Higanbana

POV Aimy Flashback 

In a traditional Japanese house, there is a bull faunes in an office sitting at a desk writing on paper with a massive stack to his left. After a couple of minutes, he finishes writing on the form and puts it to his left. As he sighs a little, he hears the door swing open with a 17-year-old Aimy with a pissed-off expression.

Aimy "Dad I want to talk with you about the marriage proposal." she says with a bit of venom in her tone.

Shimoda White "And what's wrong with it my little flower I can assure you he's a great kid." replied Shimoda with a soft smile.

Aimy "All he wants is to use our family name and I unlocked my semblance while…" is interrupted by her father.

Shimoda "Sweety, that's great." getting up from his chair and walking toward his daughter, hugging her tightly. "We will have a feast to celebrate, but you know how many strings I had to pull to get you a fiance and you two were doing fine so what's wrong, honey what changed your mind."

Aimy, hugging her father back, says, "Well, whenever I activate my semblance, I can see people with them being winged and robed with caring smiles or with them having twisted versions with huge red horns and a horrendous smile. I tested it out on a lot of people and I think I can see their thoughts to a certain degree." replying sheepishly 

Shimoda sighs defeatedly. "Alright my little bundle of joy I'll take your word for it, but I'll need some evidence about that, so I'll hire some people to take a look into it because your happiness is worth every lien."

Aimy "Dad, you don't have to. I know you'll just take it out of.." Shimoda interrupts his daughter by putting his hand over her mouth.

Shimoda "You bet I'm taking it out of my pocket, nothing and I mean nothing is worth more than you." Smiling warmly at his daughter and kisses her forehead. "Either way you'll be taking my position as chief eventually so come I need to teach you everything I know." breaking his hug as he walks towards his desk.

Aimy replies happily, "Yes, Dad." At the same time, taking a chair from the corner of the room and setting it next to Shimoda. [I wish I could spend more time with Dad but being the chief is a big job, and Dad always looks tired after each day from all the paperwork, but I'm glad he trusts me with helping him.]

2 hours later 

Aimy "Dad are we done yet." she says depressingly with her head on the desk.

Shimoda "Yes sweetie you're done I need to make some calls. Can you tell the chiefs to prepare the feast?"

[I take a quick look at Dad, my semblance seeing two versions of my Dad behind him, one looks like a robed version with white wings with wounds all over its body and another that has a depressing atmosphere around him with what looks like a bottle of alcohol in it's grasping.]

Aimy "Yay no more paperwork and yes Dad I'll tell them." giving her father a peck on the cheek while happily skipping out the room. 

POV Shimoda 

Shimoda smiling happily, seeing his daughter's antics, looks at a picture frame on his desk with him and his daughter smiling happily at the camera. As he opens a drawer on his desk, taking out a picture of his wife. A bull fanues smiling happily at the camera.

[If only you were still here and see Aimy, she acts almost just like you dear I miss you so much.]

My vision blurs a bit as a tear lands on the picture. I rub my eyes a bit, putting the picture back while getting my scroll out to make a few calls to my black market informants.

Informant "Sir White how may I help you today." 

Shimoda "You know my daughter's fiance and his family correct."

Informant "Yes what would you like to know about them Sir?"

Shimoda "My daughter is concerned about something with her fiance so you get me any and all dirt you can find so I can run it into the ground if they plan on doing anything to my bundle of joy." I reply angrily as my semblance activates with the wooden floor under my feet crack a bit.

Informant "Very well Sir this is a big job for me so it'll take about 2 days max to get the information and taking into consideration the favor I owe you that will be roughly 25,000 lien intotal." they say deadtoned 

Shimoda" Alright I'll transfer the funds after you get the information and you know not to mess this up or else." I say angrily

Informant audible gulps "Y-yes Sir it will be done to the letter as you said." quickly ending the call while I call someone else.

Matsumura Hideaki "Shimoda my friend for what do I owe the pleasure for you to call me." he says happily

Shimoda "I'm getting dirt on my daughter's fiance and will more than likely need help on the legal side of things because my daughter unlocked her semblance that sounds like she can see people's true emotions from the sound of it and she saw her fiance's true emotions about her."

Matsumura's voice says venomously "What!! If they touch a hair on my nieces head I'll squeeze everything out of them but what do you plan to do with the Haru family in Higanbana? They are very close to the mayor so this will be difficult but nothing I can't handle. Also supposedly the SDC was here last year to survey the land for any dust mines and from what I heard through the grapevine they found one near you."

Shimoda "If the Haru family is trying to marry into my family because of that dust mine I'll fucking kill them." I say slamming my fist onto the desk indenting it a bit with a fist mark.

Matsumura "I understand where your coming from but don't do anything stupid before you get dirt on them I don't want me niece to lose her father as well she has already suffered enough with her mother dieing from child birth."

Shimoda "You're right Matsumura I'll transfer the information I get to you once it comes in."

Matsumura "Sounds like a plan and knowing you. You're having a feast for Aimy unlocking her semblance." he chuckles a bit. "Well stop being cooped up in your office and spend time with her."

Shimoda "Yeah you're right, well have a good night Matsumura."

Matsumura "You as well." 

Ending the call, Shimoda gets up from his chair to spend quality time with his daughter.

Timeskip 5 Years later POV Aimy.

Aimy uses her mother's dane ax on some wooden dummies, smashing a couple and cleaving some halfway through. [It's been five years since the marriage was called off, and my father and uncle ran the Haru family through the mud with all the dirt. They found smuggling, abductions, money laundering, and the list goes on. I'm just glad I got my semblance when I did, and now I can use my semblance to gauge if they are good or bad. That and Dad is getting weaker and weaker every day from his illness that even the doctors don't know what's going on. I still have a lot to learn from Dad, so I don't want him to.] I'm interrupted by one of the guards running to me with a panicked expression as I feel my heart sink in my chest.

Guard "Miss Aimy, your father collapsed in his office and is now being moved to his bed and the doctors have been called." panting a bit.

Rushing past the Guard, I start running to my father's bedroom with a doctor checking his condition. As I kneel next to his bedside, the doctor finishes and says.

Doctor "Aimy, your fathers condition has gotten worse and it pains me to say this but your father is dying and there's nothing I can do to prolong it." the doctor slowly walks to the door and opens it. "I will be outside." as he closes the door behind him.

Shimoda says weakly, "My little flower, it's alright." a shaking hand gently rubs his daughter's head reassuringly. "It's finally my time to go and see your mother." with tears filling his eyes.

Aimy balughing her eyes out, saying, "Please dad don't go I don't know what to do."

Shimoda "Lead our people like I taught you to do. Sadly I didn't become a grandfather but I don't mind. I can't wait to tell your mother all that you did. You make me proud even if you were overbearing sometime's. Find a good man please find your happiness." said sorrowfully. 

Aimy "I.. I know I was but I don't know if I can lead our people Dad." with tears flowing like a river. As her semblance activates, she sees two weird men in the corner of the room with one of them smoking a cigar and the other one in weird gear and looks like a soldier. I hear a distorted voice in the room, "NOOOOOOOO JAMES!!." filled with grief as the man looks behind him with a sorrowful expression. As she looks back to her Dad his hands on the bed as a giant winged-robed being comes through the ceiling like a ghost and scoops up Shimoda's soul and the two other people in the room going back through the ceiling. 

I look back to my father's corpse, putting my head on his bed as I continue to cry until I hear the door open again with the doctor rechecking Shimoda and proclaiming his death as he starts to write down what he needs to leave as my father's guard captain comes in

Guard Captain "Chief Aimy your father wanted you to have his funeral in two days according to his will and for you taking the position of chief as well."

Aimy looks at him with dead eyes while still crying with an authoritative tone "Thank you captain now please."

Guard Captain "Yes chief."

Flashback end POV Aimy

[Whenever I look at William with my semblance I see a big winged robed version of him with his left eye missing covered in wounds with the same wired gear that one man had. The other is just like my Dad's but drinks from the bottle and sometimes clashes with the winged version while both of them screaming the name I heard two years ago, James. Maybe he's connected to that name, but, weirdly, his winged version sometimes wrapped its arms around me last night. Filling me with warmth and some of his emotions of loneliness, depression, fear.] 

I'm interrupted by William talking to me, "Hey you alright your spacing out a bit."

Aimy "Yes yes i'm good just thinking about how close we are now to Higanbana we made good time we should be there within 5 hours from now since we've been walking for about 10 hours."

William "Well it's surprising that your people are used to this."

Aimy "Well it's only been a year since we resettled there so my people are somewhat used to it." I chuckle embarrassingly at the statement.

William "Don't beat yourself up about it your people are very loyal to you." he replies, smiling at Aimy.

Aimy "Thank you dear alright everyone we are taking an hour break we have roughly 5 hours until we get to Higanbana."

POV William

Aimy told her people to take an hour's break with William sits down and grabs an MRE to cook as Aimy looks at William's mysterious package with curiosity as she sits down next to him.

Aimy" What's all that dear? It smells good."

William "Dehydrated food that I'm cooking you want some." as I handsome crunchy peanut butter to her. As she grabs the food and takes a small bite with a little glint in her eyes, and devours the rest of it and choking on the cracker while I hand her the spout of my Camelback. Aimy takes five large gulps of water and burps.

Aimy blushes from her antics as William chuckles a bit and starts eating as Aimy brings out some dried jerky as she looks a bit jealous of my food. I finish my food as she pouts a bit but finishes her's.

Aimy "So what are you going to do when we get to Higanbana dear."

William "Probably get something to drink and sleep in an actual bed." I reply as I look at Aimy.

Aimy "What do you like to drink? I like to drink some sake or even whiskey." looking back at me with a warm smile.

William "I do like whiskey, one of my favorite drinks." Aimy and Willaim talk about mundane things until the hour they need to move again. Two hours in three Beowolfs charge at the groups from the tree line.

William quickly pulls out the Desert eagle and shoots three times with the defining sound and deadly accuracy taking all the Beowulfs head clean off. And puts it back with a smirk on his face as Aimy and her tribe eyed with how loud and powerful weapons.

Aimy "Dear uhh what.. How.. I.." she stutters as she points at the Grimm corpses.

William "Well that's that, let's keep moving. We got roughly 3 hours till we get to Higanbana." as he continues to walk forward, taking them out of their stupor with the last 3 hours being uneventful until we reach the gate of Higanbana being stopped and questioned. For about half an hour until we were allowed in, with Aimy having to see the mayor while I tell her I'm heading to the inn to get a room and board and a drink as I sit down at the bar and order a whiskey and apple cider strong on the rocks.

After having seven drinks, still not feeling buzzed, and on my 8th as Aimy walks in and sits down next to me and orders the same while ordering some sushi. While she tells me about how the talk with the mayor went.

Aimy "I'm just glad he was understanding and had room to spare my people but it still hurts me because they all said, "Chief, we understand that you and to go with William, you don't have to worry about us." That's what they all said it hurts but I'm happy they understand." as she downs her 4th drink slurring her words a bit as I'm on my 11th still not buzzed.

[Must be the damn old blood. I wanted to get buzzed, but Aimy is getting there before me, and I don't think the barkeep is going to pour me anymore from how he looks at me chuckling at my predicament.] 

Aimy grabs my collar and looks at my face. "Dear lets get a room." she says, a bit lustrous as she gives the barkeep 1,200 lien as the barkeep says our room is upstairs to the left third door. She lets go and starts to walk towards the room while swaying her hips seductively. Softly chuckling, I follow Aimy into our room as we put our packs down. Aimy pushes me onto the bed with her straddling and slowly undresses me as I undress her. With moans softly escaping our room until late into the night.