| Chapter 1: 6 months before "Cammy History" - Kent,
England |
| Crash! Cammy White slammed the huge double doors of her family house as
she arrived home from Combe Bank School on a rainy Monday afternoon in Kent. She slumped
down in an armchair in the grand entrance hall of the house that had been in her family
for generations and drew breath. School exhausted Cammy. She took no interest in any
academic subjects and was constantly being reprimanded by a faculty that she felt did
their best to irritate her. She took off her straw school hat, shook her head, plaited
bunches swinging, and flung it onto the floor in front of her and sighed. She had been in
serious trouble at school that day, for failing to hand in her French coursework. |
| "Useless bloody language anyway..." she told herself. |
| Cammy's mother Elizabeth strode down the sweeping staircase of the hall
and tutted to herself when she saw her daughter slumped in the chair. |
| "What on earth is wrong with you Camilla, you haven't been in
trouble again surely? And don't slouch like that, it's bad for your posture....What's
this? Don't just throw your hat about like this!" Elizabeth snapped as she picked up
Cammy's discarded school hat. Cammy just looked on bemused. |
| "Leave it out mum, I've had a shitty day at school..." |
| "DON'T YOU SWEAR IN THIS HOUSE YOUNG LADY!" Elizabeth
scolded. |
| "Sorry mum, oh, I got this note from school today" Cammy
said, quickly changing the subject. She handed Elizabeth the note. |
| The note from the Head-Mistress explained that at Combe Bank School, a
party of Japanese students would be visiting from Tamagawa-Minami School, Tokyo, on a
study visit. 20 girls in all, each one about Cammy's age - 13-14. Many were pen-pals with
the Combe Bank girls and so were staying with the English families to improve their spoken
English. |
| "Oh how lovely!" exclaimed Elizabeth, "It's such a shame
that you never bothered to correspond with anyone Camilla." |
| "Yeah right," Cammy replied unenthusiastically. Writing was
not one of Cammy's greatest skills. However she was an excellent athlete and that summer,
she had broken nearly all the school records for track and field events and captained most
of the matches in Hockey, Netball and Rounders. Cammy felt slightly dubious about the
Japan visit. She greatly admired the martial arts and pop culture of the country but
acting as hostess to a crowd of non-English speaking girls was hardly her cup of tea.
Cammy consoled herself with the fact that she could maybe learn some Karate from one of
them... slim chance she thought. Cammy was fast becoming skilled in the arts of
self-defense, mainly learned from Colonel White her paternal grandfather... Just then
Estella, Cammy's older sister walked in from school. |
| "Hello Darling." |
| "Good afternoon mother,... isn't it thrilling about the Japanese
visit Camilla-san!" |
| "Not really Estella, it's just going to be like the French visit
only the visitors will be less rude I imagine..." Cammy offered. |
| "Oh you really are an otaku Camilla... that means GEEK for those
of us who speak Nihongo... that's JAPANESE to you." |
| "Estella, you really are sad... what happened to your love of
French that you kept prattling on about...?" Cammy asked. |
| "French is just sooo passe' now Camilla." Estella said, and
she pranced off up to her room. |
| "Make sure you help our Japanese visitors feel welcome at school
Camilla, your father will be so proud to see you in a diplomatic position dear!"
Elizabeth beamed. |
| Cammy brightened at this remark. She felt more positive about the
visit, knowing that Charles White, her father, would be full of pride knowing his daughter
was carrying on his work as a diplomat. |
| "I'll make an effort mum." |
| "Oh good... right, now go and help Mrs. Keirsey lay the table for
dinner". |
| Cammy studied the itinerary for the visit after dinner. She sat in a
huge leather arm-chair in front of a roaring fire in the sitting room. Hugo, her favourite
cat purred happily on her lap. She had just showered and her hair hung long and
uncomfortably damp. Cammy bent over and ran her hands through her waist length hair, using
the warmth of the fire to dry the long tresses. Although a tom-boy at heart, Cammy
none-the-less loved her long blond hair and the thought of cutting it to shoulder-length
like her sister's made her shudder. Estella had gone out for the evening, into the nearby
town of Sevenoaks with her current admirer, so the great old house was peaceful. Maybe
this visit won't be so bad after all, she thought to herself... |
| Chapter 2: Kanzuki-Ryuu |
| A week later, flying high above Asia, the British Airways plane had
just taken off from Tokyo. Onboard, Japanese schoolgirls chatted about their visit to
England. For many it was their first visit and they talked excitedly about shopping in
Harrod's, seeing the sites of London and finally meeting their pen-pals at Combe Bank
School in the village of Westerham. In first class, away from the rest of her school mates
, accompanied by her ever present personal assistant, Shibazaki, sat Karin Adelheide
Kanzuki. |
| Karin's father, Jyurou Kanzuki ran one of the largest zaibatsu
(business conglomerates) in Japan and so the family were incredibly wealthy, powerful and
well-connected. |
| Karin's mother, the beautiful, blond Griselda Eisenbein-Kanzuki, was
originally from Austria and had worked as a company secretary to Jyurou before they fell
