Every New Beginning

Cassie shrunk toward the opposite side of her chair when Johnny moved over and slid her glass over to the left to form a protective barrier between her and the handsome, muscley, pretty, funny... Between her and Johnny.

"Abs?" She echoed, looking down at her stomach. "Jujitsu." She corrected.

Johnny's final point left her speechless. She opened her mouth to answer, but instead it just hung open while wheels began to turn in her head. What was the difference? In Jujitsu, she'd only had to do all the things she'd practiced and everything worked out. Of course, people didn't get hurt like they did here, that could've been it. But it wasn't, and Cassie knew it. She knew perfectly well what it was.

Her look of contemplation broke into a big, nervous smile at Johnny. She spared a glance at Mamouru and then immediately looked back down at her drink.


Taylor regarded Akashi cautiously. Moving in with Akashi might be a bit too much for poor Cassie. Then again, Cassie might be a bit too much for Akashi.

"Well... I guess we could talk about that..." She said scratching her head until Akashi threw herself into Taylor. She nearly lost her balance and staggered all the way back into a stall door.

"Thanks." She said, and patted her reassuringly on the back. When Akashi lingered, her pats became laced with a hint of sarcasm. "There, there."

Johnny leaned in to match Cassie's shrinking, grinning brightly and nodding. "Yeah, man. You need killer washboards, right?" He then waved her off. "It's cool, man." He said with a grin and then looked down. "Dude, I'm gonna grab another round." He stood up and ruffled Cassie's hair. "You've been nursin those girlie drinks for a while, time to step up your game a bit. I'll bring you back somethin better, shortie. Don't worry." He said and left before Cassie could object.

Mamouru watched Cassie leave and then turned and looked at Cassie. 'Cassie-san." He said in a soft voice. "There's something I need to tell you. Something I've noticed. Maybe it will be harsh sounding and maybe I shouldn't say it when you're inebriated, but I feel like this might be the only chance I get to. You see, sometimes our society is harsh. Like how I was with my brother. I hope you'll forgive me." He let out a sigh and looked at her in the eyes. "All of us. Taylor-chan, Myself, even Johnny-kun and Akashi. We've given ourselves to you. You can no longer keep hiding from what is in front of you. You have to keep moving forward because, it's no longer just about you. Now you have people who you will disappoint if you continue to falter in the ring." Mamouru nodded and turned his head. That wasn't the thing he wanted to say, he had so much he wanted to tell her, but it was the most appropriate thing he could speak.

"Waaaah!" Akashi continued to blubber, barely noticing that she had backed Taylor against a stall. "I... hic.. It was supposed to be me!" She said, pulling at arms length with tears dripping from her eyes as she looked at Taylor. "I mean.. not me instead of you! But, you know.. you and I... together! Or... something!" She was barely making any sense when finally she went back to hugging Taylor tightly. "M-Mina-chan... she left me! waaaah!" She balled. "I... I tried to keep from letting you know.. un-until after you were settled. I- I wanted you to just be happy and enjoy your moment, but suddenly it all came rushing out! I'm sorry, Taylor-chan!" She said weeping, her voice cracking a little.

"I do need killer washboards." Cassie remarked. Now that she thought about it, she should have that. She wondered what else she would need. She looked up at Johnny when he got up for more drinks.

"B-but... I was just getting good at this one!" She protested. Then she was alone with Mamouru. She looked blankly back at him and had not the slightest idea what to say, though the small, innocent smile she gave him said enough.


"Oh, man, Kashi..." Taylor said gently. She wasn't great at reassuring people, but of course Akashi wasn't just people. "Damn. When? Why? I thought you guys were solid. Do you want me to go beat her ass?" It couldn't hurt to offer. Mina was always a source of unspoken tension between the two. She was at once Taylor's competition for Akashi's affection, and a sign that she always risked ending up with too much of that affection.

It wasn't hard for Taylor to figure out that it must've happened when Taylor and Akashi were fighting, and not speaking. She felt a pang of guilt for not being there for her. It strengthened her resolve to always be there for her in the future. There was nothing that could keep them apart now, it didn't matter if they were in different countries. She'd never let the people important to her slip the way she had before.

Akashi couldn't help herself. She didn't know what to say and she felt so horrible right now. She held on tightly to Taylor's sides, not trying to dig her fingers too roughly into the shirt or the skin underneath. "I.. I...Hic!" Akashi turned her head. "I don't really know! A few months ago she left for a family emergency and then.. and then she just never came back! The phone calls got shorter and the tie between phone calls got longer and.. and. " Akashi sniffled. "I'm so sorry Taylor-chan!" She said again.

Akashi pulled her hands off of Taylor and took her injured one, cradling it like it was an egg. The tears stopped and she blinked her eyes free from the remaining ones that fogged her vision. "You were.. you were the only thing I had left in my life. I had to hold onto you with everything I had. I just... I just couldn't let you go."

Akashi lowered her head. "That's why I was so mean. That's why I acted so shamefully." Akashi lifted one hand and pressed it against Taylor's cheek. "I know that's all water under the bridge, but... I'm so happy I could see you turn into such a beautiful young woman before my eyes. I'm so proud of you and I love you so much. I just wish... I wish that I could have shared this moment. Mina-chan and I were supposed to get married too and... I guess it all just hit me at once."

