table and climbed onto the tall chair. “Thank you” he smiled shyly, and she returned it.
  9. But now they were back to the awkward silence, both of them looking around nervously. Her fingers tapped the table, and she held her chin in her palm. Jack knew he was losing her, but he needed some motivation; he took a big swig of his liquor and cleared his throat, “So…uh, are you *ahem* from around here?”
  10. She shifted so that her forearms were crossed on the table. “No, I moved here from Pennsylvania, where I worked at my Mom’s company. I used to live in California with my—well, at my Dad’s house, but Pennsylvania is where I’m originally from.” Jack perked up a bit, “Oh, you’re from Pennsylvania? Me too; do you know of Lancaster?” She nodded, “That’s my hometown.”
  11. Jack blinked; could it really be…? He finally asked, “What is your name?” Her response brought everything flooding back to him.
  12. “Ashi.”
  13. This was her. That girl, the one who always looked so unhappy. The one who never smiled at him, and rebuked his politeness. Here she was, nineteen year-later, still sporting that hairstyle she wore every day. The familiarity of it all gave him pangs of nostalgia. He wondered if she would know who he was.
  14. “Ashi, do you know me? It’s Jack, we used to train together. Do you remember that?” She squinted at him as he looked at her expectantly.
  15. She met his eyes, and then hers widened as the realization hit her. All of the feelings of envy came back to her; sitting in front of her was the boy she used to know, the one that she could never defeat. The one who had two loving, supportive parents by his side. The one who always friendly and smiled at her, even though she outwardly despised him. That fact alone was what stopped her from leaping over the table and pouncing on him Imakandi-style.
  16. She was pretty confident she could take him now. After all, he had clearly let himself go. He wasn’t wearing a top knot anymore, and looked like he hadn’t shaved in a year. Although, Jack didn’t quite look out of shape. He didn’t have bulging stomach or anything, and his arms were clearly defined through the sleeves of the collared shirt he wore. Maybe he could still hold his own.
  17. It was at this point she remembered that Jack was still sitting across from her, waiting for confirmation. “Jack! Yes! I remember you. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” she acknowledged, and he agreed. “Indeed, it certainly is serendipitous that we both ended up here. What area do you live in?”
  18. “The University District, I was attending classes after I transferred from Pennsylvania; I actually graduated a couple months ago.” As Ashi was speaking, Jack saw over her shoulder that Scotsman had returned to his seat, and was watching intently. “Oh, congratulations! What did you study while you were there?” he said as Scotsman winked and gave him thumbs up.
  19. “I studied Natural science. I’ve always loved nature, and I figured it was the most lucrative field to go into. Not that I’m doing anything with my degree at this point”, she joked.
  20. Jack chuckled, “Well, at least you’re not in a job you hate. Trust me, it is worse than unemployment.” Ashi frowned at his change in tone, “Is that how you feel about your job now?” He let out a small sigh, “It is less than ideal, I’ll admit. A nine to five shift at a second-rate grocery store. If money were no object, I would be nowhere near that place.”
  21. “If money were no object”. The words resonated with Ashi, and she wondered how different her life would have been if that were the case. She inquired, “How long have you been working there?” as she took a sip of her beer. “At least a year now. It was the only place that would hire me these days. Before that though, I was a beat cop, and my friend over there was my partner.” Ashi turned to see Scotsman, who still had his eyes glued to them. Awkward. He waggled his fingers at her with a big smile, and she forced one and waved back.
  22. She took note of how Jack seemed to lighten up when he spoke of his old job, so she pressed further. “So, what happened? How come you’re not still on the force?” Jack’s scowl came back, and she suddenly felt she made a mistake. “I quit because I disagreed with the new mode of operation we adopted. Our new commissioner was impeding our work in apprehending criminals, and it’s all because of AKu.”
  23. Wait, what? Jack ended up quitting a job he loved…because of her Father? Why did this scenario ring a bell? “What do you mean by that?” she asked, wanting to know more. He continued, “AKu has a lot of influence around here, which you might’ve already noticed.” Yeah, she definitely knew that. “He has friends on both sides of the law, and he wanted to keep me from meddling in their affairs. But after I quit the force, I kept up with my “meddling” as a private investigator of sorts, while doing labor here and there for people in my neighborhood to stay afloat.”
