“GO AI-CHAN, GET ‘ER!”

“KICK SOME ASS!”

The Medeo Grenich Herb Garden was alight with activity as the workers gathered around on the raised platforms overlooking the hedge maze built in the center of the gardens, clapping and cheering alongside Hanabi, Jaquan, and to a lesser extent, Jessica.

The very center of the maze was a small, circular enclosure featuring a statue of the garden’s founder, his bald head supporting the overwatching Reffe proctor.

And dancing around the statue, using the only obstacle of any sort in the enclosed arena, Ai Li and Edi fought.

Edi was a tall, older woman whose career in steelworks gave her the ability to turn her body as tough as metal, but Ai Li’s acupuncture fingertips worked around that particular defense with ease.

A single hit from either girl would leave lasting damage and create an opening for more attacks, but theoretically, Edi had the advantage with her much longer reach and defensive combat style.

Except, to Hanabi’s delight, her offensive training with Ai Li was paying off. Ai Li was used to being the defender, having her opponents come after her, but Edi was aware of her weakness to Ai Li’s enlightenment and was coaxing the smaller girl to come after her.

And Ai Li did, but she avoided the counterattacks and threw out her own, not overcommitting and not letting herself get angry. Edi was stumbling back on a deadened leg, and Ai Li was closing in, her confidence growing.

“Be SMART Ai-chan!”

That tempered Ai Li’s growing aggression, letting her avoid a steel-coated haymaker that could have knocked her whole head off if she hadn’t. She tapped Edi’s elbow, the woman’s arm dropping, then quickly skipped to the woman’s vulnerable side as she fell back into a hedge and rained a series of hits up her side, her neck, and struck her temple.

Edi yelped, but went still.

Ai Li backed off, and the proctor hopped down, orb cameras swarming around like flies as the proctor held out her arms.

“The Patient Mantis has won her third match! She is awarded one point!” The crowd clapped and cheered, and Ai Li held her short arms up, bouncing on her toes as the camera turned to record her delight. “Ai Li, there were five to one odds put against you today, with many saying your shorter reach would be your downfall. What’s your response?”

“Training!” Ai Li exclaimed happily. “I’ve spent my whole life reeling people in, but thanks to my friends, I learned how to get in and be aggressive!”

“You are sitting on four points, one away from qualifying for your first Fighter’s Choice; do you have any clue who you’d issue an official tournament challenge to?”

Ai Li considered for only a moment before answering, “W-well, I have to admit, I’m really interested in fighting Mortimer Graves and see how I fare against him!”

“A bold choice! But winning an issued challenge against a higher-ranked opponent will rake in a good number of their points!”

“I know, I know, but I’m mainly interested in matching my skills against his! If for whatever reason he can’t, I wanna see if I can put a stop to Dr. Latta.”

“Maleena Latta is currently at ten points with zero losses, sixth place, with seemingly nobody able to stop her! Her bio-manipulation and your ki-manipulation would provide for an extraordinarily unique match! Both are extremely dangerous choices that could reap significant rewards.”

Ai Li nodded her head, grinning up at the proctor before the black-robed woman signaled to the cameras.

“The tournament WILL continue!”

----------------------------------------

The one true king of party foods earned its title through years of culinary refinement and media propaganda.

“To Ai!” Jaquan announced, holding up a slice of pepperoni pizza, which was met with the crossing of other slices in an almost knightley oath of loyalty.

“To Ai!” The others cheered, though Jessica with more of a sigh in her voice before they sank their teeth into their lunch, letting the deliciously pungent cheese melt into the sweet, peppery sauce underneath, carried by the delectably chewy, if otherwise plain bread.

“—the toppings provide a sense of individuality to each slice, allowing you to teeter the flavor in whatever direction you see fit; saltier, sweeter, meatier, a more mellow vegetable taste, a spicier inclusion of peppers and—”

Ai Li ignored Hanabi as she happily munched away, but Jaquan listened to Hanabi wax poetic with interest as Jessica tried to not to roll her eyes at the absurdity of it all.

“So what’s everyone’s plans for the rest of the day?” Jessica asked, typing away on her phone as she did.

“Me and Cindy are catching a movie.” Jaquan said between bites of his pizza.

“You two are still going out?” Ai Li asked in surprise. “I thought you broke things off after she ghosted you.”

Jaquan pursed his big lips and shrugged his shoulders. “She gets one last chance, and if she don’t wanna show this time, we done.”

“I’m shocked you’re even giving her a second chance.” Ai Li frowned.

Jessica snorted. “I’m not. Jaquan’s been a butt guy since I met him.”

“Mhmm! If Cindy wasn’t rockin’ it…” He shook his head, and Ai Li rolled her eyes.

