"Is that some kind of joke?" he asked.
"I assure you that my name is nothing to be scoffed at." Long replied impatiently.
"Your name really is Long?" the other asked stupidly. "What's your last name? Dick?"
"Dan yuan yu chu li mian wu dong*!" Long complained in his native tongue, pounding one fist into the counter.
"What the...?" the man wondered. Long took a moment to calm down.
"My apologies... my name is Jin Long," he explained, bowing graciously. "Long is Chinese for dragon, or imperial."
"Oh." the confused man muttered.
"It is an honorable name." Long added, finishing his work. He waited patiently behind the counter for the man to pay him before handing him the receipt and wishing him a good day.
"What was that all about?" the bag boy asked. "You getting tired of all the comments on your name? Guess I can't blame you."
"Ke xi bi ruo bai chi shi hen gong*." Long muttered, starting to scan the groceries of the next customer. "One more episode like this and I'm going to quit!"
"You might not have to." the bag boy warned. "I heard that they accidentally hired too many people recently... that means somebody's gonna get laid off. I hate to say this, but it is probably going to be some of the newer people."
"You mean like me?" Long asked. "I think I would rather quit than be fired, but if I quit this job then I'll have to find something else... then again, it seems to me right now that anything would be better than this."
"I wouldn't be so sure." the bag boy argued. "It's much worse working for a fast food restaurant or doing janitorial work."
"I suppose you are right." Long reluctantly agreed. "It wouldn't do me any good to quit this job."
"Your shift's almost up anyway." the bag boy reminded him.
"Yes," he conceeded, looking at his watch. "I suppose I have sucessfully endured another eight hours of ethnically induced torture."
"Whatever." the boy replied, chuckling at the remark. After they finished checking out the next customer Long closed off his counter and walked out into the halls. Unfortunately he was stopped by the Assisstant Manager before he could get to the door.
"Hello Long, I have to speak with you." the lady said. Oh great, Long thought. Looks like I'm about to get fired anyway.
Shina sat down on the couch, wearing her black SWAT team uniform, and stretched out her arms. She put her gun down and relaxed for a moment and watched disinterestedly as several detectives gathered evidence from the kitchen. The other team members were busy leading the handcuffed suspects into their vehicles. Not my job... she thought, picking up her gun and twirling it around carelessly in her hand.
"Gado!" their captain bellowed. "What do you think you're doing lazing around like that!?! We've got some suspects to turn in to the county, so let's move it!"
This is so dull, she complained to herself while getting up from the couch. I yearn for the confusion of battle, the sound of gun-fire ringing in my ears. What am I doing here anyway? Just killing time? I should go back to my work with the KMF. She followed the leader and the others out to their cars and helped them shove the suspects into the back. Once they were done gathering evidence they all drove back to the police department to deposit their cargo. After all was said and done she changed back into some jeans and a T-shirt. Finally time to call it a day, she thought.
Nothing gave her more pleasure than taking the long route home. This is really pathetic. At the very least I could get another job in Isreal and shoot me some Palestinians... or even better, maybe I could go to Iraq and gun down some of them! Oh, how I miss fighting in the trenches... Listening to the soft roar of her car's engine and staring at the road ahead soothed her angry mind. By the time she got home she was almost in a peaceful mood... until she saw her father's car in the driveway.
"What the &%*#!" she groaned. Just when I thought I was rid of them... Obviously her father would not have returned without his newly wedded wife. Time for a little @$$ kicking, she thought as she parked her car and walked up to the front door. It was open, as she expected it to be. I better not walk in to find them making out on the couch! She walked in slowly and glanced carefully about the empty front room before moving to the next. Thankfully they were only sitting on the couch talking.
"What are you doing here Dad!?!" Shina demanded. "I thought you two were going to Paris?"
"We decided to come home and check on you before leaving." Alan replied. "Besides after that is over I was thinking about going off to Japan, Yugo's going back there soon and I was considering getting tickets to a few of his matches. Anyway, if I decide to do that there are a few more things here I need to pack."
"You know, I still haven't beaten your @$$ for running off and marrying her without telling me!" Shina reminded him, punching her fist into her palm.
"So, you're going to insist on this?" he asked, getting up from his spot on the couch. "Very well then." He walked up to her and then they both walked over to the training room.
"Good luck dear." Jenny called after him, blowing him a kiss.
"How disgusting." Shina muttered angrilly as she yanked the door open and walked into the training room. Her father followed her in and closed the door behind him.
"You know, I really wanted to apologize to you on the phone, but you wouldn't have let me." Alan explained, getting into his fighting stance.
"An apology isn't good enough for your kind of behavior!" Shina yelled, also getting ready to fight.
