Bamboo and Wood

[madimpossibledreamer]

Takes place some time after Making it Work, though there are a couple unfinished works in between.
Cast of Characters: Miyamoto Suna (Xander), Matriarch of the Miyamoto-gumi/Miyamoto Family
Cordy, Ani-san (yakuza husband) to Miyamoto
Kumai Atae, former Matriarch of the Kumai-gumi
Akahoshi Eimi (Sheila), new Matriarch of the Kumai-gumi
Shime Kikune (Larry), member of the Miyamoto-gumi
Ueda Mishiro (Gwen), member of the Miyamoto-gumi
Kabuto Seara (Michael), member of the Miyamoto-gumi
Other Miyamoto-gumi
Abe (Willy the Snitch), sketchy izakaya owner
Long Author's Notes are Long: In this universe, Japan is run by the women. Same-sex marriages are okay as long as you're acting within your "gender" and there's one wife, head of the household, and one husband, submissive and caretaker of the household. (Mostly, it's like they can overlook it in such cases.)  The Amaya-kai is the Clan Natsukawa Renyo (Buffy) is the Chairwoman of. Gokudou is another term for yakuza. The events of A Cup Overflows and Phoenix Spirit saw Kumai lose her status as Matriarch, and Miyamoto was only given her own Family to hunt her down."Second-rate" is being used to indicate that while the Miyamoto-gumi is a Direct Family in the Amaya-kai they only deserve their place as a subsidiary family (it's a specific insult). (I will have an Amaya-kai map at some point.) Kansai-ben, the "more slangy" version of Japanese compared to Kanto-ben (spoken in Tokyo), makes an appearance again. Usually it's Miyamoto speaking in Kansai-ben, but this time we get to hear it from Shime Kikune.  It's technically dicy whether she should've invoked the power of her irezumi youkai (tattoo spirit) here, since there's a strict protocol involved that involves not invoking against a higher-ranked yakuza, but the circumstances (an actual murder attempt on a different Family's Ani-san) mean it's probably okay, since if the attempt had succeeded the Amaya Clan's internal warfare is almost guaranteed. Shimai means young or, more to the point, lower rank yakuza. Host clubs are considered classier than strip clubs or the like, because you mostly go there to spend ridiculous amounts of money on overpriced drinks and talk to guys. (The same is true, in the opposite direction, of hostess clubs. Also of cabarets and cabaret clubs.)  The title is from a Japanese saying, Take ni ki o tsugu, or putting wood and bamboo together, meaning disharmony.  The Kumai-gumi are just as much troublemakers as the Nishiki family.
As for food, there's 'personality type' stuff to do with sushi.  Ueda buys into it.  Everyone else might just be trolling her.  I don't know if this is even a common thing/common readings, since most of the results I found talked about American sushi, which they most definitely would not be eating (if it's named x roll, like Dragon or Philly or whatever, it's probably an American sushi roll).  Sake sushi is salmon sushi and supposedly indicates a Kiryu or Saejima type character, stable but stubborn.  Unagi is eel and suggests maturity and wisdom.  Maguro is tuna and suggests an adaptable if possibly grumpy team player.  Uni is sea urchin and would kind of be Cordy's thing in canon Buffyverse, a spender with great self-esteem.  Kaiseki restaurants are kind of traditional Japanese restaurants, with expertly plated dishes and several courses.  An izakaya showed up briefly in Judgment and is a pub, with drinks and snacks (a lot of grilled or fried things to eat).
More author's notes: background notes

Main Points:
Buffy/Yakuza AU (Bloody Petals)
Chapter Summary: The Kumai Family makes a move against the Miyamoto-gumi's new Ani-san, Cordelia Miyamoto...
Word Count: 1866
Rating: Teen
Mild violence

          “Who the hell told you you could just waltz in here acting like you own the place? Someone really oughta teach you some manners.”  The voice is unfamiliar, but the tone certainly isn’t. Cordy’s spent enough time around gokudou to recognize one when she hears them. Her first reaction is to cower and hide. Fortunately, she’s been spending a decent amount of time learning to tell her initial instincts to piss off. She does swallow the other comment, though, the one that says if this punk had ever tried walking in a man’s kimono she’d know there was no waltzing anywhere in one.
          Instead, she turns, composed, raising an eyebrow, like this woman’s beneath her and not worth getting worked up over. She’d gotten a few comments like that before, walking around town. It’s just her luck this happened the one time she felt like trying some real ramen, not that cup stuff (though even the cup stuff is better in Japan than in America).
