BUBBLEGUM CIRCUS 2:  From One to Another

by Shunsuke Ichikawa
shunsuke@mailcity.com
www.fortunecity.com/victorian/university/5/index.htm
www.fortunecity.com/victorian/university/5/a-fanfic.htm

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MEGA-TOKYO, 2034/10/16

CHAPTER 1

Reika sat at the studio mixing board, looking at it
alternately with feelings of accomplishment and despair.
In her music, she had achieved much, being able to create
and give to others, her six top-selling albums as evidence
of that, but also the knowledge that she was as good as
anyone in the business.  Not the best producer ever, but
major acts wanted her to produce them; not the greatest
pianist, but many groups asked her to sit in on their
sessions; and a good singer, although she knew she was no
Billie Holliday.

No, she looked at the desk knowing that she could work
within this framework, and had complete control, but
there was no way to change it, it was so limiting.
Everything in her life was structured and stifling.  She
still loved music, but had grown bored of the routine;
her grandfather and Kou meant so much to her, and she
loved them both, but it wasn't enough.  The money in the
family coffers ran to excess so that she would never need
to work anymore, but that wouldn't buy happiness.  There
was no purpose, no meaning to her life.  She knew it was
time for a change.

Grabbing her shoulder bag, she killed the lights and left
the studio.  She didn't know when or if she would return,
but it would have to be for a good reason, not a lack of
anything else to do.

            **********

It felt good to her to get on a plane unrecognized, just
another passenger leaving Los Angeles for Taiwan.  People
looked at her, and saw her only as a woman of Chinese
descent going home, not a pop-star.  She appreciated the
anonymity.

She settled in for the flight, looking at it as a chance
to think.  The last two weeks she had spent planning to
go back and see her family, especially her grandfather,
but had not thought about the words she would say or
their consequences.  By ignoring it until now, she was
forcing herself to decide.  There was no backing out now.

She knew the danger of trying to leave the Hou Bang.
Those who would leave the Hou Bang without permission
and good reason had a short survival rate.  Mostly from
the tiger's own claws, but often as revenge from other
clans.  But a public declaration of release from the Hou
Bang was a ticket to safety.  No one would dare attack
anyone the Hou Bang lets live.

She was fully aware of the risks, but needed to cut the
strings from her life.  She was no puppet, but did feel
held back.  Knowing her grandfather would treat her like
any other Hou Bang member, she did fear for her safety.

Sitting there on the long flight, she contemplated what
she would say, and how to make her case for her freedom.

            **********

Ten years ago, she had joined, hoping to use the clan's
power and influence to further her music.  Nightclub
owners, business and record executives, promoters, and
the media would all cooperate upon hearing the name: Hou
Bang.  No, the clan did not own them, and she did not
benefit from 'payola' or undue influences, but a healthy
respect for the name had served her well.

Within months of entering the music business, Reika had
a contract and studio time.  She clearly had talent, and
the recording company executive who saw her recognized it.
But how long would it have taken to be noticed without the
Hou Bang influence?  How many seedy clubs and promoters
would she have had to deal with?  How often would she have
been propositioned for sex to get her records played?
Problems that would have plagued other artists passed her
by.  She felt no guilt about this, but instead anger that
she needed the Hou Bang's influence to avoid it.  She had
wanted to do everything by and for herself.

Her initiation was fascinating, not frightening, to the
teenaged girl she was then.  Her own blood, from the small
self-inflicted knife wound, had dripped into a bowl.  Like
ink, it was used to add her name to book of those who would
join.  In her own hand she had written the promises and
oaths she was sworn to keep.

Some who tried to join failed because of their lack of
inner strength.  If the blood dried in the bowl before the
initiate finished writing, the rest would be spilled.  But
Reika, still full of hate from her parents' murder, did not
hesitate in this act.  Focused, calm, and determined, her
words were still wet on the page when she recited them and
became a full member.  Few initiates had ever done this, a
fact which impressed her peers even more.

