Coming Out of Hibernation

Sayuri kept glaring at Fuku, rapping her fingers on the kitchen counter. With Miho in the next room helping soothe a miserable Hideo, she was left with little else to focus on.

Fuku had been slowly eating the contents of a cup of instant ramen, his slurps loud and juicy. He’d gotten halfway through before seeing the hole that Sayuri was staring into him. “What?”

“Are you going to tell her this time?” Her fingers kept rapping on the kitchen counter.

Fuku slurped more noodles. “S’nothing to tell.”

Sayuri snarled. “You show up after almost ten years and you’re acting like nothing happened.”

“Because nothing happened,” said Fuku. “I took a job in America.”

The fingers continued to rap. “You always had a shit poker face. And that was before I could smell the lies.” Sayuri leaned over the counter, almost growling. “You never sent a letter, or a phone call, didn't leave a single way to get ahold of you.”

Fuku finally returned her stare, shoving the last bit of noodle into his mouth. “What are you getting at, Sayuri? You want me to say that we’re both losers?”

“At least I said it to her,” she insisted. “At least she knew how I felt. Even if she couldn’t feel the same way. I got to move on.”

The empty cup of instant ramen crumpled in Fuku’s hand. “I’ve got a wife and two kids. They’re on vacation in Shanghai. I don’t have those feelings for Miho anymore.”

Sayuri’s nostrils flared. She could smell the lie.

-----

Kumiko had no idea where she was. The goons in the van had put a bag over her head after the back doors had been blown off. At some point the taffy bindings had been torn off of her and she was being marched into a building, hands firmly on her shoulders and pushing her forward.

After some time in an elevator, she was pushed forward again through a winding hallway – at least she assumed so, with how many times she was turned to a new direction.

Eventually, Kumiko was forced to her knees and had the bag ripped off her head. She was in an executive office of some kind, with a desk made of the finest mahogany and chairs handcrafted. Behind the desk was nothing but shaded glass, showing a breathtaking view of downtown Tokyo.

Staring down at her behind that desk was a black-haired woman in a dark blue power suit, her stare severe as she looked down. The stare of Fuzukawa Ayumu was unnerving, with her unnatural purple eyes. “This is the wrong girl,” she hissed. “How did they grab the wrong girl? They had the route, they knew the timing, they knew everyone that would be there.”

Standing beside her was a man that roughly resembled Wolf Knight, though his color scheme was differing shades of green and black, his head resembling that of an eagle. This was one Kumiko recognized. He was the star from one of the shows her classmates would hold up instead of Wolf Knight.

It was shocking to see Eagle Rook, let alone seemingly working for the bad guys. “They had her and this one, but Wolf Knight came out of nowhere and gummed up the works. He took out the kid.”

Ayumu waved her hand dismissively. “Excess goods. He only deals us a minor setback. We will have more chances.”

Eagle Bishop was not so sure. “Do you remember that the plan was for us not to face him until after we’d assumed control of the government? It took just him and Raven Scout to ruin our plans last time. He will come for us with everything he has.”

“You didn’t have me last time,” said Ayumu. “He’s a blunt instrument, ill-suited for the scope of our plot.”

Kumiko frowned. He’d mop the floor with these guys!

An overweight bald man entered from behind, carrying a tablet that he was swiping through. With a winning smile, he greeted the two already there. “I took the liberty of doing some market research. I’m guessing we already know everything we need about Wolf and Raven?”

Eagle rolled his head around. “Of course we do, Roy. Anything we need to know about the kid?”

“Yeah, just the basics. Same class as our target. We went over the dad earlier, finally got information on the mother. Birth name is…. Kumamoto Miho.”

The name hung in the air as a thousand-yard stare came over Ayumu. “…Oh.”

Eagle tilted his head to look at Ayumu, whilst Roy chuckled. “Yeah. You want me to take the kid somewhere secure?”

“…Yeah, sure.” Ayumu no longer sounded as confident, watching the fat bastard take the child from the room. The second they were gone, her head lightly slammed into the desk. “Fuck.”

“What?” Eagle picked up the tablet, scrolling through the information. “It’s just some housewife.”

“That housewife,” Ayumu stated, “is Magical Girl Sweet Bear.” With a heavy sigh, she rose from the desk. “Send a message to every kaijin we’ve got contact information on. A trillion yen to anyone who kills Wolf Knight or Sweet Bear.”

Eagle was stunned. “A trillion?”

“For each,” stressed Ayumu. “Of all the fucking people we kidnapped, how the fuck did they pick the one kid who’d piss off both Sweet Bear AND Wolf Knight? The laws of magic are going to be murder on this one…”

----

Sayuri’s anger ebbed as she felt her cell phone vibrate with a new message. Someone from the support group had sent a picture, with the text ‘People are panicking – FYI’.

The picture was a screenshot of a text from an unknown number. “Oh my god.”

Fuku had heated another cup of instant ramen and was letting it cool. “What?”

“Someone just doxxed Miho.” She brought the phone over for Fuku to see. “Whoever kidnapped Kumiko put a bounty on Miho and Hideo’s heads. They gave the address, everything!”

Their shock was interrupted by the sound of the master bedroom door swinging back open. Sayuri and Fuku could see Hideo resting on what was left of the bed behind Miho, who was slowly walking back into the room. “Fuku.”

“Yes?”

Miho held up her arms, showing the set of dull jade bands off around her wrists. “Help me take these off.”

Fuku pulled out his wand, only hesitating to give a warning. “Everyone’s going to know we’re doing this.”

Miho didn’t care. “Let them.” She closed her eyes. “Make it quick.”

With a side look to Sayuri, Fuku flicked his wrist. The wand shot a brilliant beam of sapphire into the jade bands, which glowed white for a second. An audible ‘click’ echoed across the room, the bands unlatching and falling to the ground with a too-solid thud.

Miho fell to her hands and knees, wheezing and crying as years of being cut off from her magic came to a sudden end. What came next would need to be quick. “Sayuri – !”

Sayuri helped Miho up, towards a picture of her family that she was reaching towards. She pulled the picture off of the wall and revealed the door of a safe, twisting in the sequence that she’d set so many years ago. The dial rolled from number to number in her weakened hand, until the final part of the combination was in.

The safe door swung open, a thin magical barrier fading out of existence as the contents were revealed. The smell hit Miho first. It was something she’d missed, something she hadn’t been able to enjoy all this time.

Her hands gingerly reached inside and pulled out a large lavender sack, making her way to dump its contents on the counter. Sayuri watched candies of every size and make, from chocolate blocks to more seasonal fare like candy canes, cover every inch.

She pulled at her sleeves, revealing a set of dull jade bands around her wrists.

“Start unwrapping.” Miho ripped a bag of gummi worms open, shoving a handful into her mouth. “I need to refuel or I’m going to eat myself alive. God, I missed sweets...”

----

What power can one woman or man bring to bear in the face of impossible odds?

The basic laws of magic give an answer.

Mastery comes from training. Miho and Hideo had spent the better part of their lives training, fighting all manner of opponents.

Training refines emotion. Even a novice mage could cast a powerful spell under duress – but an experienced one could do it on command.

Emotion drives action. The most powerful magic was born from the most intense emotions: hate, fear, love, courage, to name a few.

For example, two masters of their craft had their daughter kidnapped, a girl that they would gladly do anything for. The sheer emotion would overpower any loss of skill from lack of recent use, and be perfectly guided by that mastery.

So, what power could one woman and one man have against such opponents? In a word: everything.