Surprise Guests

Outside of the Higurashi dojo a taxi pulled up, and out of it stepped two people. One was an average-sized young blonde woman wearing tight fitting jeans, white and black shoes and a blue and gray plaid shirt. The other was a huge man, tall and muscular. He was also blonde, and wore jeans, tannish brown timberland boots, and a tight red t-shirt that did very little to hide his bulking muscles. If anything, it accentuated them.

“You sure about this, Josh?” the woman said in a flat, impatient town as she unloaded her bags from the trunk of the taxi. The large man just chuckled while walking around to join her and get his own things. “You need to stop worrying, Jesse. I’m sure they’re all great people here.” “That’s not the issue.” Jesse quickly shot back as she closed the trunk, then turned her eyes to Josh. “I don’t like how things are back home any more than you, but is this really going to be enough to fix anything?”

“Got any better ideas?” Josh questioned rhetorically. They’d been over this a thousand times already, and he knew she wouldn’t be able to answer. Predictably, his sister just stood in silence, rolling her eyes as she looked away. “That’s what I thought. Besides, a little late to turn buck now, ain’t it?” The giant chuckled again and started walking toward the front door of the dojo. Jesse followed a few steps behind. “And when’s the last time we got to see Julia? Don’t you miss your sister?” he asked, again rhetorically. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Jesse replied with a heavy sigh, then stopped right behind Josh once he was at the door. “Well? Ring the doorbell already, would ya?”

“I know, I know.” Josh said as he set his stuff down so he could reach a large finger out to the doorbell and ring it. Then both stood in silence as they waited for an answer...

Gabbie was in the middle of practicing on the bag when the doorbell rang. Junko had installed it so it could be heard anywhere in the house, even in the gym where music blared and headphones were equipped. Still being the newest to officially join the Dojo, it was her job as the kohai to take care of things like answering the door.

Gabbie sighed, pulled off her gloves and wiped herself down with a towel. After a quick drink of water to cool her off, she quickly shuffled through the house and towards the door. Junko, who always surveyed the gym while the girls were working carefully slipped away after Gabbie. She had an idea of who would be at the door, but she was curious as well.

Gabbie opened the door about a minute after it rang and looked at the two standing in front of her. Both were much taller and Gabbie craned her neck upwards. The two were clearly Western and looked familiar in a way she couldn't place.

"Can I help you?" She asked in a courteous tone.

When the door opened, Josh smiled down at Gabbie. “Howdy there. We’re the new assistant trainers. I’m Josh, and this here’s Jesse.” he said, getting right to the point and introducing themselves while pointing a thumb back to the blonde behind him, who just looked forward silently at Gabbie with an almost blank expression. The plane ride from Albuquerque to Tokyo hadn’t been a short one, to say the least. And despite being much friendlier than his sister, even Josh was a bit too tired for small talk at the moment.

The giant briefly looked past Gabbie around what he could see of the inside of the place, as if searching for something, then leaned down and spoke a bit more quietly. “Uh, we’re also Julia’s siblings. I’m pretty sure she ain’t expecting us though, so we were kinda hopin’ to surprise her.” Fortunately, it didn’t seem Julia had noticed they were there yet. It wasn’t often that people came to the dojo specifically to see her anyway, so she typically didn’t react to the doorbell unless she just happened to be near the door when it was rang.

“Yeah, yeah. Is Junko around? Need to let her know we’re here and stuff.” Jesse said impatiently, and Josh just sighed and rolled his eyes. “Don’t mind her. She’s...just tired.” Josh said, now awkwardly smiling and rubbing a hand over the back of his head.

"Uhhhh, what?"

Gabbie furrowed her brow at Josh's words. Despite the friendly greeting, she hadn't heard anything about assistant trainers and she certain didn't feel like she needed them. New members was one thing but new staff? That was totally not ok!

However, when they revealed themselves to be related to Julia, Gabbie perked up a bit more. The certainly did bare a striking resemblance to the plucky up and comer. "Oh, ok." She said, souring a bit once more at Jesse's response. However, she was about to welcome them in when Junko burst from behind Gabbie with a bright grin on her face.

"Fufufufu!" She chuckled and slipped past Gabbie. She looked over Josh and nodded with approval. "Josh-kun, I presume? Fufufu~" She said and reached up, grabbing for one of his burly muscles. "Oh, my." She said and then hugged him properly, giving him a squeeze that belied her age.

She then moved to the blonde girl behind the big Rogers boy. "Jesse-chan!" She exclaimed with equal enthusiasm. SHe hugged the blonde tightly as well, as if the two were old friends. "Fufu, I'm so glad you came, Julia-chan will be so excited to see you! Fufufu! I can hardly contain myself! I know the two of you must be tired from the trip, but I'll make some tea! I'm sure getting to meet everyone will liven you up! Fufufu~"

Junko then looked at Gabbie. "Gabbie-chan, please get their luggage."