  24. By the time he had finished speaking, Ashi had figured it out. Jack was the one Scaramouche told her about; the ex-cop who once butted heads with AKu. HE was the Samurai, and her Father ruined his life. But why? She needed answers, and Jack had them. “So…what happened between then and now?” He put down the glass he was taking increasingly bigger sips from, and spoke wearily. “I, uh…it’s a long story, but suffice to say I made a mistake, and almost ended up on the wrong side of the law. I was acquitted, thankfully, but that didn’t matter. I was blacklisted from every place I used to work. I had been abandoned by all of my friends and neighbors, and to this day they still don’t associate with me. Aside from Scotsman, I am utterly alone.”
  25. Ashi didn’t know what to say, so she settled with, “I’m sorry”. She had known that feeling her entire life, and now the boy who once possessed everything she didn’t, was confessing to her that he felt the same way. She wanted to tell him everything about her life, the whole story; if anyone would understand how she felt, it was him.
  26. But then she remembered something crucial: AKu was the man who had brought this misery upon him, and she was his daughter. Every guy she ever met had been scared off when they found out who her Father was, but if Jack knew? He would absolutely hate her for sure. She didn’t want to go through that; he would see he was wasting his time and be done with her, so she decided to beat him to the punch.
  27. They were sitting in silence again, so she used this opportunity to check her phone. It was quarter past midnight, and she DID have quite a walk back home…
  28. “Hey, Jack. It’s pretty late, I think I’m going to head out.” He started to get up, “Oh, do you need a ride home? I can give you a ride on my-“ but she cut him off. “No, no. Thank you, but I don’t mind the walk.” Jack smiled; walking was his preferred transportation as well, so he understood her decision. “Very well. Then I guess I’ll see you around, yes?” Ashi wasn’t sure about that, but she smiled back regardless. “Y-Yeah, I think so. Well, see ya.”
  29. She started to walk out, but Jack called out; “Ashi.” She turned to look at him, “It was…nice, seeing you again.” She gave a sad smile, “Likewise…take care of yourself, Jack”, and walked out the bar door.
  30. Scotsman watched as Ashi left the bar, leaving Jack sitting by himself; he immediately got up and rushed over to him, nearly knocking down a few patrons on the way. “What happened!?” he shouted passionately at Jack, “It looked like you two were hittin’ it off, why’d she skedaddle?” Jack shrugged, “She said it was late, and she had to go. It’s not my place to stop her from leaving.”
  31. His friend shook his head, “Ah, bullocks! Well, you gave it yer best shot, laddie. So, you wanna go another round?” He gestured to the empty mug in his hand, but Jack declined. “No thank you, I think it may be time for me to leave as well. Scotsman agreed, “Aye, me wife’s probably waitin’ up for me, I’ll follow you out.”
  32. Both men paid off their tabs, said goodnight to Sam, and walked out the door. Scotsman turned to Jack, “You’re okay to drive home, yeah?” and he affirmed, “Yes, I only had the one drink.” They said their goodbyes, and walked off in opposite directions towards their respective vehicles. Jack’s ride was parked a few blocks down the street, around a corner; all the parking spots right in front of Da Samoorai’s Pad were taken when he first arrived.
  33. He was walking along when he heard a commotion coming from up ahead. Advancing further, he came to an alley between two older buildings, and peeked around the corner to see a handful of large men surrounding a familiar woman. It was Ashi, and they were clearly harassing her. Jack was about to jump into action when he remembered where he was headed, and decided to take a different approach.
  34. He would have to be quick though, something could happen to her in the time he took to prepare. But he snuck past the alley, then ran another block to the corner where he had parked earlier.
  35.  
  36. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  37.  
  38. Ashi had mixed feelings about that night.
  39. It had been nineteen years since she last saw Jack, and she wasn’t very fond of him back then. But now he was a very different person. The past few years had not kind to him, and he was no longer the positive, youthful boy she remembered. She actually felt guilty about it, knowing her Father had a hand in his fate. It reminded Ashi how little she actually knew about her Father’s actions.
  40. She really wanted to give him her number before she left the bar; seeing Jack reminded her of a much simpler time, and he was still as polite and friendly as ever, albeit with much less enthusiasm. Ashi had a pleasant time speaking to him, and he seemed to reciprocate. But those pleasantries wouldn’t have helped her had he known the truth about her: She was a daughter of AKu. There was no way he would be okay with that, so as much as she wanted to stay and talk with him, she had to give it up.