          Her gaze catches the pin, and she manages to read ‘Kumai’, though it takes her a minute. Suna had been pleased by her progress, but she had to do something more than just sit around the headquarters all day. Miyamoto-chan had, quite earnestly, insisted that she stay clear of some of the Amaya-kai Families and then had proceeded to name practically all of them. Suna had started to explain the ‘soap opera’, but an urgent call had interrupted their little vacation, and she’d been too tired when she got back to do much of anything other than average couple things. She’d still prefer to know more specifics about the politics, however intricate and intense. “I apologize. I was under the impression this was Miyamoto-gumi territory.” It is, in fact. It had taken her a little time to get used to the city, but she’d finally gotten that map into her head, which is part of the reason that she’d been allowed outside trips in the first place. She’s half testing what the Kumai-gumi yakuza says in response.
          “Oh, so the Ani-san of the Miyamoto bites back. That why the second-rate Matriarch keeps you around?” The yakuza leans on the spiked baseball bat she’d just brought in. The waiters shrink away, but it seems none of them is brave enough to say anything to her.
          “I might’ve misunderstood something. I thought the Miyamoto-gumi and the Kumai-gumi were both direct families of the Amaya-kai.” She plays the clueless foreigner, but doesn’t miss the snarl or change in aura, ducking out of the way just in time for the bat to miss her, slamming into her old bowl and sending shards every which way. She’d really been craving that ramen, too. She does manage to scoot her chair out quickly enough that she doesn’t get any hot ramen on her lap.
          “You think you’re anything more than a matriarch’s chew toy?” the woman snarls, and that…hurts a little. Because she’s been secretly wondering the same thing, only she hasn’t wanted to bring it up. “She’ll get done with you and spit you out. That freak gets bored easy.”
          The raving yakuza doesn’t notice, readying the bat again, but Cordy does, feeling an aura suddenly flare like an invocation and someone stand. The newcomer’s another woman—another gokudou by the feel of her—crosses the room in a quick limp and grabs the bat, spikes and all, in one unimpressed hand. It doesn’t even shake, despite the blood now trickling down her palm.
          “I ain’t seen the Kumai-gumi at work before, and I ain’t too impressed. The matriarch ‘erself got nothin’ better t’ do ‘n pick a fight with a rival’s Ani-san?” The matriarch, seriously? Cordy’s not impressed, either, in that case. It’s….Akahoshi, right. The woman stepping in is not Miyamoto, though there’s an echo within the Kansai-ben. The voice is lower, less manic, more business-like. While Miyamoto gets by with wiry strength and unpredictable movement, this woman is all muscle and height. “Yer pathetic.”
Akahoshi-sama hisses and tries to pull her bat free, only her savior braces herself and uses her grip to throw the matriarch into the wall.
          “Yer form sucks, too. Y’sure y’wanna fight this fight? ‘Cause when the Chairwoman hears y’tried t’ kill the newest Ani-san on her Matriarch’s own territory…” Probably one of the Miyamoto-gumi. Cordy’s been trying to learn all their faces, but she hasn’t gotten to know everybody yet.
          Matriarchs are allowed their own posturing contests, but from what little Cordy’s learned, they’re not supposed to be quite so obvious about it.
          “Miyamoto-gumi’s days are numbered, anyway,” the woman insists, eyeing her savior carefully as if trying to decide whether or not the fight’s worth it.
          “Y’sayin’ y’know where yer little traitor of a former Matriarch’s holed out? ‘Cause I know the Chairwoman would wanna know somethin’ like that.” The tone is effortlessly casual, but Cordy can read the threat and violence underneath. That’s a language she’s fluent in.
          “It’s your Matriarch that’s the traitor!” Matriarch Akahoshi screams, instantly turning silent as the other yakuza invokes. The red spiritual flames dance up around her, a warning to stay away.
          “Yah, I know. Invokin’s a big breach an’ all that. Yer th’ one that hasta explain tryin’ t’kill an Ani-san an’ maybe protectin’ th’ pathetic former matriarch, plus questionin’ th’ Chairwoman. If she says yer former Matriarch’s th’ traitor, she’s th’ traitor.” She’s turns the weapon around, holding it in a grip that says she’s pretty familiar with holding a bat.
          “Gross. You’re gonna ruin your outfit like that, shimai.” Cordy’d been too engrossed in what was happening to notice the group that had walked in, and by the feel, it feels just a little like the combined aura of the Miyamoto-gumi, or at least one of the ‘flavors’…she might still be a little hungry.
          “Aww, you’ve gotta keep a more open mind, Ueda-chan. Getting blood on your clothes is an excuse to go shopping for more.” That one she knows, Konishi. She’s got a boyfriend and had supplied most of Cordy’s ‘masculine’ clothes. Cordy’s not sure if she’d just raided his wardrobe or not.
