Growing Up Takeshi (Tachibana Kasumi. Kamen Rider Hibiki)
Last of the birthday fics, I promise. ^.^
Title: Growing Up Takeshi
Character: Tachibana Kasumi
Fandom: Kamen Rider Hibiki
Rating: G
AN: For Meg, who prompted me with fic for Kasumi. Pre-series.
When Kasumi was four she accidentally ended up in her father's study. Mama was busy with Hinaka - at two years old still a baby from Kasumi's lofty four-year-old perspective - and she was bored. She knew she wasn't supposed to interrupt Papa when he was in his study and usually she didn't, but she was bored and wanted someone to play with.
Her father was sitting at his desk, a desk with so many books on it Kasumi couldn't see any of the table's surface, and he was on the phone with someone, saying something about a prince and princess and their baby Ubume. Kasumi listened for a while but soon got bored with conversation and cautiously started edging towards the desk to see what the books looked like. She only got a glimpse before her father spotted her and slammed the book closed but it looked like a drawing of a monster of some kind.
"Kasumi," her father said gently after putting the phone down. "You're not supposed to be in here."
"I know," she admitted, staring at the floor in embarrassment, "but Mama's busy with Hinaka and--"
"And you're bored," her father finished. "Alright then. Do you want to start learning how to make dumplings?"
As Kasumi had been wanting to learn how to make their shop's sweets for weeks now she nodded her head eagerly and her father smiled. "Alright then, let's go. We can surprise Mama with them as well."
~~~
The accidental eavesdropping on her father's phone conversation was Kasumi's first introduction to Takeshi and the world of Oni and Makamou. As she grew older she began to notice some of their regular customers coming in all had names ending in -ki: Hibiki, Danki, Ibuki and she wondered why. Her father's name didn't end in 'ki', after all. But the men - well, mostly men, Shuki-san and Fubuki-san were the exceptions to the rule - were regular fixtures at the store and sometimes when they left (in pairs or singly) her mother would give them the traditional sending off and sometimes when they came back they were limping or bruised or clearly suffering from some kind of injury. And her mother would usher them inside and bring out their well-stocked first aid kit and help them patch themselves up.
"What's happening?" Hinaka would ask, wide-eyed as she peered around Kasumi's shoulder and Kasumi had to admit, with a frown, that she didn't know.
~~~
"They're Oni," her mother finally explained one day, when Kasumi and Hinaka were both in bed for the night. "They fight the monsters that lurk in dark places. Which is why you don't ever have to be afraid, because they will always be there, protecting you."
Kasumi was sceptical but Hinaka seemed happy enough so she pretended she was as well, at least for now. She'd find out more in her own way.
~~~
She soon learned better, as her parents started including her more: sending her on errands for Takeshi (an organisation, not a person) and she began to get a more complete picture than the bare minimum her mother had told her before. Monsters were not only real but called Makamou and their regular customers were the people to fight them, putting their lives in danger to protect everyone else.
When Touki-san stumbled into their shop after closing, bandage around the top of his right arm, anxious to report to her father, something solidified inside Kasumi. Touki-san had recently got married and Sumire-neesan was very nice, she shouldn't have to worry about her husband not coming home. She was, Kasumi decided, going to learn how to help out. She was going to help the Oni who protected them all.
"Are you sure?" her mother asked her seriously. "It's a big responsibility, Kasumi."
"I'm ten," Kasumi said firmly. "I'm not a child. I want to do this, Mama."
Her mother studied her carefully, holding her gaze tightly, before finally nodding slowly. "Very well."
~~~
She didn't get to do much at first, which was disappointing, but she did find herself included more and, once the Oni got past their initial surprise, they began to take her presence for granted. Sometimes she suspected they forgot she was there, discussing things her father would not have let her hear about just what being an Oni entailed.
Then, one day when she was twelve, her mother called her into the study at the back of the shop and told her to get changed into something more suitable for the outdoors.
