The Memoires of Cordelia Chan

My arrival in Nagoya was uneventful, even if you include the half hour delay in customs whilst they verified my International Bujiken Association credentials, and hence the bag of training weapons I was carrying.

We drove from the airport to what I later learned was an estate on the outskirts of the city. In the early hours of the morning, local time, in which I arrived it was just a fancy gate and a short drive. Given the lateness, or if you wish earliness of the hour I was surprised to be met by anyone, let alone Sato's brother Daichi's wife Fumika, and shown to a wing of the house that was to be mine for the duration of my stay. Despite that for me it was only approaching 10pm San Franciso time, we dispensed with any long conversations leaving them till a more civilised hour of the morning. This of course left me with a slight problem, the household was asleep, it for them being the early hours of the morning, whilst I was awake, having recovered from what was for me last night by sleeping on the flight. Flying first class does have its perks and as Sato had arranged my tickets I wasn't going to complain.

I spent a couple of hours quietly organizing my things before settling down to meditate as it seemed like an ideal opportunity to practice.

I was triggered to emerge from my medatative state when I sensed a presence approaching the screen to my room. I was intereseted to note that I could discern that the presence was female and middle aged, something I'd previously been unable to do. I speculated that perhaps this was the due to the more posative and less cluttered background chi in the immediate area. I had already discerned that there were 3 significant sources of posative chi within 100 yards of my position, which I later determined were a fountain, carp pond, and medatative garden.

Her purpose in coming to check on me was firstly to determine if I was awake and secondly to find out whether I wanted breakfast, which I did. I had expected breakfast to be rice, sushi, and seaweed, but was surprised to be given the option of omlette, croisants, or waffles instead. I was hungry so went for the omlette, croisants, and coffee option. Over the next half an hour various other members of the family appeared. First to appear was Fumika's 11 year old son Akira, then her eldest Yuuta, then her 17 year old son Kazuki, and finally after she was rousted from her bed, her about to turn 15 year old daughter Nariko. I was interested to note she appeared in a short western style nightshirt bearing an Iron Maiden motif, despite the fact that she was supposed to be in school in less than 40 minutes. I was also interested to note she did nothing more than minimal common curtosy required in greeting me. Fumika asked me what my plans were, to which I replied I didn't really have anything specific planned. I had a week to get orgainised before I was due to start at the University so I needed to so out routes and travel arrangements. I also needed to find our exactly where Master xxxxx's Dojo was and sort out transport to and from there, and I'd like to familiiarize myself with the local shopping facilities. She suggested that if I could wait until the weekend then she was sure Nariko would be glad to show me the shopping scene. By the way she glared at her mother then me I was sure she wouldn't be. Yuuta then said that if I I liked he could give me a tour of the area this afternoon, and that if I needed somewhere to practice there was a training room in the East wing. I said I had no problem with waiting till this afternoon and thanked him for his offer.

I spent the rest of the morning exploring the house and grounds, discovering the suite of rooms in the East wing that were out of bounds, having their own set of goons, both inside and out, to keep uninvited guests away. I'd only have to cross that bridge if I needed to and it was far too early to have need. When I'd last spoke with Sato I'd told him that I wouldn't do anything for several weeks after my arrival, firstly because I needed to settle in, find my feet, and learn the lay of the lay of the land, but also because I needed to assess the problem first hand and work out the best course of action.