  41. Ashi was walking down the sidewalk; the University District was quite far from Da Samoorai’s Pad, but the distance didn’t deter Ashi. Up ahead, she saw a group of four men posted against an older building. They were tall and rugged, dressed a little too coordinated for it to be coincidental, and they seemed to be watching her approach. Instead of passing them, Ashi turned down the alley to her right. She had to cross over at some point anyway, so this seemed like the best time.
  42. As she turned down the alley, she noticed the men started walking in her direction. She was getting nervous now, and brought her pace up to a speed walk. She turned to see the men coming down the alley behind her, but failed to notice the man stepping out from behind the dumpster. She stopped just before she walked into him, stepping back to look up at him. He was dressed similarly to the men who were now blocking the end of the alley she had come from.
  43. The man who had been waiting in the alley spoke in a gruff voice. “Well, what do we have here? You look a little lost, sweetheart. Maybe my friend’s and I could help you out?” Ashi sneered at him, “No thank you, I know my way around this city”, and tried to push past him, but he forced her back into the ever-closing circle of men. “Hey, hey, what’s the rush? Here we are, trying to offer a helping hand, and you’re just gonna shut us down like that? Where’s your manners, girl?”
  44. The man to her left butted in, “Maybe she keeps them in here”, as he reached for her purse. Ashi quickly reacted, intercepting his hand and putting it behind his back, then shoving him against the wall. Another of the assailants came behind her and tried to restrain her in a bearhug, but she stomped hard on his foot, elbowed him in the gut, and managed to flip him over her shoulder and onto the ground.
  45. The others were now a bit intimidated by this deceptively tough woman, but before they could go at her themselves, everyone stopped as they heard a loud revving coming from the other end of the alley. Suddenly, a bright light beamed at them, and a motorcycle came barreling down the alley. It made a donut around Ashi, pushing the thugs back against the brick buildings, and stopped in front of her. It was Jack, who gestured with his head, “Get on”; this was a bad time to stop and think, so she hopped onto the bike seat behind him. “Hang on”, he warned, and she firmly put her arms around his waist. The bike’s engine growled, the wheels spun and kicked up loose gravel, and they were gone.
  46. They rode for a few blocks, turning down a side street and pulling over to get their bearings. Ashi carefully got off the bike, trying to hide how much she was shaken by the whole ordeal; mostly the part when Jack showed up, the motorcycle scared the hell out of her. Jack let go of the handlebars and brought his right leg over, so that he was no longer straddling the bike, but leaning against it.
  47. She stood there for a minute, processing everything that just happened, until Jack spoke up; “Are you alright?” he said in a mildly apathetic tone, but Ashi could see the genuine concern in his eyes. Suddenly, she got a flashback of that last tournament nineteen years ago, and the memory of those feelings injected a hint of venom into her response. “I’m fine, I was handling things before you butted in”, she said, crossing her arms and turning up her nose.
  48. Jack looked a little dejected at her reply, and now she felt bad at her ungratefulness. “B-But, I’m glad you did. That was a pretty hairy situation, thank you.” She flashed him a genuine smile, and he perked up a bit.
  49. “So…I would understand if you still wish to walk, but I still wouldn’t mind giving you a lift, if you would feel safer that way.” Jack suggested. Ashi thought about it for a second, then realized how tired she was after he scuffle; walking home would be a real pain at this point. She took him up on his offer and they got back on the bike, headed towards Ashi’s apartment.
  50. They arrived at Ashi’s apartment, and she got off the bike much more confidently this time around. Jack looked at her, “Well, here we are. I guess I’ll see you…” He was about to restart the bike’s engine, but Ashi asked him to wait a moment. She pulled a little slip of paper and a pen out of her purse, wrote down her number, and handed him the note. Not really sure what to do from there, she simply said, “You should, uh…text me, sometime.” Jack stared blankly at the slip of paper, then saw her staring at him expectantly, “S-Sure, sounds good!” They smiled at each other for a moment, until Ashi finally said goodnight; she walked up the stoop to her front door, as he watched her go.
  51. Jack looked at the little slip of paper in his hand; seven digits next to her name, but no last name. He liked to have those in his contacts, he would have to ask her about that later. But that thought was pushed back by the butterflies he had just noticed fluttering around in his stomach.
  52. He sped off on his bike, smiling to himself. This could be the start of something, but only time would tell him what that was.
  53.  
  54. —END CHAPTER 4—
  55.  
  56. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
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