"Your father isn't feeling well, so I'm acting as supporter for Michibiki-kun today," her mother said, pulling on a sturdy pair of boots. "He's a member of the head family of Takeshi so if you're coming you need to be on your best behaviour, alright?"
Kasumi agreed easily and bolted upstairs, not wanting her mother to change her mind and decide not to take her along.
"Where are you going?" Hinaka protested, poring over her homework that was due the next day.
"Out with Mama," Kasumi replied, rapidly changing into a battered pair of jeans and an old t-shirt that didn't matter if it got dirty. "We're acting as support for Michibiki-san today."
"Can I come?" Hinaka asked immediately, sitting up eagerly.
"No," their mother said from the doorway. "You still have homework, remember?"
"But--!"
"No buts. Homework is important, Hinaka."
Hinaka sulked but went back to solving maths problems, grumbling under her breath the entire time.
~~~
Kasumi met Ibuki when she was fourteen. Two years of sporadic supporting had left her confident in her abilities but even so she was caught off guard when a boy around her own age stepped into the shop to be greeted warmly by her father and seated at the same table as Kasumi. She eyed him warily, because she didn't know this boy and it was wrong in some obscure way, that her father was making so much of him.
The boy cleared his throat and bowed awkwardly at her. "I'm Ibuki," he murmured at the table. "Let's work well together."
"Tachibana Kasumi," Kasumi replied automatically, then, "You're an Oni?"
He looked up in surprise and nodded. "Yes. My father's retired now so it's time for me to take over."
"Your father?" she asked suspiciously and he nodded again.
"You might know him as Michibiki," he offered tentatively and Kasumi felt her jaw drop. Michibiki-san? She knew he'd retired, of course she did, and that he'd taken up the role of leader at the Kansai branch of Takeshi, but she hadn't known he had a son her age, let alone that that son was an Oni-in-training.
"Aren't you kind of young?" she blurted - all the other Oni she knew were in their twenties at youngest - and he blushed.
"I know what I'm doing," he protested. "My parents taught me well."
"I'm sure they did," Kasumi's father said from the kitchen doorway. "Michibiki-kun would do no less. However, today is your first real battle so Gouki will be your support."
The tall, burly man at her father's side nodded at Ibuki, his set of disc animals bouncing gently at his side.
Watching as they left, Kasumi was left with mixed emotions and expectations.
~~~
"Hibiki-kun needs a supporter today," her father announced, watching her with that considering look that meant you never knew what he was thinking. Really it should have been a warning sign, but Kasumi was too busy being indignant that Hibiki-san needed another supporter.
"Again?" she demanded in exasperation, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "What happened to Yamabuki-san?"
Her father shrugged, an unconcerned expression on his face. "Personality differences."
Again. She didn't know what it was about Hibiki-san that left so many people refusing to act as support for him and was pretty sure she didn't want to. She had the slowly growing suspicion, however, that she was soon to find out.
"It's just for today, Kasumi," her father told her. "There are reports of a Bakegani and Hibiki-kun is the only one free."
Kasumi nodded and took off her apron. "I'll get everything together, father. I'll be ready in a few minutes."
Her father nodded in approval and stepped aside.
When Kasumi got back she was exhausted and, grateful that the shop was now closed, she sank down into a chair and massaged her temples.
"Bad?" Hinaka asked, coming out of the kitchen carrying a tray. The tray held a cup of tea and small dish of the shop's sweets.
"He's completely frustrating," Kasumi sighed as Hinaka put the tray down and then sat down next to her, draping an arm around Kasumi's shoulder. Kasumi took a slow sip of tea and felt herself starting to relax. "This is why I love you best," she told her sister and Hinaka grinned.
They sat like that for a while, not really doing anything except keeping each other company until Kasumi had finished both tea and sweets. "So," Hinaka said cheerfully, "tell me all about it."
