Raising a Hero

By: Sinead

Chapter One:

Toyonaka . . . Osaka . . . Japan . . . Earth

Their names while they resided upon Earth were Arashi and Karasu, and this was their first child, born to them in their second year away from Cybertron, in the Japanese capital city of TÇkyÇ. Both were well pleased that his Spark was healthy, his development progressing at the usual rate. He was a patient child, observant to everything. Nothing passed him by, and so things went well for the first three years, with nothing more than the usual tantrum or small storm that arose from a childish want that went unfulfilled.

After all, they had named him Kenrei, or Sword-Ghost, in hopes that he would follow his father’s footsteps as a teacher of the sword, and an observant nature is vital to teaching well.

And then their second child came along, and for a three-year-old to have one to compete with for attention is always something that causes more storms in a household. He was a wild child for the next two years around his parents, but when alone with his younger sister Yukitaka, Snow-Hawk, he always protected her, always entertained her when she was bored. He was the elder brother, and he knew from the children of the neighborhood that older brothers were supposed to watch out for the younger siblings that were inevitable.

However, neither of his parents knew that he was the aversion of many disasters that might have fallen upon their daughter had Kenrei not acted upon instinct and saved her. It was actually after four more years and their third child came along, a second son named Tekkoutsume, translated as Steel-Fang, that they had seen Kenrei act out in defense of Yukitaka.

“Hey, robot-girl! Let’s play!” came the jeering voice of the ten-year-old bully.

Kenrei leveled the boy with a glare, one that he had inherited from his father. “Back off.”

“Aw, c’mon, lemme play with your sister. She wants to play, right?”

“No!” the four-year-old Yukitaka replied. Both her and Kenrei had grown up speaking two or three dialects of Japanese as well as the standard Cybertronian dialects and English. Her reply was in the TÇkyÇ dialect, which was usually made fun of here in Osaka.

“That’s TÇkyÇ! Speak real Nihongo, you brat! Baka!”

“Aho!” Kenrei yelled back. “Lay off! Go find someone your own age to torment!” His Osaka accent was impeccable and perfect, despite calling the Osaka boy an idiot in the TÇkyÇ dialect, which was considered extremely rude in the prefecture they were currently in.

“Fine! I’ll torment you!”

Just as the boy was about to launch himself at Kenrei, both fathers appeared upon the scene. Karasu looked at his son, seeing Kenrei glance up at him once, then return his glare back at the bully, whose father was gripping his arm and keeping him still, demanding that he apologize. After the incident was over and Yukitaka was riding home high upon her father’s shoulders, Karasu asked in a Predaconian dialect, “Why didn’t you ever tell your mother and I that you really have been watching out for your sister over these years?”

“Because I didn’t want you to worry about me fighting with other Pred kids,” Kenrei replied. “I don’t fight the human ones, only pin them for a moment, then walk off with Yuki.” He turned imploring optics up to his father, his tone the typical pleading tone of a child who doesn’t want to be embarrassed. “Do you have to tell Mom?”

“Yes, I do. She’ll be proud of you. She’ll be even happier to learn that you haven’t really been a back-talking, hard-headed brat the entire time.” Karasu reached down to knock his fist lightly against the top of his son’s head twice. “We always were confused as to why you always had the best behavior for your teachers.”

Kenrei heaved a sigh. “But I don’t want Mom to cuddle me.”

“Oh, getting hugs from her aren’t the worst thing in the world.”

“Dad. Ew.”

Karasu laughed, gently pushing his son into the house ahead of him, calling out to Arashi that they were home. She waved from the living-room, cradling the infant Tekkoutsume as he slept. Karasu related the entire incident from start to finish, letting Yukitaka down from her perch upon his shoulders so that she could tackle Kenrei. Arashi saw how her eldest clearly gave her a look of “please don’t hug me,” and laughed, holding her hand out, palm-up. “Good job. I knew you had it in you.”

The boy reached over and clapped his hand against his mother’s, grinning. “I can’t let her be hurt. She’s my little sister.”

“And that’s how an older brother should act. Good job. Now. Go get cleaned up. Take your sister with you.”

The years ticked by, and soon Kenrei was fifteen, Yukitaka was twelve, Tekkoutsume was eight, and their youngest siblings, twins, Soraryu and Tochiryu or Sky- and Earth-Dragon, were five.

And the house was constant chaos.

“Tekk, where the Pit did you put my sword?!”

“I never had it!”

“Kenrei, watch your language!”

“Then who took my sword?! I can’t find it anywhere!”

“Did you try in your closet?”

“Yeah, did that, Yuki!”

“Dad! Sora took my ball!”

“Did not! You hid it, Tochi! Not fair!”

“Holy Primus,” Arashi groaned out. “Why did you want so many blasted children, Rass?”

Karasu winced, then roared out the bedroom door, “Kids! Knock it off! Tochi, stop accusing your sister! Sora, go help Yuki and Ken find his sword! Tekk! Go outside with Tochi and stay out there until I tell you two to come back in!” He closed the door, sighing. “I thought that it was you that wanted five kids.”