Her membership had come at a time when the clan almost
fully ceased illegal activity.  Gambling, prostitution,
drugs, weapons, and anything that became questionable,
were abandoned by her grandfather.  Now, genuine business
concerns, investment groups, and capital enterprise were
the vehicle to success.  But keeping the fearsome
reputation was still important, within and without.
Destroying a business, fortune, or reputation could be as
effective as killing, and all outsiders knew this.

Her sister Irene had been unaware of this world, still
reveling in the joys of youth, oblivious to the dangers
around her.  By joining, perhaps Reika could keep it
from her.

            **********

The morning after arriving in the city, Reika went to the
hideaway where the Hou Bang ran their empire.  She knew
this place well, the city where her childhood was spent.
Her memory of what she had lost, as much as anything, was
the reason she never returned here for so long.

For one connected so high to the chain of command of the
Hou Bang, having the inner circle meet was an easy thing
to organize.  She looked around the room at the twelve
seated members.  She thought of how she might have sat
in these chairs, had events turned out differently.

Despite all the fear inside her, she knew the best way to
do this is to just say everything.  A deep breath, a count
to five, and she was ready to begin.

"I come here today to ask for release from my oaths."
That sentence was the point of no return; she would never
be accepted back now.  "I have kept the secrets of the
clan, and will until I am dead.  I also know that if I
break these oaths, I will die, and at your hands."  She
had said her parts, a surprise to all who were there,
except, it seems, her grandfather.

The patriarch spoke up, saying, "You gave up your blood
by choice, and it is now ours.  Why should we return it
to you?"

Shaking, Reika replied, "I have used my clan for personal
gain, and do not wish to continue doing so.  Anything I
achieve must be gained through my hard work, not my abuse
of privilege."

"What else?"

"What I have tried to offer the clan in the past has not
been of any use.  My actions, my reasons for what I did...
they were not to anyone's benefit, not even mine.  I do
not deserve the clan's protection."

"What say all of you?" he asked the room.

Several murmurs floated around the room, grumblings and
questions, but in the end, no opposition to her request.
Not to someone almost equal in power to themselves.

"There are no objections?"

Reika relaxed at hearing this question, thinking the room
accepted her decision.  But she had forgotten one voice.

"Very well, then, I object."

Reika looked up with shock in her face upon hearing her
grandfather's statement. An objection, regardless of what
it was, was the kiss of death for those that asked for
release.  Once the word was said, only the speaker could
revoke it.  And that had never happened before.

"To you, applicant, how arrogant of you.  You speak of what
the clan has done for you, and the guilt you feel.  You say
you have failed to repay your debt?  If you feel you still
owe, then your request for release is a disgrace.  Add to
this your stature among us in this room, and your family
relation to me as patriarch of the clan, it is an even
greater insult.

"I reserve the right, as one in this room, to cast you out,
unforgiven.  Go, and do not return.  We will visit you."

Visiting.  She knew what that meant: assassination.

She finished speaking her part with a quaver in her voice.
After leaving the room, her fear and shame made her run
from the building.

She had to run.  And could only think of one place to turn.

            **********

The flight to Tokyo was not a pleasant one.  She never bit
her nails, even as a child, but knowing she had crossed her
grandfather made her more nervous than her first time on
stage.  She felt then she would die from stagefright, a
fear she knew was without substance; but the invisible
presence of the Hou Bang was far more frightening.  Would
she end up tasting a bullet?  If so, where and when?

She knew who to contact when she arrived.  Writing to Linna
had kept her sane in the first months after the McLaren
incident, and it later turned into a good pen-friendship,
one she hoped she could count on.

From the time she quit the record business, Reika had wanted
to ask the Knight Sabers to let her join.  But now, with the
threat of her clan out there, could she be protected or even
protect herself?  Would the Knight Sabers accept her if she
told them?  Would it hurt to even speak to them?  She was
afraid for herself, but also for Linna and the others,
whoever they were.

Within the hour, the plane had touched down.  It was her
first time in the city alone, no entourage, or even Kou,
to back her up.  It finally hit her how naked and
unprotected she was, even in a comparatively safe city like
this one.