“Men.” She put her hands out and sighed. “Well, I have an appointment at five with a client that’s going to last until about six-thirty. I’ve got homework, but I can do that tomorrow…”

“Cool. Hanabi?” Jessica glanced up at the bigger girl, who blinked.

Hanabi snickered. “Well, I kinda left the boss in charge of the restaurant again, so I need to go back soon to help him close things out…”

“Are you free past seven?”

“I can be.”

“Cool, a new Asian restaurant opened up next to the Black Paw Casino and a buncha folk on Instagram are raving about it.”

“What kinda Asian?” Hanabi asked with a raised eyebrow, and Jessica shrugged.

“You fuckin’ tell me! They’re advertising sushi, bai bim bap, chow mein, pho, and endless fried rice bowls!”

Ai Li puttered her lips. “Oh, so like an Asian medley of whatever?”

“Sounds like.”

“I’m in.” Hanabi said with a brilliant grin. “I’m gunna judge ‘em so hard.”

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Jessica snickered. “If you storm the kitchen and take over, I’m gonna record it, just so you know.”

“Feel free!”

“If the movie lets out on time maybe I can meet y’all there.” Jaquan offered to a trio of nods.

“Sounds like a plan!” Jessica put her phone down to keep eating. “Remember, seven-thirty!”

----------------------------------------

Hanabi rubbed her stomach and breathed a cloud of steam out her mouth. The red peppers on her pizza hadn’t really been spicy, but there was just enough of a bite that she could feel the heat in her bones.

“Ah! That was good.” She said happily. “So what’ll you be doing until your appointment?” Hanabi turned to ask Ai Li as they turned off of Bacchus St. towards the Huang He Healing Center.

“Probably helping with check-ins and massages.” Ai Li stretched her arms up behind her head and walked with her meager chest puffed out, still riding the high of today’s victory. “I could do my homework, but, eh.”

“I was the same way. I’d rather be working than doing maths.”

“Ugh.” Ai Li grinned as they took their sweet time walking home past crowds of people, Jessica and Jaquan having already parted ways with them.

The two walked into the healing center’s tranquil, beautiful entrance, coming to a halt underneath a tree whose branches curled over them like a crashing wave. Hanabi stretched in place, sighing, patting her well-defined abs again, and grinned down at Ai Li.

“Good walk! Ugh, still gotta ride the subway back, but whatever.”

Ai Li nodded, then frowned. “You’ll be safe, won’t you?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” Hanabi said, flexing one of her strong arms. “I’ve got all the weapons I need right here!”

“I guess so.” Ai Li hummed a little to herself. “Just, something you said yesterday morning has been bugging me for a little while.” She shifted in place, not sure how exactly to work it at first, but Hanabi staring at her kinda put her on the spot. “You said the Hanaya clan – your clan had a lot of enemies.”

Hanabi’s smile lessened a little, and she nodded. “Yeah. None overseas as far as I’m aware.”

“Yeah, but, I was just wondering: why does a clan of fighting chefs have a lot of enemies?” Hanabi’s smile shrank further, and Ai Li suddenly waved her hands and shook her head. “Sorry, don’t worry about it! Forget I asked, I just—”

“No no, it’s okay.” Hanabi sighed. “I guess I’d rather you hear it from me rather than someone else.”

“That just makes me worry more…”Ai Li squirmed in place, like she just realized the person she was talking to was a drug dealer.

“It’s nothing I did if that makes you feel better!” Hanabi chuckled. “Not me or my dad, anyways. But… well, you know how many clans there are in Japan?”

“Just under five, right?” Ai Li answered after a moment of thought. “Which, like, I know Japan’s a small nation, but I always thought it was a weirdly tiny amount.”

Hanabi nodded, not meeting Ai Li’s eyes anymore. “It is. We used to have thirty-seven clans.” That made Ai Li’s eyes pop open. “The largest number of clans crammed in the smallest land mass, I know, but… the Hanaya are why there’s only three left.”

“Wh—how?”

Hanabi gave an even deeper sigh, planting her hands on her hips. “The Hanaya weren’t always chefs. We were a clan of warriors before that, and were pretty famous for it. Here.” Hanabi reached into her purse and pulled out a small wooden case, which Ai Li quickly recognized.

“Your scroll of pedigree!” Ai Li said, and reached into her own handbag to take out her own.

Hanabi nodded, and unwound the scroll inside, revealing the writing. Ai Li didn’t understand the Japanese, but she recognized the pasted photo in the bottom left of Hanabi’s headshot. Interestingly, in the bottom right, the clan’s symbol wasn’t something Ai Li expected – like a steaming bowl, or a grill or something – but it was the head of a fire-breathing, two-horned, red-skinned demon, hand-painted in a traditional Japanese way.