in love and had Karin, they're only child. Griselda had insisted that her daughter should
have Austrian first names but keep Kanzuki as her last name. Griselda passed away when
Karin was only three and she had only vague images of her mother. |
| Karin retained her Austrian mother's good-looks and her golden hair,
which hung in perfect ringlets. But she also had her Japanese father's shrewd business
sense and no-nonsense personality. Karin spoke perfect Japanese, German (the language of
Austria) and English and was proud of her European heritage even though she lived in
Japan. She had been trained in the martial arts from the age of two by her father and was
now, at the age of 14, a certified master of Karate and other ancient martial arts. Her
fabulous wealth had made her spoilt and although very pretty, Karin's face was ruined by
the arrogant smirk she constantly sported. |
| "Shibazaki?" Karin asked. |
| "Yes Ouja-sama?" |
| "When the hell are we going to be there, I'm getting so board and
this horrible seat is crumpling my dress..." Karin moaned as she smoothed out her
velvet dress. She wore an antique brooch at the neck of the dress, a gift from her mother. |
| "I'm sorry Miss Karin... only a few more hours...would you like a
drink?, some food?, a movie? a...." He was cut short. |
| "Oh do shut up Shibazaki, you really are a fool. Just tell them to
hurry up and get to London... I can't wait to do some serious shopping...I hear Harrod's
is excellent, or Harvey Nichols, or Liberty's... excellent." |
| "Yes Miss Karin, they clearly don't know you're in a hurry, I'll
tell them at once!" Shibazaki scuttled off. |
| "I'm surrounded by fools" Karin thought to herself. The only
person Karin respected was her father whom she called "papa". She was wise
beyond her years but was still at heart a bratty teenage school-girl. She was looking
forward to visiting England...perhaps papa would buy her a castle... or maybe she'd dine
with royalty! She did not correspond with anyone at Combe Bank and was only on the visit
to have vacation with her school. She smiled to herself, and raised an eyebrow... England
won't know what's hit it! |
| Chapter 3: In the cards |
| Meanwhile, as Karin traveled to England and Cammy slept soundly in her
bed, Rose was listless. She hadn't been able to sleep and now she stood on the balcony of
her villa in the beautiful Italian city of Venice. She was wrapped in a pale lilac silk
dressing-gown, her raven-hair flowing in the breeze. Rose's past was shrouded in mystery.
She didn't remember her parents... she had been with the "society" since she was
very young. They had helped her to develop her powers, raised her... but now all was
black. She had always watched over Cammy and knew that they're paths must cross soon. |
| Rose turned sharply and hurried back inside, through a heavy curtained
doorway. She sat down at an ornate card-table with tarot cards spread all over it. She
turned over a random card- it showed the symbol "Empress". |
| "Cammy White..." she whispered to herself as she saw the card
that represented Cammy. She turned over two more cards- "Strength" and
"Judgement." |
| "A conflict... so she will fight soon...but against whom?"
Rose worriedly turned over one last card... |
| "Seven Wands... aggression, arrogance and defiance... it must be
the Kanzuki girl," She told herself. |
| Rose breathed a sigh of relief, for now at least, Cammy was safe from
Him... |
| Chapter 4: Cammy vs Karin |
| "CAMILLA!!!" screamed Elizabeth White as she stomped upstairs
to hurry along her daughter. |
| "I'M JUST COMING MUM!... Jesus... oh where's my bloody hat!?"
Cammy asked herself as she rummaged around in her bedroom, looking for her school hat. It
was the day of the Japanese visit and she was already late for school. It wasn't that
Cammy was lazy...she just wasn't a morning person. Elizabeth burst in. |
| "For goodness sake Camilla, come on! Here's you hat... it isn't
fair to keep Mrs. Keirsey waiting to drive you to school!" |
| "Fine...I'll walk" Cammy said flatly. |
| "Don't be ridiculous,... you'll ruin your shoes, now get
downstairs and into the car!" Elizabeth snapped. |
| Cammy grabbed her school satchel and raced out of her room, sprinting
down the long winding corridors of her family's huge house, knocking Estella sideways in
the process. |
| "Watch out you maniac!!" Estella barked after her. |
| "Sorry 'sis!" Cammy called behind her, sarcastically. Cammy
laughed out loud. She reached the hall and swung her leg over the stair banister and slid
down the banisters at an alarming speed. She reached the bottom and vaulted from the
banisters to land like a cat in the entrance hall where her father, Charles White, stood. |
| "Make me proud sweetpea... be a good hostess. Maybe in the future
we'll work together, father and daughter as ambassadors for England!" Charles kissed
Cammy goodbye. |
| "I'll will Daddy," Cammy replied and hugged her father. |
| She walked to a huge gilted mirror, checked her hair and opened the
double doors of her house to see Mrs. Keirsey, the housekeeper, waiting with the family
Jaguar. Estella tutted as Cammy held the car-door open for her, doing a mock-curtsey. |
| "After you, your Highness." Cammy grinned at Estella. |
| "Impossible girl... I don't know where you get it from... let's go
Mrs. Keirsey... hurry up!" Estella snapped as the Jaguar pulled out of the drive.