This entry was originally posted at http://scifisentai.dreamwidth.org/240515.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Title: Growing Up Takeshi
Character: Tachibana Kasumi
Fandom: Kamen Rider Hibiki
Rating: G
AN: For Meg, who prompted me with fic for Kasumi. Pre-series.
When Kasumi was four she accidentally ended up in her father's study. Mama was busy with Hinaka - at two years old still a baby from Kasumi's lofty four-year-old perspective - and she was bored. She knew she wasn't supposed to interrupt Papa when he was in his study and usually she didn't, but she was bored and wanted someone to play with.
Her father was sitting at his desk, a desk with so many books on it Kasumi couldn't see any of the table's surface, and he was on the phone with someone, saying something about a prince and princess and their baby Ubume. Kasumi listened for a while but soon got bored with conversation and cautiously started edging towards the desk to see what the books looked like. She only got a glimpse before her father spotted her and slammed the book closed but it looked like a drawing of a monster of some kind.
"Kasumi," her father said gently after putting the phone down. "You're not supposed to be in here."
"I know," she admitted, staring at the floor in embarrassment, "but Mama's busy with Hinaka and--"
"And you're bored," her father finished. "Alright then. Do you want to start learning how to make dumplings?"
As Kasumi had been wanting to learn how to make their shop's sweets for weeks now she nodded her head eagerly and her father smiled. "Alright then, let's go. We can surprise Mama with them as well."
~~~
The accidental eavesdropping on her father's phone conversation was Kasumi's first introduction to Takeshi and the world of Oni and Makamou. As she grew older she began to notice some of their regular customers coming in all had names ending in -ki: Hibiki, Danki, Ibuki and she wondered why. Her father's name didn't end in 'ki', after all. But the men - well, mostly men, Shuki-san and Fubuki-san were the exceptions to the rule - were regular fixtures at the store and sometimes when they left (in pairs or singly) her mother would give them the traditional sending off and sometimes when they came back they were limping or bruised or clearly suffering from some kind of injury. And her mother would usher them inside and bring out their well-stocked first aid kit and help them patch themselves up.
"What's happening?" Hinaka would ask, wide-eyed as she peered around Kasumi's shoulder and Kasumi had to admit, with a frown, that she didn't know.
~~~
"They're Oni," her mother finally explained one day, when Kasumi and Hinaka were both in bed for the night. "They fight the monsters that lurk in dark places. Which is why you don't ever have to be afraid, because they will always be there, protecting you."
Kasumi was sceptical but Hinaka seemed happy enough so she pretended she was as well, at least for now. She'd find out more in her own way.
~~~
She soon learned better, as her parents started including her more: sending her on errands for Takeshi (an organisation, not a person) and she began to get a more complete picture than the bare minimum her mother had told her before. Monsters were not only real but called Makamou and their regular customers were the people to fight them, putting their lives in danger to protect everyone else.
When Touki-san stumbled into their shop after closing, bandage around the top of his right arm, anxious to report to her father, something solidified inside Kasumi. Touki-san had recently got married and Sumire-neesan was very nice, she shouldn't have to worry about her husband not coming home. She was, Kasumi decided, going to learn how to help out. She was going to help the Oni who protected them all.
"Are you sure?" her mother asked her seriously. "It's a big responsibility, Kasumi."
"I'm ten," Kasumi said firmly. "I'm not a child. I want to do this, Mama."
Her mother studied her carefully, holding her gaze tightly, before finally nodding slowly. "Very well."
~~~
She didn't get to do much at first, which was disappointing, but she did find herself included more and, once the Oni got past their initial surprise, they began to take her presence for granted. Sometimes she suspected they forgot she was there, discussing things her father would not have let her hear about just what being an Oni entailed.
Then, one day when she was twelve, her mother called her into the study at the back of the shop and told her to get changed into something more suitable for the outdoors.