“I wanted three. You wanted four. We ended up with five.”

“Yes, love, I know.”

A timid knock sounded upon their door almost fifteen minutes later, and Arashi rose from her paperwork on her desk to open it. “Ken. What’s the matter?”

“I found the sword.”

Karasu heard the desolate tone in his son’s voice. “Come in. Show me.”

The fifteen-year-old held out the two broken halves. “Neighborhood kids. I don’t know how they got their hands on it.”

Karasu took the half that was still attached to the hilt, looking over the break, sighing. “Primus, but this area isn’t getting any better.” He looked back up at his son, silent for a long while. “Who found it?”

“Tochi.”

Karasu searched his son’s face. “You’re unusually quiet.”

“I blasted liked this sword. It was my favorite. I have a reason to be upset that it’s broken. This cost you and Mom enough money to be forged for my birthday.” Kenrei unclenched his hands, willing himself to relax and calm down. His temper was as ferocious as his father’s, and he knew that only because of one incident in an arena when some Cybertronian Predacon came and nearly killed one of the human students. It was then that Kenrei realized that berserker blood ran through him. Only Arashi was able to get close to Karasu, who had stopped attacking the foreign bot only once he had been forced into Stasis Lock.

“What upsets you more?” Karasu asked softly.

“That the money you had spent upon me is gone.”

“No, not gone,” Arashi said, smiling. “Do you think that we don’t know you? Kenrei, fully half of that money was spent upon a full lifetime warrantee, no questions asked. We’ll bring the sword back, and they’ll replace it for you.” She reached up to him, as he was now just slightly taller than her, and rested her hand upon his cheek. “It will be fine.”

Kenrei sighed, bowing his head, nodding. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you. You’re better at keeping your temper in check, and you’re working wonders with Tochi,” Karasu replied, chuckling. “That boy will listen to only you.” He blinked, “Speaking of which, how did he end up outside?”

“I told him that if he didn’t get out there on his own power, I’d throw him out and make sure he hit something in the process. Preferably a moving vehicle.”

“You, son, have a way with him.” The father looked out a window. “Aah, they’re fighting again.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Kenrei said, smiling. “I’ve needed to brawl with them for a while.”

Karasu carefully took the other half of the broken sword, still looking outside, watching as his eldest barreled out of the house with a deep roar, tumbling with his brothers. Arashi smiled, chuckling slightly. “He always was a mystery to me. How he can be so blasted rough with his brothers, then care for Sora’s smallest wound with the most tender touch I’ve seen a male his age possess . . .”

The husband placed the broken sword upon a shelf. “And how he and Yuki have a special bond that is almost the same bond that lies between our twins.”

“That’s true.” She smiled, seeing how Tochiryu almost bit Tekkoutsume, but Kenrei knocked the five-year-old a few feet, snarling something that made the youngest boy seem to shrink into himself. “He’ll have your voice, dearest.”

Clearing his throat, Karasu replied, “I hope and pray to Primus that he doesn’t.”

“What’s wrong with your voice? I think it suits you well. Gruff, commanding, but when you’re talking to family and loved ones, it feels like you’re purring a love-song meant for us alone.” She kissed his cheek. “I have to finish that paperwork for the arena.”

“Arashi, you always were a romantic with your words. And again, thank you for helping me with all these blasted accounts. Numbers are nigh-useless to me. I’ll check up on the girls.” Karasu walked out the door, closing it softly, and went into the living area, reaching out to rest a hand upon Yukitaka’s shoulder, seeing her turn her head towards him, smiling. Years ago, she had somehow contracted a virus that had taken her sight along with it when it had broken and left her system, causing her optics to remain blankly white. Another side-effect was that she was also small and delicate, barely up to her father’s elbow, just under five feet. By Cybertronian standards, that meant that she was exceptionally small. Karasu rested his hands upon her cheeks, angling her face so that he could kiss her forehead, asking, “How are you?”

“Well. I’ve heard that Ken is thoroughly trouncing those heathen younger brothers of mine.” Her mind had sharpened so that she was mentally Ken’s equivalent, and her intelligence was continuing to prove to be her greatest weapon.

“Where’s Sora?”

“Watching them. Hoping that he’ll teach her some of the moves he’s pulling on Tochi and Tekk.” She reached up to feel his face. “You know about the sword.”

“Yes.”

“He cried when Tochi left to fight Tekk. That sword means a real lot to him.”

“Rei was fine when he came to us. Fuming, but relatively stable.”

“Yeah, but you’re his parents. I’m his sister, and I’m the one that he cries around.” She smiled sadly. “Just like he’s the one that I can cry around. Him and Mom. And sometimes you, when I need to feel the special father-daughter bond.”

Karasu sighed, rubbing his eldest daughter’s face gently. “I know. Your mom comes to me later on, sometimes, when you have a good cry and conveniently forget to tell me.”

