Work Text:
Kinzoko
(A spin-off from "Very Strange Indeed")
by Sephiroth
Sephiroth@map.com
It was early morning in the Okisawa household and Jinja, the middle of the families three daughters, was beginning to get annoyed.
"Kinnie! Hurry up or you'll be late for school!"
"Coming, sis!" the little girl called from upstairs.
"I swear that girl." She brushed her hair back over her shoulders and tied it in place with a piece of ribbon.
"I'm sorry." Kinzoko said, as she ran into the room. "I didn't mean to make you wait." She gave a frown. "I was just fixing my hair. See." She spun to show her older sister the braid. "Pretty, huh?"
"Yeah." Jinja agreed.
Jinja sighed and gave in to the need to smile at her little sister. Kinzoko had only been with their family for a year now, but already she'd won their hearts. completely.
They still weren't completely used to her, however.
Kinzoko reached up and placed a shining pinkish-silver hand upon her mom's shoulder.
Her mom, Kanai, turned and smiled at her. "Be good in school." She told her youngest, as she placed a soft kiss on the girl's warm living, biometallic forehead.
As she watched the girl run off after her sister, she recalled the day she'd found the strange girl.
And strange was the word for it. She had every internal organ known to man, and every part of her worked the exact same way anyone's would. Her skin cells aged and died and were replaced by new ones. Her organs functioned exactly the same as any eight year old girl's would; her heart beat and pumped blood through her veins, arteries and capillaries, her lungs fed her body oxygen. She was a beautiful. living, breathing, laughing little girl.
The strange thing about all of this was that every part of her was metallic. Her skin shone with a rose=colored undertone and there was a blue tinge to her eyes. Oddly, the metal she was made of, was entirely organic in nature.
Miss Tokitama walked into her classroom with Kinzoko and addressed the students in her class.
"Good morning, everyone." She said. "I am your teacher Miss Tokitama. It is good to see all of you."
"Good morning, Tokitama-sensei." The students replied.
"And this," she added, presenting Kinzoko, "is Jinja Okisawa's little sister, Kinzoko."
"Good morning, Kinzoko-chan." The students said, politely, though most of them wore surprised expressions on their faces.
"Good morning, everyone." Kinzoko replied, bowing, politely.
"You may take the seat next to Miss Hanabira." Miss Tokitama suggested.
"Thank you, Tokitama-sensei." Kinzoko bowed as she took her seat.
"You rust?" asked Bara Hanabira. testing the new girl like she did all the others.
"Fortunately no, Hanabira-sempai." Kinzoko smiled back.
Bara laughed, warmly. "Perhaps you could join the swim team?"
"I'm afraid I don't know how to swim." Kinzoko blushed somehow.
"Well, don't worry." Bara reassured the biometallic girl, "I'm sure we'll find some activities for you to participate in."
"Thank you." Kinzoko beamed. "I'm rather glad to hear that. I was so afraid that people would be afraid of me, or shun me."
"Well, don't you worry about that." Bara assured her. "So, tell me about yourself."
"Well, I don't know much about before I came to live with my family. I'm pretty much the same as you. My skin just happens to be made partly of metal."
"But doesn't that cause problems?"
"Not really." Kinzoko shrugged. "I guess if I had been born with skin like yours and then got changed into this, I might have some, but this is natural for me, so..."
"Of course." Bara smiled.
Kinzoko was about to add something when she saw a man in a military uniform watching her . "Let's go somewhere else." she suggested. "That guy over there is staring at me. It's giving me the creeps. Go find a girl your own age, you pervert!" she shouted, firmly, at the man as she turned and walked off with Bara.
The man watched her go, then pulled out a communications device. "I found her." he reported into it. "The rumors of a half-gundam child are true after all."
"Did she spot you?"
"Affirmative. But she thinks I'm just a pervert."
"Then you'd better abandon your mission at the school and return to base. We'll have to find some other way to acquire Duo Maxwell's daughter."
*****
"Mom! I'm home!" Kinzoko announced as she took her shoes off and ran into the house.
"How was school?" Mrs. Okisawa asked as Kinzoko walked in.
"Well, this really weird military guy was looking at me." Kinzoko told her mom. "But it was pretty cool otherwise. I made a friend."
"Really? What's her name?" She was worried about the military man her daughter spoke of, but didn't wish to alarm the child.
"Bara." Kinzoko replied. "She says she's going to help me find some after school activities to do. Mom? Why was that man at school today?"
"I don't know, honey."
"I'm home!" Jinja called from the door as she took her shoes off and entered the house.
"Hi, Sis." Kinzoko grinned, giving her sister a big hug.
"Hi. Hey, some military guy was asking about you. He had all kinds of weird questions, like if I knew who your real parents were and all and what kind of metal your skin was. Like its any of his business. I told him to mind his own business."
"I saw him." Kinzoko nodded. "He gives me the creeps."
*****
The soldier walked into the briefing room.
"Lieutenant," the man at the end of the conference table purred, "so nice of you to join us.
"Thank you, General Yuy."
"Please give us your report."
"Yes, sir." the Lieutenant gave a brisk salute and nod, then began, "Sir, after observing the students at the school where I was sent to investigate the rumors of a biometalic student, I find that these are true. The student is a female. I obtained photographs of her. I apologize for the quality, I was trying to remain hidden."
"That is quite all right, Lieutenant." Heero nodded as he held a hand out.
The Lieutenant took the meaning at once and passed up the photographs.
"I will infiltrate the school as a substitute teacher." Heero decided.
"You?" The Lieutenant asked.
"Is something wrong, Lieutenant?" Heero inquired.
"Sir! No, sir."
Heero nodded. "I leave tomorrow. Dismissed."
Everyone stood, saluted, then departed.
part two soon