The cab ride to the hotel and check-in were quick, but not
uneventful: on the highway, the cab passed a stopped car
with a man in a overcoat standing beside it, holding a flag
with a tiger's head embossed on it.  Later, a hotel bellboy
passed her an envelope he said was given to him by a man in
the lobby.  She knew nothing was in it; it was the wax seal
with a Hou Bang ring imprint that mattered.

            **********

Next morning, Linna sat in her office, talking on the phone
to an investor.  Although her voice was energetic and she
carried the conversation, her doodling on a scratchpad told
of other ideas.  She was idly drawing names and designs, some
that looked like CDs (thinking of the outdated music of her
childhood), or like the mecha from some anime.

She still had the ability to sell condoms to the Vatican, but
was growing bored of the stock market.  She knew it was time
for a change.  But to doing what?

Her young stud male secretary passed her a few memos from
calls she hadn't gotten to yet, four in all.  Two calls for
buy, one for sell, and one for a lunch meeting.  She
cancelled everything for the last.


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CHAPTER 2

Linna had arrived early to the hotel restaurant where Reika
asked her to meet.  Linna sat happily with and nervous
anticipation, making the mistake of having two gins on an
empty stomach.  She jumped out of her seat to hug Reika as
she saw her enter the restaurant, nearly falling over from
the blood rush and intoxication.

"Hi, Linna, it's good to see you.  You don't look your best
though."

"Hiya, Reika.  I was so surprised to get your call.  What
are you doing now?  Have you made plans since you retired?
I just can't believe you're here!"

Reika gave a brave smile, but knew she had to start talking
now.  Telling everything up front would be the best thing,
even if Linna was tipsy.

"I need to talk to you about your group.  The one that
stopped me."  Reika spoke to Linna in Mandarin to cover
their conversation.

Linna realized what Reika was saying, and sobered up
immediately.  She was now fluent in Mandarin from Reika
teaching her by mail, and from the business classes and
dealings.  The sudden change in language let Linna know
this was important.

"What's wrong?  Did something happen?  Is Genom after you
and the Hou Bang?  W-"

"No, Linna, Genom has nothing to do with it.  I want to
join you, as a fifth member."

Linna sat back, surprised to hear this.  She went from
happiness to fear to total shock in less than a minute.

"What brought this on?  I thought you were finished with
hate and revenge."

"I am, Linna.  It's my clan I'm running from."

"Running?  They want to kill you?"

"They've told me it could happen.  You are the only one I
could think of to talk to.  I don't know where Kou's
loyalties are, and he alone couldn't protect me, even if
he tried.  So I have no one else."

"You better tell me everything."

Reika went on to talk about the disowning of the clan, the
ceremony, and the anger her grandfather spewed out at her.
Linna sat in stunned silence, her first question displaying
her understanding of the situation.

"So why are we talking in public, not your room or somewhere
else?  Come on, let's-"  Linna spoke as she stood up.

Reika stayed in her seat, looking up.

"Don't bother.  They probably have a bug in my room already,
and anyone here could be listening in.  It doesn't matter
where we go."

Becoming angry, Linna sat and shouted at her.

"You mean you know we're being listened in on and we've
nearly blown my organization's cover?!"

"No, Linna.  I haven't, and neither have you.  Anyway, the
more we hide, the more the clan will try to dig it up."

Linna stopped yelling, but she was still fuming.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help.  Not now."  Linna stood up,
and began to leave.

"Linna, please listen to me..." she nearly cried as Linna
passed her by, leaving her at the table.  She held back
the tears as she watched her friend leave the restaurant.

The waitress appeared with the bill for the gins, leaving
it on the table, Reika stuck having to pay it.  As she
opened her purse, the draft from the waitress walking
away flipped the bill over.

A tiger head was drawn on the back.

            **********

She had spent the afternoon in her room crying, not knowing
what to do.  She had been ready to switch group loyalties,
go from one to another, and had been cast out of the first
and shunned by the second.  There was no where to turn to
now, no one to help her.

After the four hours of self pity, she got up, showered,
dressed, and prepared to go downstairs for dinner.

"If I'm going to die, it's going to be by their hands, in
public, and I'll take some of them down when I go.  There
is NO way I am going to make it easy for them by killing
myself,"  she spoke as she fingered the plastic gun she
had smuggled in to the country.

