Chapter 8: A test
"So.. a friend of my daughter's hm?" The Senator asked, having heard Natsuru's reply in broken English.
"Ah I forgot she doesn't know English that well" Sakura smiled in amusement as she heard Natsuru try to comprehend what they were saying.
"Er.. naiiisu.. to meet.. yu?" Natsuru added, trying her hardest to leave a good impression on the Senator.
"Don't they teach English over there?" The Senator asked, looking at his daughter.
"Yes. It's just that she's not the most academically gifted person. You're thinking of Shizuku" Sakura replied as they started walking out of the airport.
"Well something about her must have caught your eye. What is it?" The Senator asked with an appraising smirk.
"Besides her looks? She has potential in skills you may find useful" Sakura replied, a smile on her face.
"Oh really?" He looked back to the clueless blue haired teen.
"E..Engrishu.. stiru learning" Natsuru said, feeling his judging gaze.
"I'm sure you'll pick it up fast here" The Senator said, pushing his glasses up with a small grin.
Packing their bags into the Senator's limousine, they all took their seats in the back. Natsuru sitting beside Sakura while she felt the large man eyeing her. Her nervousness was evident but as soon as she saw Sakura smile at her, she calmed and showed him a confident expression. This seemed to amuse her Father, who looked at his Daughter with a slight nod.
"Well let's screw with her a little. Why don't we start with our favorite pastime when we're in a car" The large man looked at his daughter with a toothy grin.
"You don't mean.." Sakura's eyes lit up in mischievous joy.
He simply chuckled and started to meddle with the limousine's radio and music player. Sakura chuckled to herself and folded one leg over the other while sending Natsuru a pitying look.
"Play our favorite one to do" Sakura requested, seeing her Father flip through multiple songs before stopping at one.
Natsuru's confidence wavered a bit once she saw the looks on both Sakura and her Father's faces. Soon enough, she'd understand. A song started to play. An English one. A rather fast paced English one. To make it worse, both Sakura and her Father were singing it perfectly. She had no idea what the words were but Sakura kept looking at her as to urge her to sing with them. Panic started to set in as her mouth hung open and she heard the vocals increase in speed.
"Hot like wasabi when I bust rhymes. Big like LeAnn Rimes, because I'm all about value" Sakura sung and Natsuru briefly recognized the word 'wasabi'.
Then the Senator continued.
"Bert Kaempfert's got the mad hits, you try to match wits. You try to hold me and I'll bust through" Natsuru heard the word 'Kampfer' and rapidly turned her head from Sakura to her Father, utterly confused.
"Gonna make a break and take a fake I'd like a stinkin' achin' shake. I like vanilla, it's the finest of the flavors. Gotta see the show, 'cause you'll know the vertigo is gonna grow cause it's so dangerous, you'll have to sign a waiver" They both kept singing as Natsuru looked at Sakura like she grew two heads.
~What are they saying!? Wasabi!? Kampfer!? Why didn't I ever pay attention in English!?~ Natsuru lamented, holding both sides of her head.
"Hahahaha! I think we've tortured the girl enough" The Senator laughed with Sakura.
Natsuru, realizing they were teasing her, simply pouted and folded her arms. Though she did lean into the comforting head patting courtesy of Sakura. Clearing his throat, the Senator got Natsuru's attention and started speaking fluent Japanese.
"𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶. 𝘞𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨'𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦?" The Senator leaned back as his smile faded.
~He can talk in Japanese!?~ Natsuru felt like a victim of bullying as she pouted again.
"Don't be too upset, I thought teens over in Japan were somewhat fluent in English. I thought, as Sakura's.. hmph.. 'friend' that you would know some English" The Senator stated, pulling out a cigar and rolling the window down.
"Er.. right. Sorry" Natsuru said, hearing the man scoff.
"I really can't tell what she sees in you. Pumpkin, I'm sure there are better people suited for you. Someone as meek as this doesn't suit you" The man said, lighting the cigar.
"Oh come now.. You barely know her. She may seem meek, but she's got what it takes" Sakura replied, seeing Natsuru's fists clench.
"I have what it takes! I want to be by Sakura's side.." Natsuru retorted, her eyes firmly fixed on the man's face.
"I'll be the one to test that. Besides, I want to see what a 'Kampfer' is capable of" The Senator said before blowing smoke out of the window.
Sakura lightly smiled as she folded her arms. She wasn't surprised he knew. Ever since the attack several years prior, he had bugged the house with microphones and cameras in everywhere but her room and the bathroom. On top of this, she knew he hired several people to keep him updated about Sakura's life. He heard the word 'Kampfer' the day Sakura left and concluded the fighting teens he had on tape were the Kampfer.
Though he suspected it was all on purpose. As to ease into the conversation, so it wasn't a topic Sakura brought up out of nowhere. Looking at his daughter's face, he knew she knew he knew it. His pride in her increased but Natsuru's expression told him everything.
"Why don't I explain what happened then? I already know about Desperado and your plans for America. After all, we share the same ideals, Dad" Sakura said with a genuine smile, one shared by her Father.
"I had a feeling you did. I'm all ears, Pumpkin" The Senator urged her to go ahead and speak as Natsuru watched Sakura in awe.
"It began years ago, when I was attacked. A being approached me, having seen my real personality after beating that criminal. It wanted to give me powers and in exchange, set up a proxy war fought between two sides. I accepted and started bestowing the Kampfer powers onto people I believe could help me. They didn't. Too drunk on power and in a state of constant flight of fight. Natsuru here is the one I find the most worthy" Sakura explained, her Father picking up on her subtle hints that Natsuru wasn't privy to.