“I want to see again.”

Karasu willed for his Spark not to tremble, for his optics not to blur. “My dearest, you will. I don’t know when, but you will. I will make sure of that.”

“I’d sell my best sword to help fund it,” a soft, gruff voice said from behind them. Kenrei walked over, and Karasu rested his arm around his son’s shoulders as the fifteen-year-old bent to pick his sister up in an embrace. “I’ll have you see again. I will.”

She smiled, burying her child-sized face in her elder brother’s shoulder.

“We’re going home.”

“Home?” Tekkoutsume asked. “Isn’t this home?”

“No. Cybertron. Your grandparents want to have a reunion,” Arashi replied. “And you’ll get to meet the rest of the family there.”

“Well why haven’t we gone home before?!” the eight-year-old replied.

“Because we’ve been busy establishing a school of swordsmanship, then making sure that it would be able to run on its own after we were able to return to Cybertron. We never expected to be here that long,” the mother replied sternly. “And you watch your mouth.”

Yuki piped up. “So when will we be going back?”

“Back? You’ve never been,” Tekk grumbled. Kenrei hit the back of his head lightly, warning him to shut up.

“In two weeks,” Karasu replied. “Start packing.”

The twins were ecstatic to be returning to their home world, and were instantly gone. Tekkoutsume plodded up to the room he shared with them slowly, muttering all the way. Yukitaka sighed, then aimed her face to where her mother was. “How long will it take to get there?”

“Less than a week, what with the new trans-warp drives that have been developed,” Arashi said, picking up the dishes left behind from supper.

Kenrei sighed, leaning back in his chair. “There’ll be discrimination against us. First off, we’re born off-world, second, we’re half-Predacon, and Cybertron is Maximal territory.”

“But you’re also half-Maximal,” Karasu replied. “I’m thankful that your sweet mother had been raised by a family that kept open minds.”

Yuki made a face. “Please, no lovey-dovey slag. We just ate.”

The parents laughed, and Kenrei asked, “What about our names? They’re Japanese, and we fit in with them here, but . . . Tekk won’t like how his name is almost impossible to be said in any Maximal dialects.”

“Well, he might simply be called Tekk,” Arashi said. She smiled, resting a hand upon the counter, turned almost completely to face her two eldest children. “I had been named Aria at birth. When I came here, I called myself Arashi, storm, because it seemed to fit at the time.” She indicated her husband as she sat again. “And your father had been named Razz, which lead to Karasu, or Rass for short. It’s all about what you’re comfortable with.”

Yuki sighed. “I’d rather not be called Snow-Hawk, I’ll tell you that much. I think I’ll stay Yukitaka. It sounds better.”

“And Kenrei sounds fine to me,” the eldest said. “It’s those three rascals that don’t like peace and quiet that won’t keep their full names.”

“No,” Yuki said, thinking. “I think Sora will. She has that kind of ‘I like my name so there’ attitude. I think being called Sky-Dragon in Japanese appeals to her. She’s a dreamer, after all.”

“While that impish twin of hers is a blasted bulldozer of a nuisance,” Kenrei growled. He sighed, catching his father’s reproachful look. “Just as grounded as his twin is dreamy.” Leaning his elbows upon the table, he blinked at his hands. “But they’ll do fine on Cybertron as long as they’re together. And with Tekk watching them.” His gaze met his mother’s, then his father’s.

Karasu indicated his son with a flick of his wrist. “And what do you suppose you’ll be up to?”

“Keeping this imp,” he rested his hand upon Yuki’s shoulder, “from being over-run with requests for dates, and helping her around. She’s my little sister, and as I am her big brother, it’s my responsibility to watch out for her and for the others, too.”

His hand dropped from Yuki’s shoulder. It was her turn to talk. “Tekk wants responsibility, Mum, Da. He wants to be older than he is now. That’s why Ken’s told him to watch out for the twins. He’s been chafing to be doing more at this point. Why else would he be trying to pull pranks on Kenrei and acting like he’s only a troublemaker?”

Arashi smiled. “All right, then. We’ll set him up with some new jobs. Starting off with helping the twins with homework. Once we’re on Cybertron, we’ll figure it out from there. Now, you two run up and start packing. Make sure that anything that you’re sure you won’t use, or that you can do without, is in a separate area from the things that you really want to bring with you. We can’t fit everything.”

“We’ll help the others, too,” Yuki said, standing and walking surefooted to where she knew the stairs to the second level to be.

Kenrei looked at his parents, then smiled. “When’s the last time you two had time alone?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Because I’ll bring the ruffians out for dinner when you want that time.”

“Tomorrow night. Don’t come back until ten.”

Smiling, their son departed. Arashi reached over to rest her hand upon her mate’s, still watching the stairs. Karasu gripped her hand. “He’s going to be a fine, honorable husband someday.”

“Yes. He will.”

Click here for chapter 2