Cammy and her sister Estella were both excited about the visitors from Japan. Estella
longed to impress them with her language skills and fashion sense. Cammy was interested in
the martial arts and comic artwork that Japan was famous for. The car pulled into the
drive of Combe Bank Girls Schools. Estella pranced off greeting Georgina and Alice, her
best friends. Cammy thanked Mrs. Keirsey and walked towards the massive old school.
Emma-Sophie, her best friend, bounded over to meet her. |
| "They're here Cammy, the Japanese girls!… they seem really
nice... some are awfully quiet but a lot of them speak a little English!" Emma-Sophie
explained excitedly. |
| Cammy scanned the school grounds and saw about 20 Japanese girls,
chatting in small groups. They all wore an odd, sailor style shirt and a skirt like
Cammy's but navy blue. |
| "Hmmm, strange uniforms... I thought ours were a pain, but I'd
hate to go around in a sailor suit!" Cammy joked. |
| "Oh it's not that bad....well maybe it is!" Emma-Sophie
laughed. |
| "Come on Emma-Sophie, let's introduce ourselves!" Cammy said.
The two girls walked over to the biggest group of Japanese girls. |
| "Hello, I'm Cammy, this is Emma-Sophie, welcome to England."
Cammy chatted with the girls for some time but then saw a huge Rolls Royce pull into the
school gates and parked. A tall, skinny Japanese man with spectacles appeared out of the
left door and walked round to the right of the car. He opened the car-door and bowed very
low. Karin got out of the car and waved the man away. |
| "Oh do get out of my way Shibazki!" Karin yelled, "I
need to stretch, I've been cooped up like a peasant for 24 hours on that awful
airplane!" Karin wore a uniform similar to the other Japanese girls except that it
was red- a sign that she was a prefect. Her Golden ringlets were perfectly coiled and she
wore a large blue bow on the crown of her head. |
| "What a lovely building Shibazaki... maybe I'll buy it and turn it
into a country house for myself when I stay in England!" Exclaimed Karin as she
studied the old building of Combe Bank School. |
| "What an inspired idea Miss Karin!" Shibazaki groveled. |
| "I know you fool, now unpack my shopping and have the school press
my new clothes," Karin ordered. |
| Cammy looked on amazed... who on earth was this girl? She looked
vaguely Japanese but her hair was blond. Not as blond as her own, a darker shade, but
definitely blond. |
| "Who's that? Is she Japanese?" Cammy asked one of the
Japanese girls. |
| "That's Karin Kanzuki. She's very rich. Her family lives in a
great big temple outside of Tokyo. Her mother was a Gaijin," one girl explained.
Cammy knew that "gaijin" meant westerner in Japanese. |
| "Well she is certainly giving that guy a hard time... who's he...
her butler?" Emma-Sophie asked. |
| "No, her personal secretary" the girl replied. |
| "Wow, Estella would kill for that kind of service!" Cammy
joked. The girls continued to watch Karin as she strutted about, chatting in perfect
English to the head-mistress and some of the Japanese girls. Cammy could see Karin was an
athlete. Karin's leg's were very muscular and her arms very taught for a young girl. She
also exuded a confidence that was unmistakable. Cammy watched as Karin practised a series
of quick punches and kicks, much to the amazement of the Combe Bank girls that had crowded
round her. Then, the school bell rang and the girls headed off to assembly. Later that day
Cammy had gym and went out to the playing fields to practise her sprinting. She wore a
white t-shirt and green shorts, the Combe Bank gym-kit. She was just about to set off
around the track one more time when Emma-Sophie came running up to her looking shocked. |
| "Cammy, come quickly... I think there's going to be a fight!