With a firm, fatalistic resolve, she quietly sat eating a
steak dinner with a fine wine.  She wanted her last meal
to be a good one.  No sign of the Hou Bang appeared through
the meal, or as she read the evening paper, looking for a
good movie or club act to see.

Giving up on the local entertainment scene, a nice walk
around the downtown area appealed to her.  She never had
the chance to do this in the past because of her screaming
fans.

Street vendors, motorcycle gangs, bar hopping young adults,
drunken salarymen, and bad karaoke singers lined the streets.
She revelled in the sights and sounds of this atmosphere, one
she had been out of touch with as a pop icon.  Her will to
survive became stronger.  She began to feel that the two
Chinese men she had spotted following her were more like her
prey than her hunters.  She was anticipating the opportunity
to kill them.

She stopped to watch the lights and billboards that lit the
night and dominated the walls of buildings in this part of
Mega-Tokyo.  She was impressed and amazed, so much so she
did not even notice the police car pulling up in front of
her, the driver getting out.

"Miss, would you please step over to the car?"

He was Japanese, but something about him awakened concern
in her.  She felt a gunfight on the street would be a more
honorable way to die, not raped and hung in a jail cell.
Her hand encircled the butt of the gun as she spoke.

"Why?  Have I done something wrong?  Broken any laws?"  A
small amount of fear betrayed her calm as she stood there.

"Miss, only one kind of woman stands here at night, and
they don't come cheap.  Please step over to the car
voluntarily."

Anger replaced fear in her at being thought of as a
prostitute.  She was angry enough to fight, to kick him in
the balls.

"Go to hell!  I'm not a pro, but you look like you've hired
a few in your time," she snapped back and began to walk away.

His anger at that remark made him reach for her right arm
and grab it.  The surprise of this made her lose her grip
on the gun; it came out of her pocket, falling onto the
ground and landing at his feet.

"What the...?  That's it, get in the car!"  He slammed her
against the car, quickly cuffing her and shoving her in the
back seat before she could react.  After retrieving the gun,
he got in the car and closed the door while she screamed
blue murder.

"Look, Chang, shut up and let me help you.  Or do you want
me to leave you out there to die?"  He pulled away from the
curb, checking the mirrors for anyone following them.

She stopped yelling, shocked at his words.

"H-how do you know who I am?  Who told you?  Was it L-"

"Don't say any names, I only know the identity of one of
the Knight Sabers," Leon McNicol spoke with anger in his
voice.  "I was passed on a message to watch you and pick
you up if I could.  The prostitution charge seemed like
the best idea at the time, and I don't like playing
messenger boy any more than I have to."

"But I don't understand."

"The one I know said you were in trouble, that you might
be killed.  If you carry around pea-shooters like the one
you had, you will be.  I almost thought I'd have to shoot
you myself."

"Where are you taking me?  Do you know where the Knight
Sabers are?"

"Look, you'll have to trust me on this.  I'm going to
blindfold you in a while and hand you off to one of them.
You said you wanted to join them, so they're going to
interrogate you and see if they can take you in."

Reika was stunned.  Linna must have pitied her, or trusted
her enough to put on an act in the restaurant.  She was
using this as a way to meet without doing it publicly.
Several miles later, the car stopped.

"You're the cop who arrested McLaren, aren't you?"  She
had finally remembered him.

"You got it," said Leon as he got out.  He helped her out,
then put a blindfold on her.  "You're in safe hands now.
Even if the Knight Sabers don't accept you, I think they
would help you escape the country.  They're good people,
not just mercenaries."

Leon signalled, and Priss pulled up in a car.  Leon helped
her in, hiding Reika under a seat cover.

"It's Leon, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

Her voice hesitated, but a smile crossed her covered face.

"Thanks."

He didn't reply, just closing the door after her.


============================================================


CHAPTER 3

Priss drove the car into an underground parking lot.  She
was already beginning to think this was a mistake.  Three
times in a five mile drive she had had to tell Reika to
be quiet and not ask questions.

"A person who can't shut up probably won't keep a secret,"
Priss told herself.