"Your father isn't feeling well, so I'm acting as supporter for Michibiki-kun today," her mother said, pulling on a sturdy pair of boots. "He's a member of the head family of Takeshi so if you're coming you need to be on your best behaviour, alright?"
Kasumi agreed easily and bolted upstairs, not wanting her mother to change her mind and decide not to take her along.
"Where are you going?" Hinaka protested, poring over her homework that was due the next day.
"Out with Mama," Kasumi replied, rapidly changing into a battered pair of jeans and an old t-shirt that didn't matter if it got dirty. "We're acting as support for Michibiki-san today."
"Can I come?" Hinaka asked immediately, sitting up eagerly.
"No," their mother said from the doorway. "You still have homework, remember?"
"But--!"
"No buts. Homework is important, Hinaka."
Hinaka sulked but went back to solving maths problems, grumbling under her breath the entire time.
~~~
Kasumi met Ibuki when she was fourteen. Two years of sporadic supporting had left her confident in her abilities but even so she was caught off guard when a boy around her own age stepped into the shop to be greeted warmly by her father and seated at the same table as Kasumi. She eyed him warily, because she didn't know this boy and it was wrong in some obscure way, that her father was making so much of him.
The boy cleared his throat and bowed awkwardly at her. "I'm Ibuki," he murmured at the table. "Let's work well together."
"Tachibana Kasumi," Kasumi replied automatically, then, "You're an Oni?"
He looked up in surprise and nodded. "Yes. My father's retired now so it's time for me to take over."
"Your father?" she asked suspiciously and he nodded again.
"You might know him as Michibiki," he offered tentatively and Kasumi felt her jaw drop. Michibiki-san? She knew he'd retired, of course she did, and that he'd taken up the role of leader at the Kansai branch of Takeshi, but she hadn't known he had a son her age, let alone that that son was an Oni-in-training.
"Aren't you kind of young?" she blurted - all the other Oni she knew were in their twenties at youngest - and he blushed.
"I know what I'm doing," he protested. "My parents taught me well."
"I'm sure they did," Kasumi's father said from the kitchen doorway. "Michibiki-kun would do no less. However, today is your first real battle so Gouki will be your support."
The tall, burly man at her father's side nodded at Ibuki, his set of disc animals bouncing gently at his side.
Watching as they left, Kasumi was left with mixed emotions and expectations.
~~~
"Hibiki-kun needs a supporter today," her father announced, watching her with that considering look that meant you never knew what he was thinking. Really it should have been a warning sign, but Kasumi was too busy being indignant that Hibiki-san needed another supporter.
"Again?" she demanded in exasperation, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "What happened to Yamabuki-san?"
Her father shrugged, an unconcerned expression on his face. "Personality differences."
Again. She didn't know what it was about Hibiki-san that left so many people refusing to act as support for him and was pretty sure she didn't want to. She had the slowly growing suspicion, however, that she was soon to find out.
"It's just for today, Kasumi," her father told her. "There are reports of a Bakegani and Hibiki-kun is the only one free."
Kasumi nodded and took off her apron. "I'll get everything together, father. I'll be ready in a few minutes."
Her father nodded in approval and stepped aside.
When Kasumi got back she was exhausted and, grateful that the shop was now closed, she sank down into a chair and massaged her temples.
"Bad?" Hinaka asked, coming out of the kitchen carrying a tray. The tray held a cup of tea and small dish of the shop's sweets.
"He's completely frustrating," Kasumi sighed as Hinaka put the tray down and then sat down next to her, draping an arm around Kasumi's shoulder. Kasumi took a slow sip of tea and felt herself starting to relax. "This is why I love you best," she told her sister and Hinaka grinned.
They sat like that for a while, not really doing anything except keeping each other company until Kasumi had finished both tea and sweets. "So," Hinaka said cheerfully, "tell me all about it."
This entry was originally posted at http://scifisentai.dreamwidth.org/240515.html. Please comment there using OpenID.