Gabbie nodded politely but seemed a little annoyed. "Hai, sensei." She said and trudged off to get the suitcases from the taxi while Junko escorted the pair in.

Why did Jesse always have to be like that? Josh could see the annoyance in Gabbie’s expression. And he knew Jesse probably saw it too, and that his sister likely didn’t care. Josh had hoped to do all the talking so they could make a decent first impression, but that notion seemed to have just been flung right out the window. But fortunately Junko suddenly showed up and turned the entire vibe around in a heartbeat. For Josh and Jesse, at least.

“Yes ma’am.” Josh replied with a smile and nod when Junko addressed him, then extended a hand to shake hers, thinking she was doing the same. Instead her hand moved past his and grabbed at his muscles. The giant gave an amused chuckle while Jesse just rolled her eyes, and the dojo matriarch’s hug was next on the list of surprises for Josh. He hadn’t expected her to be so energetic and friendly, but he put an arm around her and pat her back before she moved on to give Jesse the same treatment. Naturally, she was much less comfortable with the hug than her brother, but she refrained from protesting and let it happen. “Nice to meet you.” she said.

“Tea and a meet n’ greet sounds perfect.” Josh replied when Junko proposed it, though his focus shifted to Gabbie when she was instructed to get their luggage. “Oh that’s alright, I can...” Before he could finish the sentence Gabbie was already heading toward the taxi, and Jesse nudged Josh to get him moving. “C’mon now, don’t keep her waitin’.” she said, prompting him to walk into the dojo with Jesse following right behind.

“Sorry for troublin’ ya.” Josh said as he followed Junko. “We really appreciate ya helpin’ us out though. It means a lot... Oh wait, forgot, were we supposed to leave our shoes outside or...?” he asked, suddenly remembering it was supposed to be good manners to do that here...or something. He really didn’t know much at all about Japanese customs, nor did Jesse for that matter. Just one more way they’d been just like Julia.

It was nothing for Junko to slip her shoes on and off so when she was escorting the siblings into the house, she paused when Josh spoke up. "Oh, fufuf!" She had forgotten that the two were very "gaijin" and didn't know the strict rules of Japanese culture. "Yes. Shoes come off in the foyer. Don't worry, We'll have you whipped into proud "nihonjin" in no time, fufufu~"

Junko smiled as she peered past them, watching Gabbie struggle a bit to get all of the luggage in one go. It was amusing though. Gabbie was definitely a trooper. She then looked back at the two. "Your promotion wasn't very known here in Japan, but I know that there's definitely a connection." Junko lifted up her hand and extended her pinkie and wiggled it. "My Rosie-chan fought some of the girls who passed through that territory and ended up in Japan." She paused and nodded in a respectful bow. "It was an honor to be able to talk with your parents. It's just a shame we couldn't have had a few wild times together back in the day! Fufufu!"

Junko gave Jesse a playful nudge and winked at Josh. She then frowned a bit. "Though, no one's been too forthcoming with the particulars. I hope that we're just helping and that there isn't any serious issues." She said in a quiet tone. "But, of course I'm willing to do anything I can. Well, we can talk about that later. Let's keep things happy for now!"

Junko slipped her hands around both Rogers siblings and walked them to the kitchen. Once she had them settled down, she put on the tea kettle and then nodded. "I'll go fetch Julia-chan, fufu~" She chuckled and then slipped away.

A few moments later Gabbie came in with all of the luggage. A suitcase in each hand, some tucked under her arm and what else she could grab hanging off her by the straps. She looked wobbly, but seemed to be able to handle it mostly.

"We've got dorm rooms set up in the house. Normally it's just us girls, so there's no trouble sleeping in the same room but, uh..." She looked sheepishly at Josh. "Sensei's sons have two rooms, I can put you in Johnny's old one if you don't mind." She then looked at Jess. "Will you be ok sleeping with the rest of us?" She asked, as though Jessie was too good to be one of the girls. "Mamouru's room is free right now, but it has baby stuff in it and he uses it when he comes over with the baby."

“Right. Sorry ‘bout that.” Josh said, then nudged Jesse to get her to follow him back to the foyer. While they took their shoes off, the big guy spoke quietly to his sister. “See? They’re nice people. So could ya cool it just a bit?” “What?” she shot back “All things considered I think I’ve done pretty well so far.” Clearly Josh didn’t quite agree. “I’m just sayin’ they’ve been good to Julia, and now they’re helpin’ our asses out too. Least you could do is make an effort not to get on anyone’s bad side, alright?” His sister gave a heavy sigh, but agreed. “Fine, I got it.”

Satisfied, Josh led the way back over to Junko as she spoke about the dojo’s loose connection to their own promotion back home. “Heh. You and mom really would’ve gotten along great.” Josh said. His mom was quite an energetic and fun woman, and everyone was fairly certain that was where Julia got her outgoing personality from. Josh’s smile faded a bit and Jesse looked away from Junko when the issues involving their home promotion were brought up. It wasn’t exactly a topic either of them wanted to dive into, though they knew it would have to come up eventually. But fortunately they were spared from that for now as Junko led them into the kitchen before going off to find Julia.