"Anyway, I am sorry for what happened." Alan stated. Before he could move Shina grabbed him, turned him upside down and stood him up over her shoulder, and then fell to the ground, slamming his head into the hard-wood floor.
"Like I said, sorry isn't good enough!" she added, getting back up. Alan also climbed shakilly to his feet.
"If that's the way you're going to be young lady, I think someone oughta teach you some manners!" He sent several powerful punches at her, but she was quick enough to defend herself from them easilly. So he kicked her feet out from under her and then fell down, using his elbow to punch into her head.
"I'll get you for that, Dad!" she yelled as they both got back up. He went to punch her again, but she morphed, the power of her transformation knocking him several yards away.
"Naughty little girls like you should go to their rooms!" he taunted, getting back up. The leopard growled at him and slashed at his defenses with her claws, unable to break them. She pulled back for a minute and blocked his attack, waiting for the brief pause that would allow her to attack before he could defend himself. Her claws slashed into his flesh three times, the last swipe sending him flying into the nearest wall. She morphed back out of her beast form.
"I'm not going to my room!" she yelled. Alan was only dazed for a moment before he got back up and into a defensive posture.
"I said, go to your room!" he repeated. She rushed over at him, but he blocked her attack and then transformed, knocking her away. He growled as he thought, Now the tables have turned! He rushed over to her and landed several powerful punches before she could block, but by the end of his attack she was ready to begin hers. She had stored up her power, and kicked him repeatedly in the chest before he fell over.
"I'm not going to my room Dad!" Alan got back up and growled at her before faking a few punches, which got her to open her defenses. Then he attacked and landed several powerful punches before she fell to the ground and he lost his beast form.
"Get back up!" he yelled, kicking at her. "And go to your room!"
"I'm 18 years old, I'm not going to my room!" she yelled back while getting up. "You're gonna get what's coming to you!" He tried to attack her and she morphed back into her beast form again, running over to slash at him before he could get up. And then she did her beast drive, grabbing him with her mouth, throwing him to the floor and then slashing into him with her claws. The last slash sent his half-conscious body rolling to one side of the room as she lost her beast form. She walked over to glare at his slashed up body.
"Get back up, Dad!" she kicked at his side. He moaned and rolled away from her before climbing to his feet.
"Very good." he admitted, wiping a trail of blood from his mouth. "I can see that you've been practising, but you'd better watch it next time!"
"Yeah?" she asked. "Well now we're even." Then a knock came at the door.
"That must be Jenny." Alan worried. "I don't want her to see me like this!" He gathered his energy for a moment while Shina walked to the door. Then he transformed and ran into a corner of the room, waiting as his wounds slowly began to heal. Shina opened the door just a crack to find Jenny on the other side.
"Phone call for you." she informed her. "By the voice, I'd say it was your boyfriend."
"Oh, shut up!" Shina muttered, slipping out the door and closing it behind her. She walked over to the phone and picked it up off the counter. "Hello?"
"Hello Jannu."
"Hi Long, how are things?"
"Terrible really." he admitted. "I just got fired."
"My day hasn't been so great either." Shina sympathized. "My Dad and his new wife came back here to check on me today, but on the bright side I did get to kick my Dad's @$$ for what he did. Anyway... What did you do to get fired?"
"Well... they were overstaffed and I was a little short with one of the customers today."
"Why? What happened?"
"He insulted my name. I was not happy about it."
"Oh, I see... Hey, you wanna come over? We could just all hang out for awhile."
"If you are willing to pick me up I would much rather spend time with you than with Mike here..."
"Alright, see you in a little bit then, bye!"
"See you here Jannu."
She hung up the phone and walked towards the front door, glancing and the half-open door to the training room as she went. Jenny was nowhere to be seen. She had half a mind to check and see if they were in the training room, but decided that even if they were she probably didn't want to see what they were doing. Maybe Long and I will just stay out and drive around a bit before coming back here, she thought. A little more driving is just what I need to calm down anyway.
So without any further thought she left the house, got into her car, and drove it over to Mike's house. The ride calmed her back down, and she was thankfull that she had something to do other than sit around the house with her father and his new bride. Maybe I should just take Long out somewhere, we haven't really been on a date with just the two of us. Then she remembered that she had forgotten to tell her father where she had gone. He would probably be yelling at poor Long over the phone by the time she got there.
"You're such a pain Dad." she mumbled to herself. finally she pulled up in front of Mike's house, walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. Mike answered the door, and called for Long. "Hey, my Dad didn't call here did he?" Shina asked.
"Yeah, he did." Mike replied. "Uh, Long answered it, so maybe you should ask him about it." Long appeared behind Mike.
