Meet The Kaitos

Of course he would be in the bathroom at this hour! He knew she needed to get ready for the meeting, and that she needed to use the bathroom! Once again she banged at the door, from whence a groan was heard. “Come on, Akemi!” She paced back away from the door, frustrated and with a feeling of fullness that prevented her from even thinking about drinking water.

They had known of this meeting for a few days now, informed by their own father when they last had dinner together, as a family might. There had been some tension between him and Akemi – who still blamed the man for how the siblings grew up – yet Hayami couldn’t help but feel relief they were finally under his wing once again.

Yet, once again Akemi spread his misery to those around him; not content with probably having stayed up the whole night, now he hogged the bathroom. She once again paced towards the door, and banged on it. “COME ON!”

Hayami grunted with frustration as she paced once again away from the door. Footsteps, and finally the handle turned, squeaking as it did so, and the door came open. A few steps quick as a fox and Hayami rushed past the blur that was her brother and into the bathroom. "GET OUT!", she yelled from the inside.

A few moments later, as she wiped her hands on the towel, she called out to her brother. "Are you ready to go out?" His distant voice lazed its way in. "As I can be, let's go." She walked towards the door, looking for her brother. One. Two. Three. As she inhaled, ready to call out once again, Akemi appeared in the hall, clutching his wallet as he adjusted his jacket.

Snow had been streaming from the skies since last night and there was no halting it. He swirled his jacket on, circled a scarf around his neck and prepared his beanie to try and shield his head and ears from the unforgiving cold of the mountains. At the very least, the snow would create a cushion for their walk, and not be sheets of slippery deadly ice.

They made out the door, locking it once and checking it twice, and started on their trek towards the Kage tower, hands in their pockets and heads tucked into their jackets so as to keep as little skin exposed to the frigid cold as possible. Hayami locked her arm with his as she was wont to do; in spite of their differences, and their by-and-large hostile relationship, most of that was just a front, a lie each told the other to safeguard their vulnerabilities, as dysfunctional as a sibling relationship could be. Yet, they couldn't help and be vulnerable with each other, and that in turn allowed each other to express their strength and love. If anyone were to ask Akemi why they acted like this, he would be at a loss for words.

He wondered what Noboru would want that he called them to the office instead of just another dinner. He had half a mind to ask Hayami as much, since they didn't discuss it when they learned of it, but now while they walked, snow petals bumping harmlessly against their cold skin, it'd be more effort than he was willing to put. Coming to the Kumogakure had been her idea; he had just tagged along.

To make her happy.

The morning was going as well as one could expect it to. Even though it had been snowing for hours, the Raikage had made his way to the tower without a hitch, used as he was to the treacherous ways of the mountain, years of experience tempered with the caution of a wise man who witnessed both first and third hand the dangers of complacency towards the frozen elements. Clad in his darkened skies armor, the frigid air had little chance of touching him, and with the white robe and pyramidical hat of the Raikage providing further protection, by the time he got to the office, the worst he could complain about was how he might start sweating if they didn’t lower the heat indoors, which he did. Did they think the Kumogakure was made of money that they could just keep this place this hot? Put on a fucking jacket.

He walked past Rei and told her as much, to which she pouted, but he insisted. Past his doors, he saw why she had relented so easily; a pile of documents were ready for him to review. Cursing under his breath, he removed the white robe and golden hat, setting them on a coat hanger as he sat behind his mahogany desk, one of the last remnants of the Kage of old that stayed in the office, and glanced once again at the pile; tall as he was in this now sitting position. His children wouldn’t be in for another hour or so; perhaps he could kill some time and dig through the pile.

By the time the twins arrived, Noboru was fixated in the paperwork, finally in a state of flow, and the buzzer of the intercom assaulted his senses away from the enraptured state he had finally settled in. Bringing his eye up from the document he was reading, he pressed the button that opened his channel of communication with Rei. “Yes?” The secretary responded, her voice delicate as wind chimes dancing in the soft breeze. “Hayami and Akemi are here for you, Lord Raikage.” Noboru nodded. “Send them in”, he commanded. As the great oak doors opened, the two redheaded children of the Storm Lord walked in, their winter getup under their arms. Hayami, beautiful with the splendor of youth, smiled wide at the sight of her father, her hair a shade darker than Noboru’s own. Akemi walked behind her, his hardened sight resting on his father before allowing it to drift through the gym equipment, his own hair a shade lighter than the older man. His children. His clones. His doubts and dreams, his regrets and whims. Corporeal, given to the world as sacrifice and redemption.

Noboru circled the desk to meet them halfway, and Hayami quickened her step to embrace him as he raised his arms, her own arms clamping around his ribcage. “Hi dad!” Noboru smiled as she leaned her head on his chest. “Hello, sweetheart!” He rested his arms on her shoulders, holding her close for a few seconds, until she let go of him and pressed off of him. Akemi looked at him and tilted his head up, letting out a dry “‘Sup”, to which Noboru tilted his head down. “How are the two of you today?” Akemi shrugged, but Hayami smiled. “Good, good.” Akemi cleared his throat. “Why did you bring us here?”

Noboru raised a finger. “I got a gift for you.” He circled back to the desk, opening a drawer and bringing out a little booklet. Looking at the booklet, he frowned as he tried to decipher it. Akemi chuckled. “Is that a checkbook?” Noboru looked at him, a puzzled look still distorting his usually serious visage, before nodding. “Yeah, it actually is. There’s this… traveler, let’s call him, and he has lots of scrolls for sale, they just cost a pretty penny, so I want the two of you to pay him a visit and buy some stuff for yourselves. Never know when it may come in handy to learn techniques by studying them directly from a scroll.”

Hayami let out a surprised wow, while Akemi kept his unimpressed front. Looking at him was much like looking at a mirror, a younger and perhaps better looking mirror, and he realized how much he hated it, even if he himself loved doing it. Hypocrisy, thy name is Lord Raikage. “So, with that in mind!” The Raikage produced a pen, and started scribbling on the booklet. The twins looked at the man with a mixture of expectation and disgust carefully kept apart from one another; Hayami found it to be a generous offer from a loving father, while Akemi saw it as an attempt of engraciation that would completely miss the mark. The Storm Lord ripped the first page carefully, before starting to scribble on the second page. A few seconds went by before he ripped that one off too. Putting the booklet down, he brought the two checks for his children. “Take them to the Iron Bank, deposit or withdraw the funds, do as you wish, but know that my fatherly advice is to spend it on this traveler’s stand. I’m gonna do that myself. Learning it from a scroll is, by far, the most efficient way of learning new techniques.”

The two took their respective checks, and their eyes widened at the values. Akemi barked “Are you fucking serious?” Hayami, on the other hand, seemed delighted. “Are you sure?!” Noboru nodded. “Yup, you don’t have to worry, I got more where that came from. Consider this an investment in your future.” Akemi chuckled again, drily. “More like you trying to buy our affection.” Hayami scowled at him. “Shut up, loser.” She turned to Noboru. “Thank you, dad!” Noboru smiled. “Well? What are you waiting for? Go find this guy, get big and strong!” Hayami grabbed Akemi’s hand, and took off. “We will!”