Akashi stepped away and took deep breaths. She leaned over the sink and splashed some water on her face. She then wiped away the water and spent some time trying to reapply her make up. "I know... I know I'm a huge slut or... whatever. But, I really did love Mina-chan with all my heart. She made me smile just because she was there waiting for me when I came home. We fit together so nicely and she just was my everything. Now... I really don't know what I'll do. I feel so empty. Like... a part of me just, is gone." Akashi let out a sigh.

Mamouru watched Cassie's reaction and smiled back. He then let out a sigh, a pleasant one. "You're an impossible woman, Cassie-san." He said. "But that is what I like about you." Mamouru glanced and saw that Johnny was just trying to figure out how to carry all the drinks at once and seemed to be only having mild success.

Taylor's mouth tightened into a thin line of a scowl and she felt a sharp pang of guilt for having been fighting with Akashi when she needed a friend. She resisted the temptation to let it get the better of her, and instead she grabbed Akashi by the shoulder and spun her around to face her.

She grabbed hold of her shoulders and gave her a shake. "Hey. Everything will be alright." She said, looking her in the eye. "Losing someone's really hard, and like, it's okay to feel like shit for a while. But then you have to stop, and dust yourself off, and... I really suck at, like, making people feel good and stuff. But I'm really good at the picking yourself up and dusting yourself off part. So... Call me or visit me any time, man, especially since I'm out of a job right now." A small laugh. "And then I'll give you all the motivation you need to go be a bigger, better Akashi Goddamn Tanikaze. A'right?"

She already had a few ideas. Well, one of them was Akashi's, technically. Technically.

"Things'll be different, but different is still okay, right?" She checked herself in the mirror one last time. "Let's get back out there. I don't want to just leave Cassie out there with the wolves. Don't worry about your face, just tell 'em you mouthed off and I kicked your ass."


Cassie fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. "Nuh uh." She countered. She twisted around to look behind her for Johnny, and saw him struggling to carry five drinks with two hands.

"Oh!" She cried, and suddenly exploded sloppily out of her chair. She tried to say something like "I'll help you carry those!" but her half-drunk words only came out "I help drinks!" She went careening haphazardly toward him, slipped once and almost fell over, and then slipped again and fell forward, face planting into Johnny's stomach. She bounced off and fell on her back, where she lay stunned and staring up at the ceiling.

Taylor paused in the doorway and raised an eyebrow in utter confusion at the scene. "Jun-Bug, what the hell are you doing?"

Akashi let Taylor jostle and shake her, her head nodding a bit more exaggerated than usual. The drinks and the emotion saw to that. "I... I'm fine. Thank you, Taylor-chan. I just needed to get it out of my system. I've been holding it in for so long. I'm, it'll be ok now." She said and smiled weakly at Taylor. "You do a fine job, Imouto-chan."

Akashi let out a sigh and shook her head. "I'll be right there. I just wanna fix myself up and..." Her eyes widened and she pushed past Taylor and rushed into a stall. "I really do have to pee!"

Johnny had locked down the situation finally and gave a wide grin. "That's right." He said with a wide grin as he turned around after some shuffling out of the bar area, only to see an orange haired blur shooting at him.

"S-Shit, shortie! Ugh!" He crushed the cans and jostled the glasses in his hands and the cold liquid that spilled onto his shirt was just enough to break his concentration he had on maintaining his balance and he went down, plopping on his butt as the drinks splashed everywhere.

Johnny flopped forward to his hands and knees and began to pick up the glasses and cans. "Fuck!" He said, barely registering Taylor's words as he scrambled to pool the drinks together in an upright position. "Cassie, are you ok?" He called out to her, inspecting her to see if she was alright, crawling until he was hovering over and looking down at her. "W-What happened?"

He shook his head and patted his wet shirt. "Damn...." He turned back and looked at Taylor. "Um... Babe... can you get a towel or something from the bar?" He asked as he looked back at the bartender, who was mostly able to laugh at the two because no one had gotten hurt, no glasses had broken and the drinks had already been paid for. He collected a few towels and began to swing around out of the bar.

"I'll get the mop. Don't worry about it."

Mamouru had been watching and when the two flopped to the ground, he shot out of his seat and immediately inspected the two. Both seemed to be unharmed and her let out a sigh before sliding over to aid the bartender anyway he could.

"Just mop it up with Cassie. She's super absorbent." Taylor said, as if it was a perfectly valid and also fairly obvious solution.

Cassie rolled onto all fours and scrambled to help Johnny pick things up, but her hands mostly did more harm than good. She got her black leggings wet with a mix of beer and liquor, and nearly succeeded in making Johnny drop things again. She was only trying to help, and desperately so, her face was bright red from the embarrassment of it.

"Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry!" She gibbered. She looked at Johnny and stopped at the sight of him. "Oh, you're..." He was all wet. Again. Why was he always wet?