~So that's why you put in the hit on the kid's parents.. Obviously, she likes you and getting rid of her last support in this world would make her easy to mold into whatever you like. Not bad.. Not bad at all. Do you intend to create more soldiers for my plan? Hm.. No.. You have something in mind yourself, don't you?~ The Senator thought to himself with a small smirk.
Natsuru nodded at Sakura and held her hand, interpreting her Father's silence into tension. Sakura felt the warmth of her hand and smiled while gently squeezing it.
"I see. So you're using that thing to what end?" He asked, pouring himself a glass of whiskey.
"To end pointless wars and the rut we find ourselves in. People are so hungry for an enemy that they'll jump on anyone for any perceived slight. You see it everywhere on the internet. Why, there was a man accused of rape recently, with no real evidence to support it. And people started to pile on him. Cursing, doxxing and threatening his life. People are so eager for an enemy that they'll gladly join any pointless war as long as you demonize that enemy first" Sakura calmly replied, seeing her Father lower his glass after taking a sip.
"People should choose their own wars/People should choose their own wars" They both said at the same time.
"Not for money.. Not for oil. Not for what they're told by the fucking media is right" The Senator continued as the limousine stopped in front of a manor.
Natsuru's brows furrowed as they got out, seeing the manor while taking in their words.
"Conflict is in our nature, Natsuru. As I said before, we can't stop all wars. But we can stop a hell of a lot of reasons for them" Sakura added as they walked inside.
"I understand.. I agree, Sakura" Natsuru responded, seeing an approving grin from the Senator.
"That's good to hear, Kid. But you're still untested. I need to see if you both have the strength of body and mind necessary to accomplish this" The Senator said while guiding them inside, down into the lower floors of the Manor.
"What do you mean..? What will you do?" Natsuru asked as Sakura grinned.
They descended down into a large metallic room over forty-feet wide on all sides. The door sealing behind them as the Senator took his tie off, dropping it at his feet, his rippling muscles tearing parts of his shirt. Some of his veins getting dark as he rolled up his sleeves.
"Isn't it obvious? We're fighting my Father, Natsuru" Sakura replied, using her War blessing and growing in height once again as she summons a saber and a Desert Eagle.
"But.. Your Father-" Natsuru narrowly evaded a clothesline from the Senator as Sakura ducked it and shot him in the back several times.
"It'll take a lot to hurt him through his armor, Natsuru" Sakura admitted, seeing the bullets fall harmlessly off her Father's broad back.
"Exactly right, Pumpkin. Now come on! Show me what you got!" The large man yelled as he jumped up in the air and slammed his fist down at them.
Natsuru leapt away as Sakura flipped behind her Father and swung her saber at his arm, deflected away as the nanomachines hardened. She blocked the backhand with both arms and slid back as Natsuru threw an explosive fireball at him. Though only his clothing was burnt as he looked at Natsuru and drove his fist into her gut after a display of surprising speed.
Natsuru hit the wall and quickly moved away as the Senator's foot kicked in the wall where she landed. Fire gathered at her hands once more and compressed themselves as Sakura kicked out the back of her Father's legs and drove his head into the wall. Sakura flipping away just in time to avoid a grapple while Natsuru threw four compressed fireballs at the man. All exploding loudly as the flames charred the metal.
For a brief second, she was worried. That was all it took for the Senator to grab her by the neck and chokeslam her onto the ground, denting the metal with her body. Sakura heard the pained grunt from Natsuru and tossed the Desert Eagle aside while gathering a white colored magic to her hand, coating it in energy as she dropped on her Father's back and shot him with a white fireball to the back of his head that made him stagger forward a few feet.
Natsuru grunted and got up, watching Sakura display her magic.
~Sakura has magic too..?~ She dispelled her thoughts as she saw the man turn to them, body smoking from the heat, ready to throw down again.
~Nanomachines are incredible.. Only a bit of damage actually affected him there. Guns and conventional blades won't do anything to defense like that~ Sakura thought as she caught the powerful fist of her Father and slid back while Natsuru was batted away.
Sakura dodged the knee that came next and willed her magic to copy electricity, sending an open palm into her Father's face as a thunderous boom resounded and blew the both back from the lightning bolt Sakura unleashed. The Senator wasn't giving them any time to breathe though, grabbing them both and slamming their heads into the wall with enough force to dent it.
Natsuru was dizzy, looking over at Sakura, noticing her pained expression. This drove her over the edge as she superheated her fist and drove a corkscrew punch into the Senator's face, injuring him. Sakura, freed, coated her fingers in her white magic as Natsuru drove her superheated fists into her Father's stomach, keeping him occupied as her knuckles bled.
"HAAH!" Her Father drove his knee into Natsuru's stomach and prepared to punch her in the face, only to have his nanomachine covered chest pierced by Sakura's fingers about an inch deep before she shot him across the room with a loud lightning explosion.
Hearing a wet cough, Sakura helped Natsuru up and watched as her Father stood back up with a proud grin. Wiping the blood off his mouth, he nodded.
"You more than passed. That's a helluva magic trick you two pulled. Managed to get through my nanomachines, even.." The Senator commented as Sakura smiled back.
"So, when do I get some?" Sakura asked with a grin of desire.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone