Vanessa opened her eyes and stared at her father who held her in his arms. “What beautiful eyes she has. She takes after you that way.” No sooner had the words come out of his mouth, Vanessa struggled to escape his tender grasp.

“Honey, come on. Daddy just wants to play with you.” Her father frowned as a chubby-cheeked infant Vanessa crawled out of his arms and into her mother's.

“Haha! Juntaro you should see your face!” Bianca laughed jovially next to her husband, who had been reduced to a ball of jealousy.

“It’s not fair,” he threw his hands up in the air, “she always loved you more! Juntaro eyed his wife up in false rage, her hourglass figure and almond shaped face combined with her clear blue eyes never failed to soften any frustration he may have had.

Bianca laughed once more, caressing her husband’s soft beard and strong jawline. “Don’t worry honey, I’m sure she’ll warm up to you when she gets older.”

Juntaro looked at his first daughter, unbeknownst to him, only one of many to come. “I hope so.” His gaze wandered to the window, where a violent downpour was harshly banging on the window.

——

The rain had just stopped and Vanessa slowly trudged out of her house in Okinawa, hopping into the family car to visit the beach. Her parents sat in the front and relied on Vanessa to make sure her youngest sister stayed in her booster seat, while her other sister gazed longingly out the window.

An awkward silence persisted for a good fifteen minutes before Juntaro tried to break it. “So Vanessa, how’s middle school?”

Vanessa shrugged, still upset at her father for telling her crush to “get lost” when he had come to deliver her homework from a day she was sick. “I don’t know Dad, people are starting to have enough awareness to know that I’m your daughter, but these are people I’ve been with my entire life, they’re still my friends.”

She forced a smile on her face and looked at her mother's swelling stomach. “Rather than me Dad, I think you should slow down with Mom, I don’t think I can handle any more sisters.”

“Hey!” Alice exclaimed from the other window, while young Haruka just smiled and laughed in her booster seat.

Wiping Haruka’s spit from her face, Vanessa turned and looked out the window, trying to find some escape from the steel prison transporting her to the beach.

This time it was Bianca’s turn to respond. “Oh honey, this is just a sign of my and your father’s love. It’s a good sign. Besides,” she said, stroking her stomach lovingly, “your father said he wants to keep trying for a boy, and I never get tired of you all so who am I to say no?”

Vanessa shook her head in disbelief. ‘How could her mother talk about her body not being her own? Even if you explained it as being for her husband’s sake, it was an odd thing for the young girl to contemplate.

As they pulled up to the beach’s parking lot, Vanessa saw something that startled her. Her bright sapphire eyes locked on to the beach and she opened the car door and exited while it was still coming to a stop.

“Hey! What are you doing!?” Juntaro called after his daughter but she had already disappeared behind the rolling sand dunes that led to the ocean. Clicking his tongue, Juntaro slammed on the breaks and put the car in park before chasing after his daughter.

He sprinted to the beach’s entrance and came to a sudden stop when he saw what had occurred. The beach was littered with the corpses of whales, an unforeseen aftermath from the hurricane that passed Japan as it traveled south. He walked up to his daughter, and hugged her from the back.

Vanessa shuddered violently and Juntaro realized that she was crying. That stoic, sassy daughter of his has tears and snot dripping down her face, so he held onto her even tighter.

“I’m sorry honey, I didn’t know...” Juntaro trailed off, afraid he had ruined the bond he had with his daughter.

She shook her head, “It’s not your fault Dad, I just wish I could give them a better resting place than the beach.”

Juntaro smiled sadly, “You’re so mature for your age, I’m sure you can think of something for next time this kind of thing happens.” He thought he had done a good job at comforting her, but, much to his surprise, Vanessa shook her head.

“No... I can feel it Dad. I can do something now.” He stared in awe as his daughter raised her hands and began to mutter something. Juntaro stepped back and his wife, who was carrying Haruka in one hand and holding Alice’s came up behind him.

“Jun... what’s happening?” Bianca looked concerned as a black substance began to consume the bodies of the whales, the stink slowly becoming the only reminder of their existence.

“She’s done it, my love. She’s awakened to her powers!” Juntaro jumped up and down like a child before running over to embrace his little girl. Looking at her exhausted face, she fell asleep in his arms.

Juntaro smiled to himself and held his daughter closer. She was going to do great things. He just knew it.

——

“She going to do great things, isn’t she?” The sarcastic mumbling, which oozed with jealousy and loathing, of the girls behind her reached Vanessa’s ears, and she raised her hand.

“Sensei, can I go to the bathroom?” At her sensei’s nod, she got up and left the classroom, and then proceeded to run down the hall, at which point she finally let the tears fall from her eyes.

Stupid hormones. Ever since she had changed districts when she entered high-school, her life had been one big, fat, depressing high-school hell.

Rushing into an empty stall, she began to openly cry into her hands. The rumors surrounding her family had spread and poisoned even her life, jealousy from her peers was garnered because her family had wealth, and hate for her father as a politician. A successful one at that, but even success comes with its own costs.

She looked up from her wet palms and stared at the stall door. The graffiti and taunting words written in black sharpie managed to get under her skin even more than her classmates’ chatter. Wiping the tears from her face, she started to calm herself, first regulating her breathing before blowing her nose.

As she left the stall, she saw her best friend, Lily Paige hand her a clump of tissues. Like Vanessa, Lily was half Japanese, and her brunette hair combined with small features made her a favorite amongst those in her grade. Having many things in common, the girls had been friends since they were wearing diapers, and nothing had broken that bond this far.

“Here, please.” Lily held out the clump with a smile on her face. Despite herself, Vanessa smiled and weakly thanked her only friend in school. And so, Vanessa slowly and warily walked back to her classroom.

Later that day, Vanessa was exiting via the school’s big lobby when she heard Lily over by the lockers. Curious, she went over to say hi to her friend but stopped in her tracks when she spotted Lily talking with the bullies from her class.

“So did you give them to her?” Vanessa shuddered when Lily nodded, and showed a cruel, twisted grin unlike anything she had ever seen on the cute girl’s face before.

“You mean our used tissues? Of course I did. The dumb bitch still believes I’m her friend after all.” Tears started to form as Vanessa looked on in horror.

“The Kumo family has suppressed the surrounding clans for too long, so we need to instill fear into their newer generations about what happens when they ignore the balance of power!” Lily shook her head.

“Well, that’s what my dad said at least, and I don’t have any particular attachment to that skank so I thought, ‘why not?’ What’s the worst that could happen?”

The group of victimizers laughed until one girl saw Vanessa, and her face turned pale. She pointed furiously until the other girls turned around, one after the other. Finally, Lily turned to face Vanessa, and a smirk found itself on her face.

“Ha, there she is now. Too timid to even-“ Lily was interrupted by a hard and fast punch, her father’s forced martial training on her coming into play at the cruelest of times.

With a crack, Lily went down bleeding and Vanessa ran out the door with tears staining her face. She wasn’t crying however, but grimacing.

If that’s how they wanted it, then fine. If wanted to break her, then congratulations, they had done it. And now that she was broken, they were going to see just how much of a warrior she could be. She was the young mistress of the Kumo family, and she wasn’t going to let their bullying end her ambitions, but rather fuel them through hatred and spite.

——

“Come on dad, I have a job interview in five minutes!" Vanessa has just graduated and was applying for a job based on an award she had won in her senior year of college. She had beaten out her hated former friend, Lily, in the final round of selections. Contrary to her belief, however, seeing Lily crying over her loss didn’t fill Vanessa with warmth, but left her feeling empty, the same as the past six years since she had broken her friendship with the girl.

Currently, however, Vanessa was complaining to her father as some assistants in white lab coats hooked her up to a suspicious-looking machine. The lab room they were in was pure white, save for the few splotches of black paint thrown in for diversity. "They're really impressed with my knowledge on the subject of dark matter and said they just want the final interview to make sure!" Vanessa felt like she had to continue her complaint, much to her own chagrin.

Juntaro looked at his daughter and smiled. She was his bright and shining angel, his pride and joy. She was the first of his four daughters to graduate college, and the first since her grandmother to do something other than tend to the clan’s well-being.

He smiled, a charming, reassuring smile, and said, "Don't worry honey, they’re just making sure your mother's DNA is still stable. The strong Kumo lineage still flows through you and your sisters, so we have to be careful that you don't become Wretched Weapons."

Vanessa looked him up and down before scoffing. "Damn it, dad. You always know how to take the wind out of my sails. It was going to be a good day, then you had to remind me of aunt Josephine." Juntaro’s face frowned and he silently said a prayer.

"Sorry... but you know how important it is because of what happened to her. Your mother and I would be even more crushed if we let that happen to you or any of your sisters. We just want to make sure you and your sisters awaken your blade powers properly." As he finished, the men in white cleared from Vanessa who was now wearing several nodes and a necklace with a large sapphire on it.

"Ready boys?" Juntaro shouted and several shouts affirmed his question.

He walked to the machine and flipped a switch. A giant rectangular shield made out of an unknown material rose up in front of him and the other researchers and came to a stop with a loud clunk.

"Ready honey?” Juntaro shouted through the shield. He looked tense as he put his hand on a small white button.

"Ready dad!" Came Vanessa's response from the other side. Juntaro hit the white button and a blue glow came from the other side of the shield. After about two minutes of nothing, Vanessa shouted at the scientists.

"Hey guys, I feel... something. What should I do?" The scientists murmured amongst each other before walking up to Jun and delivering their verdict.

"They say to do what feels right honey!"

"Okay dad!" The room went silent until a loud scream, Vanessa's scream, was heard.

"Vanessa! Shit, turn the machine off!" A brilliant purple light could be seen behind the shield as workers scrambled to unplug everything.

The room went silent as the father and scientists waited for the shield to come down with baited breaths.

When the shield finally returned to the floor, a trembling Vanessa could be seen with a skeleton holding onto her from behind. Jun ran up to her and ripped the skeleton off before hugging her firmly and tightly, trying to comfort his eldest daughter.

"It's okay honey, it's all right. Papa's here for you. Come, let's get that skeleton... out... of your...!" Jun's eyes were firmly set against the skeleton, not its abnormally long forearms or its equally long legs, but rather the horns upon its head which drew the attention of all viewing the scene.

Jun looked at his daughter before returning his gaze to the skeleton. "Vanessa? What- or rather, where did you get this?"

Vanessa looked up with unsteady eyes at her father, barely eking out a whisper. "I- I saw it dad... I saw hell."

——

As she walked down the corridor to the U.S.’s largest research lab, Vanessa felt butterflies in her stomach. Were those clones she had seen on her way here?

Vanessa tried to calm her heart as she lay on the surgical table, preparing to go under and have her cells taken.

It was her duty to come to the U.S. and investigate something her father had feared about this affiliated facility, but she had diplomatic restrictions placed in her because of who she was, not to mention her potential as a military asset.

As the scientists stuck a needle in her arm, Vanessa thought about the youngest of the clones she had seen on her way there. He must have been the age of a college student, a little younger than her but not by much.

Despite that, she felt attracted to his innocent gaze and bright smile, a far cry from the twisted and dark individual she had become.

‘Ah, what a world.’ She thought as she drifted off to sleep. I hope that young man finds happiness in the end...

——

Vanessa woke with a start and drenched in a cold sweat. She staggered up and, while only wearing her robe, made her way out of her room and into the hallway, where a familiar smell greeted her.

Peeking her head into the kitchen, she saw her fiancé in his trademark apron and standing over the stove. She walked up and hugged him from behind. Leo stiffened as she kissed his neck and he turned his head to see her face.

“Hi, my love. I made your favorite today. Chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream on top.” Vanessa’s heart filled with pride and warmth and she hugged Leo tighter, trying to convey that feeling. She quickly peeled herself off, however, and she remembered how Leo teased her the last time he got too cocky.

Sitting down at the table, she had wondered why he chose today to cook her favorite, but taking it as a sign of good fortunes, she decided not to question it.

Leo smiled looking at her expectant face, which reddened as her stomach rumbled. He couldn’t tell her, could he? That when he went to wake her up she had tears running down her face that stained her white pillowcase, and that he thought the love of his life needed a pick-me-up. No, how could he tell her?