"It was nothing." he assured her. "I just told your father I was coming over there."
"Aw darn," Shina moaned. "I was just thinking about taking you out somewhere actually... but he didn't mind that you were coming over?"
"He actually said he wanted to talk to me."
"I guess we'd better go then." she reluctantly agreed, turning away from the door way and walking towards her car. Long followed after her. "I wonder what he wants this time. He'd better not be hatching some half-baked scheme to try and talk you out of liking me!" They both climbed in and she drove off towards home.
"He didn't even hint at what he wanted to talk about." Long informed.
"He wouldn't." Shina replied, expecting it. "Sometimes I just have to wonder what's wrong with him..."
"The two of you don't seem to agree with each other very often." he commented.
"No, not really." she agreed. "I just don't understand why he's got to make things so hard for me! I mean, I finally find a nice guy that I like and he gets all pissy about it. Not to mention that he is fully aware of how much I hate Jenny, and of course he inssits on seeing her... Not only that, but running off and marrying her! I don't care what he thought I would think about it, he should have known better than to do that!"
"I completely agree with you." Long sympathized.
"Well, I got him back for that..." Shine admitted, remembering the fight. "So I guess I should drop it now. What's done is done anyway."
"True." Long agreed. "I can't help but wonder what your father wants with me this time though... assuming that it doesn't concern you. Because if he's not going to talk to me about you, then he's probably going to talk about my past. I am getting tired just thinking about my past!"
"Well, we'll be there soon enough..." she reminded him. She was right. The rest of the trip passed in silence and eventually they reached their destination. She parked her car next to her Dad's in the driveway and they walked right into the couch to find Alan and Jenny making out the couch again.
"DAD!" Shina yelled. "I don't care if you two are married, if you don't stop that I'll... Do the same thing with Long when I know you're going to be coming home!" Alan and Jenny stopped what they were doing to give her a questioning look.
"You're joking, right?" Long asked.
"Of course I'm joking!" she yelled at them all. "Don't you guys know an empty threat when you hear one!?!"
"Uh... I'm sorry dear." Alan apologized. Jenny wiped the lipstick off his mouth and then walked upstairs.
"Where is she going?" Shina wondered. "Not that I'm sorry to see her go..."
"Dear, would you mind occupying yourself with something for a few minutes?" Alan asked. "I would like to have a talk with Long."
"What about Dad?" she demanded, crossing her arms in defiance. "If it's gonna be about him and me..."
"I have some personal business with him." he interrupted.
"Either way you two shouldn't mind if I stick around, right Long?"
"Uh..." Long mumbled.
"Long already told me all about himself, so there's nothing you two have to hide from me now is there?"
"So... he told you about himself, huh?" Alan looked them both over wondering how much they had told each other. "Fine, I suppose this is just as well. Why don't you two sit down?" Long and Shina exchanged puzzled looks before shiting down next to each other on the locve seat. Alan relaxed on the couch and gave them both curious looks. "I hope you don't take this the wrong way." he began. "However..." he sighed and scratched at his head. If only I could get rid of Shina for a moment...
"What is it Dad!?!" Shina demanded.
"It's alright." Long stated, resting one hand on her knee in hopes of calming her down a little. "Would you mind if I asked you a question Alan?" The remark caught Alan's attention and he looked over at Long in anticipation. "Why... What made you decide to spare my life?"
"Oh." Alan moaned. "Yes, I suppose you must have been wanting to ask me that for quite awhile."
"I know other assassins were sent after you," Long revealed. "and that none of them were ever heard from again. Not that I blame you for getting rid of the people who were sent to kill you, but... why spare my life as opposed to all the others?"
"I'm not really certain." Alan replied. "It was a spur of the moment sort of thing." He thought about his reasons for a moment. "You know, when I was about to kill you, you weren't afraid of me, all of the others were."
"And that's why you didn't kill him?" Shina asked, confused.
"They cowered before me... but you..." he looked at Long. "You stared right back into my eyes. An intense gaze, full of hatered and pain, almost as if you were daring me to kill you. You weren't afraid of death because you detested your life. When I saw that look I realized that you weren't a willing assassin, you had a choice, you could change your life. I'm not entirely sure why I decided not to kill you... perhaps I had hoped that you would make something more of your life."
"Yes." Long nodded, remembering the speech Alan had given him in the burning building. "You had hoped I could be something more. But Alan... After all the evil I have done... How could I ever hope to become such an inspiration as to lead others? I will be lucky if I'm ever able to simply lead a normal life."
"You said something to that effect to me before." Alan stated.