Linna was waiting there to help Priss get Reika upstairs.
Without a word, they got into the elevator and headed to
the top floor.  Reika was led into a room with an armchair
and tied to the armrests after the cuffs were removed.
Still blindfolded, she could hear them leave the room.
She waited, at least fifteen minutes passing without a
sound.  Her impatience led her to lean her head forward
to her hand and move the blindfold enough to see.

The room was dark, only one light directly behind her,
the chair's sides acting as blinders to prevent any view
of the rest of the room.  What was in front of her were
speakers and a large video screen, and on the wall above
it, a video camera with a small red light by the lens.
She groaned upon seeing it, deciding it was better to
lower the blindfold again.

She did not wait much longer as three people entered the
room.

"Good evening, Reika.  I see you've realized you're being
watched."  Linna did not sound happy, and Reika's lower
lip trembled.  "Do not remove the blindfold again, or we
will enforce Knight Saber rule 11."

Linna proceeded to read Reika the code of the Knight
Sabers.  Each rule she found harder and harder to swallow,
until Linna was finished reading; rule 11 sent Reika into
near panic and profuse sweating.  Linna explained to Reika
that she was now bound by these rules.  It was a point of
no return.

"From now on, you will refer to us only by number, myself
included.  I am Two.  This is One."

"Hello," spoke Sylia as the videoscreen came on.

"I am Three," growled Priss.

"And I am Four," said Nene.

Linna continued, "We are going to ask you a series of
questions, from your likes and dislikes, to your darkest
secrets.  Everything about you will be disclosed.  Any
failure to do so means the meeting is over and we kill you,
or we may just leave you to the Hou Bang.  Understood?"

Reika nodded, but Linna demanded a spoken answer.

"I understand, L...Two."

"Good.  Begin with your childhood."

Reika went on to explain her past: her happy childhood,
reality intruding at a young age with her parents' murder,
her sister, her music career.  Over the next half hour she
bared her soul on everything and anything...all but one
subject.

"What about the Hou Bang?" asked Priss.

"But...but they swore me to secrecy.  Violating it means
death."

"So will your failure to answer."

Reika bit her lip, scared over what to do.

"Do I throw in with these people, knowing I'm a marked
woman?  Say no, and probably get a bullet in the head?"
Afraid to answer, yet afraid of being silent, she could
only babble in fear.

"We will know, or it ends here and now," called Nene.

Drawing her breath and fighting tears borne out of fear,
Reika gave the details of her initiation into the Hou Bang.
She tried to hedge her bets by not giving names or the
words of the oath.  If she got caught, at least she could
truthfully say she didn't betray them.

"So you're joining us as a place to hide.  Do we really
need the worry of having a walking target among us?"
Sylia's voice was menacing to an already shaking Reika.

"N-n-no, Miss...One.  I mean, yes, I'm running from Hou
Bang, but if you take me in, who would know it was me in
a hardsuit?  I would stay out of the public, get plastic
surgery-"

"Everyone makes mistakes.  For example, you know Two's
name.  Anyway, you're a celebrity.  Somebody's bound to
recognize you or your voice."

"But I can keep secrets!  I've never given the secrets of
the Hou Bang!"

"You did tonight."

Reika was truly frightened beyond anything she had felt
in her life.  Even back when the self-destruct on the tank
counted down, she was still full of adrenaline and hate for
Quincy as she waited to die.  But this was worlds away.

"It's...it's not just to be protected...I...I have no
purpose any more.  I have nothing to gain from music now,
I have more money than I can ever spend, only my grandfather
is left in my direct family, and he hass abandoned me, and
Kou is one of my few real friends...I need a reason to live,
something to give my life meaning."  She finally saw inside
of herself while saying this, realizing she how empty her
life was.  Tears streamed down her face as she spoke. "If
you cannot accept me, then please let me take care of some
personal matters.  Two, please kill me yourself.  At least
let it be a friend, not some faceless assassin."  Reika
hoped saying this would tempt Linna to help her escape.

Silence filled the room.  Linna held back her surprise and
repulsion at this request.  Sylia, looking in from Germany,
smiled on hearing the real reason.  A fifth voice came from
the speakers.