When Gabbie came trudging in Josh took a step toward her. “Thanks. Sorry ya had to do that though. Shoulda offered to help.” he said, then listened when she explained the setup for the rooms. “Yeah, that’d be perfectly fine with me.” he replied before Gabbie then addressed Jesse. The sass in her voice didn’t go undetected, prompting Jesse to click her tongue before she opened her mouth to throw some sort of smart ass jab right back at Gabbie...that is, until she instead briefly glanced at Josh and thought better of it. “Yeah, I’ll be fine sleeping with the rest of you. Thanks for taking us in.” she said. Josh nodded in approval, almost impressed Jesse had even been polite enough to thank Gabbie on top of resisting her natural urge to say something she probably shouldn’t have.

“So, uh.... Nice place y’all got here.” Josh said, preemptively attempting to break some awkward silence, though he did sincerely mean it. Aside from it being like no building he’d ever been in before, he really did like the way it looked. It was also larger than their home in New Mexico, though their was a considerable difference in the number of people staying there.

Gabbie just blushed when Josh spoke and nodded at Jesse as well. "No, it's my job as the newest kohai. Helping me out would just get me more work." She said. Though it sounded harsh, Gabbie didn't intend for it to be so. She didn't mind doing the little things and would probably even miss it when she was no longer the "newbie" just because she liked being able to push herself more.

"Uh... yeah..." Gabbie said, awkwardly when Josh spoke up again, just as she was about to continue past them. "I guess Sensei has lived here for a long time but it's always had a gym attached to it. When her and Taylor decided to reopen it and start the dojo, Sensei didn't even have to do anything."

Gabbie lowered her head a bit. "I guess Julia will be here soon. I should go finish bringing your stuff in..." Gabbie said and began to drag the luggage out from the kitchen. She then paused and looked over the two. "How long are you guys in town?" She asked, thinking they were just visiting. Even though they claimed to helping out, Gabbie still figured it was temporary.

“Well, alright. If ya insist.” Josh said with a shrug. He would’ve liked to help out, but he certainly didn’t want to be anymore burdensome than necessary. But his mind quickly left that train of thought as the conversation shifted to the dojo, and they both listened as Gabbie explained about how it had all started.

When asked how long they’d be in, Josh awkwardly scratched his head while trying to think of the best way to answer. But Jesse decided to speak before he could. “Most likely...six months to a year, bare minimum. That’s assuming everything between now and then goes perfectly, which is probably being a bit too optimistic.” Josh was just about to comment, when a very familiar voice suddenly yelled out and cut him off.

“OH MY GOD!” shouted an extremely surprised but equally joyful Julia Rogers as she sprinted into the room and flung herself at her brother and sister and wrapped them both up with her arms. “I’ve missed you guys so much! It’s been so long!” Josh laughed, and even Jesse managed to smile as the Rogers trio embraced in a big group hug. “Missed you too, kiddo.” Jesse said. “Glad to see you’re doin’ well, squirt.” Josh added.

After another long moment of hugging, Julia finally let go of both her siblings, but the smile on her face remained bright and joyful. “I can’t believe you guys are here! I mean...what are you guys doin’ here?” she asked. Obviously she was more than glad to see them, though she had to be curious what brought them all the way here from New Mexico.

“What, we can’t come visit our sister?” Josh answered sarcastically, before Jesse gave a more direct answer. “We’ve got dual contracts now with NFPW and AFW, though we’re just part time here.” she said, before Josh spoke again. “And we’re also gonna be assistant trainers here at the dojo!” “Well, leaning more to the ‘assistant’ side of it.” Jesse clarified. “If y’all need spotters while you’re lifting, or sparring partners to practice with or just a few more hands to help clean up and stuff, that’s what we’ll be here for.”

A few more questions came to Julia’s mind, but for the moment she was just glad to be reunited with her family again, and wanted to keep it that way. “So you guys’re gonna be stayin’ here too? That’s awesome! I can’t wait to show ya ‘round and introduce ya to everyone!”

Gabbie smiled as Julia came in and the siblings were reunited. It was always good to see families come together. She missed her own mother and father and her younger brother Jacques. She even felt like she should call up Nicole and have her come over. She didn't know why Nicole didn't join the dojo. Well, she knew, but she couldn't understand it.

Still, as the rogers siblings embraced, Gabbie slipped away, dropped off the luggage and then slipped through again to finish getting the rest of the luggage while Junko watched the scene of the brother and sisters reuniting.

"Fufufu, how wonderful." Junko said, trying not to get misty eyed from the reunion. Once the hugging was finished, Junko got out some glasses and poured some tea for everyone. "Don't worry about any of that right now, you two." Junko said, waving her hand. "We'll get into it soon enough. Right now, just enjoy your tea and relax." She looked at Julia. "Let them rest and then once they are feeling better, maybe we can have a little party tonight? What do you say to that? Fufu~"