“That oni in the bottom right? That’s supposed to be our clan founder, Shishio Hanaya. Back during the Sengoku period, the Hanaya were basically a bunch of brutes, barbarians, thugs with a strong martial culture who got associated with looting and feasting because our clan teachings turns food into power.”

Hanabi continued. “Nobody wanted to be associated with the Hanaya until Oda Nobunaga made his bid for daimyo, and he hired the Hanaya to act as shock troopers. The Hanaya rampaged across Japan, wrecking stuff, killing samurai, attacking other clans even if they’d declared neutrality, and taking every chef that surrendered, and killing the ones that didn’t.”

“After Nobunaga took power, but before his suicide, he ordered the Hanaya to destroy every clan that didn’t aid in his war. In short, the Hanaya did, and only a few hundred years later did the other clans manage to bounce back; too slowly to gain the status of an elder clan like the Hanaya, the Matsukura, or the Jo clans.”

Ai Li listened silently, nodding her head at Hanabi’s explanation. The events that took place were too old for her to feel the emotional impact of such devastation, but it was still a lot to take in.

“And because clans tend to be super traditional, lots of the diminished clans carry a grudge.”

Hanabi nodded, groaning. “I went to school with four kids from former clans and lemme tell you, old wounds do not close easily; they were, like, half my combat experience alone.”

“When did the Hanaya go from being oni to chefs?” Ai Li tilted her head.

At that, Hanabi laughed. “Way after the Sengoku period. When Japan started settling down and becoming peaceful! I mean, even back then they were obsessed with food, but with no one to fight they had to do something with their spare time, so a lot of them started learning to cook to feed the clan and get stronger! My dad and I followed the tsurai path of the Hanaya, the spicy path.”

“That tracks.” Ai Li said with a dry grin. “The Li clan was pretty untouchable during China’s wars.” She said, unrolling her scroll. Much like Hanabi’s, it had her picture, but in the top left above the writing, and in the bottom right was a picture of a softly smiling Chinese man riding a turtle in a shallow river. “Being a clan of fighting healers gets you a bit of a reputation.”

“I bet.” Hanabi smiled. “Sorry if that got heavy, but the Hanaya clan’s reputation isn’t exactly a nice one, even if we’re mostly known as cooks these days.”

Ai Li bowed her head. “I understand, thank you for telling me.”

The two grinned at one another, both relieved that things seemed like they’d be alright, and then Hanabi planted her hands on her hips and turned her feet out. “Alright, I gotta get back, so I’ll see you later!”

Ai Li started to nod, but stopped herself. “Oh wait! Before you go!” She said, making Hanabi stop before she could turn back. Ai Li dug into her things and pulled out a small red phone.

Hanabi could only stare as it was held out to her; it wasn’t a smartphone, it was a tiny Nokia with sixteen buttons and a simple, digital screen. She took it, mystified, and glanced up at Ai Li.

“This’ll make it easier on the both of us if we’re going to be hanging out and training together. Sorry it’s not a nice one, but…” Ai Li blushed and rubbed the back of her head. “Maybe if I start getting big earnings from the tournament. But, for now—”

Ai Li flinched as a pair of muscular arms wrapped around her shoulders, the smell of Hanabi’s cinnamon-scented shampoo filling her nose, and her heart started to beat so fast she thought it might burst.

Slowly she returned the hug, feeling overly sweaty for some reason, and leaning her head against Hanabi’s as the bigger girl sighed.

“Thanks. That’s really sweet of you, Ai-chan.” Hanabi cooed into her ear.

Ai Li wanted to stay in her arms for as long as she could, but she could barely speak with how tight her throat felt at the moment! When Hanabi inevitably let her go and straightened up, Ai Li did everything in her power to be cool.

“I really appreciate it. I’ll need your number, though.”

“Already in it.” Ai Li said.

Hanabi quickly found the contacts. “Ah! You even have yourself as Ai-chan.”

“W-well,” Ai Li felt a blush creep through her mask of cool, “it’s what you call me, so—”

“I like the little heart at the end, too; it’s cute.”

Ai Li’s eyes widened, her mouth a stretched, stiff smile. “Yeah. It is.”

“Anyways, I will definitely be sure to call you before we meet up tonight!” Hanabi turned on her heels, starting to walk off, but not without looking over her shoulder and waving goodbye. “Thanks again, Ai-chan! I’ll see you then!”

“Y-you too!” Ai Li waved back. As soon as Hanabi had rounded the corner and left sight, Ai Li’s shoulders relaxed, and she all but hopped up the steps of the Healing Center in spritely bounces. “Mooom! MOM! MOOOOOOOOOM! YOU WERE RIGHT!”