"Long..." Shina grabbed his arm and tugged at it. "Look at me!" And he did. "You can be whatever you want to be! You can overcome anything that stands in your way! Do you understand what I'm saying?" He smiled warmly at her.
"Jannu..."
"I mean it!" She continued. "I know you can. I believe in you." She leaned over and kissed him tenderly on the lips for a moment before her father made a coughing noise and they both pulled back and blushed a little.
"Thank you Jannu." Long said, he took one of her hands in his and kissed it briefly. "You... fill me with hope." Alan got up from his seat and walked away, Long and Shina watching him curiously.
"Well, I'm not going to sit around and watch that!" he yelled at them. They both laughed at him. "I have more important things to do!"
"What were you gonna say Dad?" Shina shot out before he could leave. "You know I won't let you go until you say it!"
"Look..." he muttered, glancing at the two. "I just... How serious are you two anyways? Are you sure you're ready for this?"
"Ugh!" Shina moaned. "I knew it!"
"Alan Gado." Long stated, rising from his seat, and turning towards him. "Your daughter and I are simply trying to... uh..." he glanced down at Shina. "discover our feelings for each other. Right?"
"Yeah..." Shina agreed. Alan gave Long a critical glance.
"I don't know what possessed me to say that." Long mumbled, sitting back down.
"No, you're right! We're just trying to figure out how we feel about each other, and there's nothing wrong with that, is there Dad!?!"
"Well..." Alan mumbled. "If that's all you're trying to do..."
"It is!" she yelled.
"Alright." he aquiesced. Then he turned away and walked up the stairs.
"What a pain in the @$$!" Shina yelled once she was sure he couldn't hear. "I don't see why we have to answer to him!"
"He is your father..." Long reminded, "sort of..."
"Yeah, yeah," she muttered, brushing it aside. "Anyway at least I got him off our back for a little while. But you know that if he went upstairs he and Jenny are gonna be in there for awhile." She rolled her eyes thinking about what they were doing. "Anyway, now that you're here... what do you wanna do?"
"Why do you always ask me that?" Long wondered. "I'm not sure, I thought that being here would be better then sitting around at Mike's house, but after that encounter with your father... I'm not sure."
"Don't say that! Just forget about him!" She put one hand under his chin and turned his face towards her. "Aren't you glad to be here with me?"
"Of course." he replied, smiling. "I didn't mean to..."
"Shh!" She put one finger over his mouth for a moment to silence him. "I know, it's alright. But I had to make sure, you know? Anyway, if you don't know what you want to do... I know something..." She kissed his lips softly and used her hands to push him down onto the couch.
"Jannu, I..."
"Shh."
"I don't think..." She started kissing him again to shut him up. But... what if your father finds us like this? Long worried. Perhaps I am a little afraid of him... She forced her way inside his mouth and felt him start to give in.
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back. Then she started caressing his chest, paying special attention to the area around his nipples. She rubbed gently over them until she could feel them hardening through the cloth of his shirt. He moaned softly and grabbed her hands, trying to hold her back, but not breaking the kiss. She wouldn't have it however, so instead she broke from his grasp and snuck her hands underneath his shirt to resmue her task. He was shocked at the burning sensation that came from her touch and pushed her hands away from the area and broke off the kiss.
"Jannu! Wha-what if you father sees this!?!"
"Oh, please!" she rolled her eyes in irritation. "He's probably too busy with Jenny!"
"But he could walk back in here any minute!"
"Would you rather do this up in my room, on my bed?"
"Uh..."
"That's what I thought! You're just afraid to get close to me aren't you!?!"
"I..." he had to think about it for a mintue. Am I afraid to get close to her? Maybe I am afraid of this... but why? Is it because of my past, because I still haven't forgiven myself? Is it because of her father? Or is it just because... I am a little nervous...
"Long! Why!?!"
"I... think..." Maybe it is just a little bit of everything. "I mean... I never did this sort of thing before..."
"Oh, is that it?" Shina wondered, getting off him to sit on the couch. "Yeah, I guess I could understand how that feels. So, you mean you never made out before, or what?
"I-I never really... uh..." he mumbled nervously, also sitting back up. "Well, I only ever kissed one girl besides my mother and sister... I just kissed her on the cheek."
"WHAT!?! That's all! You're 30 years old and you never even kissed a girl on the lips before you met me!?!"
"I... never really... had the chance to get very close to anyone." he explained.
"How pathetic." she moaned. A low growl emanated from her stomach. "I knew I should've had lunch today." She complained, realizing how hungry she was. "Tell you what Long, why don't we go out and get something to eat?"
*If only I stayed inside my cave!
*It is a pity that such idiocy is very common.