"I'll go get something!" She exclaimed and tried to leap to her feet and spring off to the bar to find a towel, and nearly collided with the bartender while he was making his way over with a mop and a towel. She stumbled, got her balance again, and then took a moment and a breath before continuing in more measured steps to the bar.

"See the effect you have on women?" Taylor said as she strolled over to Johnny. "This poor girl never stood a chance. Do you want to come up here, or do you want me to come down there with you?" Taylor asked innocently.

Johnny tried his best to pick things up as Cassie scrambled around him. He had a grin on his face as she darted around and tried his best not to get in her way, knowing that the situation could perpetuate indefinitely. As the red head skipped off, Johnny let out a sigh. What was he going to do now that he was all wet?

He tugged at his shirt, even lifting it up to check out his now glistening pecks and frowned. It wasn't going to be fun to sit in and he really wanted to change his clothes. Thankfully, he was distracted from his dilemma when Taylor spoke and he looked up at her with a grin. "I dunno, babe." He said with brightening eyes. "It's wet and dirty down here." He offered up his hand, only to pull her down onto him when she took it, laughing the whole time.

Mamouru watched the scene, helping where he could but mostly frowning at how the situation had devolved. "Ah..." He said as Cassie rushed past him before turning and seeing Akashi emerge from the bathroom. He slid over to her and bowed his head. "Tanikaze-san!" He called out. She just looked at him with a slightly confused tone. "Perhaps we should continue this gathering elsewhere?"

Akashi raised an eyebrow at Mamouru for a second before pumping her fist. "Yatta! Party at my place!" She said loudly. "I have awesome sake!" She clacked over to the group. "Hey... why is everyone wet and on the floor? Did I miss something fun!?" She then clapped her hands together and pulled a wad of money out from her boobs. "Well, whatever! Get up and let's go!" She proclaimed and looked for the bartender to pick up the tab.

A long walk in the chilly December air helped to clear everyone's head and helped Cassie to settle down. She walked slightly in front of Taylor and Johnny, but she stole glances back at them and saw them holding hands and looking like they were separate from the rest of the world. Cassie felt separate from Taylor in a way she couldn't explain, as if Taylor's body was just a placeholder and her spirit had departed for somewhere else. Somewhere better. It made her sad.

Taylor's walking pace was unhurried, and Cassie took little hopping, skipping steps to help keep warm. She was used to the cold, but she wasn't particularly well dressed for it in her black leggings, brown Ugg boots and loose fitting pale blue tunic shirt that came down to her upper thighs. Her fur-lined jacket wasn't her warmest one, but she couldn't tell if she was even shivering from the cold or if she was just quivering from the anxiety of the evening.

She tried to inconspicuously avoid Mamouru's eyes and failed on both counts. She diverted her attention to Akashi, strolling along next to her and completely dwarfing the petite Canadian. She looked up at her, visibly considering something before she spoke.

"Hey." She said, and poked Akashi in the belly. "So... I was thinking maybe if you need a training partner, if Taylor won't be around as much... Maybe you could teach me sumo, eh? I can teach you stuff too." She said.

Taylor huddled against Johnny for warmth. Her silvery gray dress and black jacket kept her just warm enough to need a second heat source, namely a toasty warm Japanese boy, to be comfortable.

"Are we there yet?" She said in a quiet voice, just to Johnny. "What's gonna happen now, Jun-Bug?"

Akashi clacked away, marching forward as if leading a small army into battle. She was just in front of Taylor and Johnny and next to Cassie with Mamouru in a position that was halfway between Johnny and Taylor and Cassie on Cassie's other side. He had a pleasant smirk as he kept an eye on most of the parties involved, smiling every time he caught one of Cassie's 'sly' glances towards him.

Akashi giggled when Cassie poked her. "Sumo!?" She said and grinned like it was the greatest thing ever. "Yosh! I will make you into a sumo master!" She said and pumped her fist! She grinned at Cassie. "I won't leave Tokyo!" She said, as though somehow Cassie might be fearful of that. "I was born born in the Rokugan! That's where Sumo is king!" She pumped her fist, feeling excited as she charged forward. "We're nearly there!" She exclaimed throwing her head back to look at the rest of the group.

Johnny held Taylor's hand and smiled as he leaned into her. He still smelled like beer and laughed as he leaned in and kissed Taylor while they walked. "I totally need to change my clothes." He said under his breath and looked Taylor in the eyes.

Akashi suddenly stopped and turned around, holding out her hand to halt the crowd. She pointed at Cassie and then at Johnny. "You are both very lucky!" She proclaimed. She then looked at Cassie. "You are less lucky." She said with a frown before perking back up. 'Oh!" She exclaimed. "You are lucky that my tastes are so dated! What I am wearing." She said as she flashed some skin at the group as she began to walk backwards. "Is tasteful on boys as well as girls." She giggled. "But mostly boys. But!" She said raising her hand. 'Yes! I have decided that when we get to my place, we'll all take a picture together. I have enough outfits to go around!" She said as she waved the kimono and tugged on her hakama pants. "You'll all dressup, damn you!" She scolded. "And I'll have a nice picture!" She spoke as if there was no choice in the matter, despite having a big grin on her face.