          “If you get into a fight I’ll have to heal you all,” another voice joins in, possibly complaining a little, and she knows that one too—Kabuto-chan, one of the Family’s healers.
          The Matriarch sputters and runs, leaving the blood-spattered bat, and her rescuer walks to the window, not releasing her invocation for a bit until she lets out a sigh and does so all at once—probably the Matriarch’s out of sight. She shakes a little, the effort leaving her exhausted—but then, Cordy’s seen that before. Still, with effort the woman turns around, holding out a hand to shake Western-style.           “Shime Kikune, Ani-san. Ain’t pleased this’s how we formally met, but the Kumai-gumi’re sorry, snot-nosed little punks. T’make up for all that shit, y’mind if I buy ya another?” She nods at the broken bowl and table, and Cordy nods and smiles.
          “Fortunately, that didn’t make me lose my appetite.” The other Miyamoto-gumi cheer and one of them even starts clapping excitedly.
          “She’s like us,” one of them whispers and is quickly shushed down.
Still, the lot of them join in, rowdy as ever. Konishi-chan orders what’s the most interesting ramen she’s seen—coffee flavored. There’s still a little distance, but it’s nowhere near the pedestal she’d been on for months. They commandeer the biggest table, all ordering something.
          “We’ll probably leave the next month’s payment. You’ve got to replace the table, right?” Konishi-chan offers the waiter, who responds with a small smile and hurrying off.
          They talk about baseball for a bit and tease Shime-chan, who’d apparently been a professional baseball player for a bit until her leg injury, but the talk switches to talking about restaurants and the city when it becomes clear Cordy doesn’t have much to say about sports. She doesn’t know as much about food as she’d like, but it seems they’ve paid enough attention to her taste to have all sorts of suggestions, talking over each other in their enthusiasm.
          Shime-chan’s on the serious side, caring but stoic. She’s actually from Kansai (which they all suspect Miyamoto-san isn’t; her Kansai-ben’s good enough but it does falter now and then, so they agree with her assessment) and prefers fried foods like kushikatsu.
          Kabuto-chan’s favorite is sushi, which sparks a conversation about everyone’s favorite sushi. Shime prefers sake sushi. Konishi-chan’s favorite is the unagi. Kabuto-chan likes maguro, but will eat any sushi offered. Ueda-chan tells them they’re all stupid and clearly the only sensible choice is uni and just looks a little smug when Cordy admits she’s never tried any. She hadn’t really planned to, either, but it seems next time she’s being treated to some whether she likes it or not.
          Konishi-chan likes taking her boyfriend to Kaiseki restaurants and taking pictures. She talks so much about taking the pictures that Cordy doesn’t really get a good sense of what the food even taste like. She’ll get there eventually, she supposes.
          Kabuto-chan eats more from one particular Indian restaurant than any other, but even then isn’t particularly picky. Though she does recommend Cordy skip lunch when they go so she can try everything.
          Ueda-chan, on the other hand, apparently likes to go to one specific izakaya run by Abe, which she vaguely recalls Miyamoto grumble about here and there, order a drink and pretend to get wasted, actually enjoy the grilled fish despite the fact that the owner probably spat in it, and harass the owner. Again, Cordy can’t tell if the real draw is the food or harassing the owner, but then, this is an organized crime family, and if it is the same Abe, well, the Miyamoto-gumi’s usual kid gloves for handling civilians suddenly disappearing makes sense.
          They also insist she has to go to a host club after a bit of arguing in quick bursts of Japanese she can’t quite follow yet about the city attractions. There’s also a few parks and a bookstore, and even a fancy clothing store, but Ueda-chan doesn’t think she’s sophisticated enough for the store (just for that, she’s going to go one of these days) and they don’t seem to find the parks in general interesting. They also don’t think it’s appropriate for her to go to a Pachinko parlor, which—okay, fair, she hadn’t had a lot of interest in gambling in the first place, but come on.
          “So, why would a host club be appropriate when I’m married?” she asks, and they exchange glances.
          “If we take her to ours, the Matriarch can’t complain, right?” Kabuto-chan clarifies worriedly, and Shime-chan just smirks while the others look nonplussed.
          “Don’t fret yer head ‘bout it,” the former baseball player continues. Kabuto-chan doesn’t look encouraged at all.
          Once they finish, Shime-chan stands, holding out a hand to help her up, which is helpful. She’s not used to the kimono yet. “Gotta getcha home, or ya’ll start turnin’ inta a pumpkin, yah?”
          That makes her snort. “That would be a very strange relationship,” she agrees, and Konishi-chan looks fascinated while Ueda-chan looks disgusted. Pretty much a win in her book.