Blessings of a Fox

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Buffy/Yakuza AU, follow-up to Finding Their Feet (because really, the order after the introduction doesn't matter as much)
Chapter Summary: Their next recruit welcomes her new status as an ashigaru, as an escape.
Word Count: 805
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Several things, barely mentioned.  Attempted assault, parental abuse (starvation), attempted forced marriage.

         Ochi Tsuya (spelled with the characters for moon night) has always looked up to her uncle, Terajima Toyokazu (spelled with the characters for rich calculation).  She wants to become a gokudou just like him and doesn’t even care when her mother grounds her.  Ojisan stops being able to visit, but not before teaching her to defend herself.  When a group of boys in her class corner her at thirteen, she keeps her cool but doesn’t let them touch her like they want.  They don’t tell—their pride won’t let them—but some sort of rumors spread and people stop talking to her.
         She doesn’t even care because they’re not really her peers.  The only ones that matter will be her brothers when she finally joins the gokudou.  She practices with the sword, not the piano, and feels nothing when her mother, frantic that the verbal warnings failed, starts starving her.  The only thing she cares about is when her mother decides that she needs to be married off rather than going into a career, because she hasn’t changed her mind since she was five.
         It’s not until they start the preparations for the wedding that she starts to get worried, and then, like an answer to her prayers (she knew the visit to the shrine to write the wish was a good idea), someone appears.  They tell her mother that she’s chosen—Akuma no Sureiyaa—and that she requires training.
         She’s a little nervous, but it’s better than getting married.
         Ochi-san is confused when she follows the woman through a doorway and finds herself on an island, but apparently magic exists.  So do akuma.  It’s when they reach the training grounds, beyond which the housing for what she later learns are the ashigaru and Slayers-in-Training, that she sees a sight that makes her start crying for the first time.
         A one-eyed man with a wild, manic smile is cackling and throwing himself recklessly at what she thinks is another guy in leggings.  (She learns later that Dani-chan is a girl, after a fight that leaves her with a black eye and Dani-chan with bruised ribs and both of them smiling.)  The one-eyed man is cackling, ponytail flying around, and both of them have irezumi on their back.  The one-eyed man has a creature she doesn’t recognize, and snakes, and cherry trees, and the other is a giant octopus attacking what looks like a ship from a science fiction anime.
         “Don’t worry.  It’s not usually like this,” her rescuer says to reassure her, and she shakes her head frantically.
         “It’s destiny,” she whispers.  She is joining them.
         The one-eyed man, Giles-sama, turns out to be the leader—taicho—and has absolutely no problem with her joining.  He also lets her just visit the cabaret, which she finds odd until she learns that it serves guys and girls and…well, everyone really.  And guys can request guys, and girls can request girls, or anything in between, and no one bats an eye, so she finally finds it in herself to ask, hesitantly, “…what if I’m not attracted to either?”
         “Do you mind just talkin’ to ‘em?” he asks, and—well, that’s not a no.
         “The point of cabarets is just so that people can talk.  If anyone tries anything more, well…” he smirks at her.  “I’d say flag one of us down, but I think you can handle it all yourself.”
         She tries not to let herself feel too flattered, but (other than joining the ashigaru) it’s the best day of her life, becoming a hostess at Sanctuary.  Because while she might be asexual (a new word learned from English, which she loves because it’s hers), she’s definitely not aromantic (another word she learned) and she does like talking to people and learning about them, especially when she’s finally where she belongs.

         Other than taicho Giles-sama, her tattoo might be one of the most traditional and elaborate.  On her back, she has a woman in a kimono, with a fox that wraps around her upper ribs, tails on the back (one holding a star ball) and snout on the front.  Foxfire appears next to the enoki tree the lady is next to.  She’ll think about adding tails as the years go on, or perhaps more foxfire.  The rules of irezumi are not as strict for the ashigaru as they are for the yakuza.  The elaborateness of the tattoo doesn’t indicate rank or years of service (same thing, really).  It feels nice, because it’s nice for Oshi-san that she doesn’t have to wait since she’s waited so long, but on the other hand it would feel odd if she didn’t add more elements with her years of service.  It’s a thanks to Inari, really, for fulfilling her wish.  Giles-sama likes it and explains the hyena.  The animal suits him.