"Now I know the truth, Reika.  I revoke my objection and
release you."

"GRANDFATHER?!!"

"Yes, child, I have listened to all of this.  Knowing why
you want to leave, I can let you go.  I knew when you came
before your peers you were not forthcoming.  I believe the
saying is '...and the truth shall set you free'?"

Reika sat, shaking and unsure of what would happen.  Was
she still going to die, to face assassination?

Nene and Linna untying her arms was the reply to her
question.

As she removed the blindfold herself, looking at the three
Knight Sabers present and the one on the screen, she
realized she had been accepted.  She barely stopped herself
from calling Linna's name as she jumped up to hug her.

"Thank you!  Thank you all so much!"  Reika repeated as she
wept.

Her grandfather's voice came out of the speakers again.

"Listen to me, child.  I still hold you to oaths of secrecy,
and you still owe the clan."

"What do I have to do?" she asked, wiping tears from her
cheeks.

"You will be liaison between the Knight Sabers and the
Hou Bang, passing information from one to another.  Your
loyalty is to them, and your debt to me.  We will use it
against a common enemy, Genom."

Choking on her tears, Reika barely managed to croak out a
"thank you".

"I think it might be best to put her to bed.  Would you
please, Two?"

Linna smiled at Sylia's suggestion and moved Reika to
another room, helping her undress and putting her into the
sheets.  She was soon fast asleep.


============================================================


EPILOGUE

"Thank you, ladies, your help is greatly appreciated.  I
could not let her go off without knowing the real reason
she was leaving.  I was afraid she still had delusions of
going out and killing Quincy herself.

"When Two told me of what happened in the restaurant, I
knew I should contact you.  Like you, we had to know why
and for what reason.  Your cooperation has been a great
help.  We thank you for your wisdom, your understanding,
and respect for our secrecy."

"I return the gratitude," he said, then added: "If by some
chance Kou should try to reach Reika, send him to speak
with me.  His loyalty to her is strong, so you should
expect his presence at some point.  Be sure to take good
care of my granddaughter."

"She will be well prepared for the dangers that lie ahead,
I promise you," Sylia said with reverence in her voice.
"She will be trained as well as any of us."

"That is all I ask."

"One last question, sir," asked Sylia.

"Yes?"

Sylia paused.  "If we hadn't contacted you, would you have
killed her?"

A long silence passed before the elder Chang spoke.

"The answer is no longer important.  Goodbye."

An audible click signalled the end of his call.

            **********

When morning came, Reika awoke to the sun shining through
the window.  She realized she was still in the building,
about ten floors up.  Her memories of the events of the
last night ran through her mind.  She felt like the entire
structure of her life had changed, and her new goals and
duties gave her renewed purpose.

"I am, or will be, a Knight Saber...and...and the Hou Bang
will not kill me.  Could it all have been just a test, a
way to direct me?"  If she felt at all used, she did not
mind.  A smile came over her make-up stained face as she
heard a knock on the door.

"Yes?"

"Reika, breakfast!  We're coming in!"

The door opened, Linna carrying a tray with a bowl of
cereal, Priss a bottle each of milk and orange juice,
Nene a bowl of strawberries and a can of whipped cream.

They stood by the bed grinning as Reika sat with her knees
under her chin, returning a smile to them.  At least, she
smiled until she saw them advance toward her.

"GET HER!" yelled Linna as they attacked Reika.  Cereal
was mashed into the sheets, the stickiness of the juice
and milk dumped on her head matted her hair, and the
whipped cream being sprayed in her face nearly blinded
her.  She started screaming and kicking, trying to cover
herself with a blanket, which Linna strategically pulled
away.

Their task done, they looked at her, laughing, something
Reika could not help but do in return.

"Congratulations, Reika,"  Linna said with a caring smile
on her face.  "We'll see you in the kitchen after you
clean up the room."  All three laughed as they waved and
walked out.

Reika could only sit there with an incredulous look on
her face, oblivious to the soaked matress beneath her.

"Is it always going to be like this?" she asked herself
aloud, rolling her eyes.  She started eating the
strawberries.


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                       E     N     D

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