Georgina Arrowsmith and that Karin girl are squaring up to each other! You've got to stop
it!" Emma-Sophie said. |
| "That fat cow deserves a good hammering... Karin looks strong,
don't be fooled by her ribbons, prissy hair and spoiled brat attitude...she's a
fighter," Cammy replied. |
| "You don't understand Cammy, your sister is there too!" |
| "What?... Estella?..." Cammy grew concerned. She didn't get
on with her sister much at all but she wasn't going to let her get herself into trouble...
this was family. Cammy sprinted towards the school... eyes wide. |
| Meanwhile, in the courtyard of the school the huge 6' 2 frame of
Georgina Arrowsmith came crashing to the floor as Karin Kanzuki axe-kicked her squarely on
the jaw. She was knocked unconscious before her head hit the floor. Karin laughed
arrogantly. |
| "OH-HOHOHOHO!....maybe you should think twice before insulting my
sailor-fuku, my dear!" Karin said as she stared at Georgina laying on the floor. |
| "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE YOU MAD LITTLE TART!!" Estella screamed
at Karin. " How dare you think that you can get away with that! Maybe you should use
some of your apparent wealth and buy yourself a little class! Starting a fight like some
lunatic!… who do you think you are?!" |
| "I'm Karin Kanzuki, get ready bitch!" Karin screamed at
Estella. |
| "Well I'm Estella White, and I won't have some nouveau-riche,
grotty little punk like you speaking to me like that!" Estella yelled back. |
| Cammy raced into the courtyard, just as Karin lunged at her sister with
a palm-strike. |
| "Hou...Shou!" Karin yelled. |
| Estella had no idea it was coming and was hit hard in the stomach. She
bent down gasping. |
| "Oh god, you bitch!" Estella moaned as she bent-double and
clutched her chest. Karin readied herself to axe-kick Estella's head. Karin grinned and
swung her leg back... Cammy gasped and raced towards Karin, teeth gritted, rage engulfing
her head. She sprinted and leapt into the air, right leg extended. Karin hesitated, turned
away from Estella and met with the full force of Cammy's kick, right into her face. |
| "Ooooohhhhh!!" screamed Karin as she was smashed sideways by
Cammy's jumping sidekick. Karin slid across the floor, totally taken by surprise. |
| "That's my sister, bitch!" Estella mocked Karin. |
| "You're dead meat, pig-tails!" Karin barked at Cammy as she
got up off the floor and dusted herself down. |
| "Come on!" Cammy yelled back. She ran towards Karin trying to
sweep her legs out but Karin just smiled, dodged left and began punching out a series of
rapid palm strikes right into Cammy's chest. |
| "Guren-ken!" |
| Cammy tried to block the punches but Karin was so quick. Cammy lashed
out and grabbed Karin's right arm, just before it hit her again. She pulled Karin down
towards her and then round-housed her with all her might in the chest. Karin looked
shaken, but quickly recovered and jumped up, arcing through the air, trying to wind-mill
punch Cammy. |
| "Ressen-ha!" She yelled. |
| Cammy ducked and punched up with all her might catching Karin on the
chin and sending her flying. |
| "Had enough?!!" Cammy yelled at Karin. |
| "We Kanzuki never give up! I will honour my family!" Karin
screamed and ran towards Cammy. She began a flurry of punches, straight into Cammy's chest
and then axe-kicked her in the face. Cammy landed hard and could feel the blood on her
face. She looked at Karin laughing at her, the expectant faces of her friends... she had
to beat this girl! Cammy sprang to her feet. Karin was laughing arrogantly and had turned
away from Cammy who she assumed was beaten. Cammy ran at Karin, jumped up and wrapped her
legs around Karin's waist in a body-scissors. Karin gasped as Cammy took her down to the
floor hard, squashing her wiry frame. Karin squirmed and struggled trying to escape. Karin
was much stronger than Cammy had thought... frighteningly strong. Karin grabbed for
Cammy's arms and rolled Cammy onto her back, Karin pinning Cammy's arms down. Karin
slammed Cammy's head into the floor. |
| "Some people just don't know who they're dealing with,
oh-hohohoho!" Karin laughed in Cammy's face. |
| "Deal with this, bitch," Cammy whispered as she used all her
strength to release one of her held arms. She then smashed Karin around the face with her
elbow. Cammy again used her powerful legs to hold Karin's body down. Flipping her onto her
back, Cammy locked Karin's arms above her shoulders. Karin struggled violently but Cammy
could feel her strength leaving her. |
| "Do you give up Karin?!" Cammy yelled into Karin's face. |
| "I'll never give up... I can't...." Cammy squeezed tighter,
crushing Karin's body more. |
| "OOOOHHH! Okay... you.… win... Cammy White… papa... I've
failed..." Karin whispered. Cammy released Karin, who lay panting on the floor,
humiliated. Cammy got up and stood over her, victorious. |
| "Good fight..." Cammy said, smiling proudly as her friends
rushed to meet her... |
| And miles away, on a balcony in Venice, sipping wine, Rose smiled to
herself... "She's ready..." |
| THE END |
| THE END |
| * This original story, and all original characters are copyright Robin
J. Bailey - January, 2001 |
