The Li Family Apartment, Koreatown, Los Angeles, Wednesday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

Things were still tense in the apartment today, but at least she hadn't been kicked out or disowned or whatever. Kathy'd half-expected to find all of her belongings tossed out on the street after she and Raven had gotten home for the night after a night out as Banzai and Mystique, but no. Her parents weren't actually talking to her, but they hadn't decided to evict her, either.

It just proved what everyone had been telling her: her parents had only had the power over her that she had given to them. She was pretty self-sufficient now; even if they had thrown her out, she and Raven would have been perfectly fine. What could they do to her? Ground her? She'd ignore them. Hit her? They never had before and she couldn't imagine them doing so now. Send her to bed without dinner? Fine, she'd call for delivery. A frisson from the unexpected freedom ghosted up her spine. If she were a slightly different person, this realization could have been dangerous. Good thing that she was the type of girl who defied her parents only to go be a superhero-slash-clinic nurse.

Honestly, the only real punishment she could think of that would actually affect her would be to forbid her from seeing Sarah. Her little sister meant everything to her.

No matter what was going on with the outside world, Kathy was determined to keep her safe.

[NFB, and also for tigerundercover if she so wishes!]

Comments

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

Speak of the devil and she'd end up slouching in your doorway after school let out for the day. "You know, I should be totally pissed at you," she announced.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy glanced up, startled, and then dropped her head. "I know," she sighed. "Look, I'm sorry you had to find out this way--"

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Umm, excuse you?" Sarah asked. "Found out? No, I'm pissed you didn't tell me. But I've known for, like, a year. Why do you think I covered for you that day with dad and the paper? Duh, sis, keep up!"

[spin_kick_snap]

"What?!" Kathy gasped, jaw dropping. "No you didn't! How?! I was so careful!"

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Well, for one, you suck at lying," Sarah said, rolling her eyes. "The only reason Mom and Dad haven't caught you is because they couldn't believe their precious older daughter would do anything like that. And two, the last time I was at Fandom, I went snooping. Your gi was in a bag in your closet on top of, like, a bunch of weapons. I am smart enough to put two and two together, Puff."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Quiet, Pastry," Kathy responded automatically to her hated sibling nickname. Their parents had not done any research into American culture before pairing Kathy's middle and Sarah's first names with their last, sadly. "Wait, you snooped through my stuff? Not bad enough that you hid under Ezra's bed to watch us make out, you actually went rifling through my drawers? Sarah, you're such a little creeper!"

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Well, maybe if you told me stuff, I wouldn't have to go looking for myself!" Sarah pointed out. "Besides, shut up, you totally owe me. I have covered for you so much since you came home. Like, one time I even wrote a note for you, like, Dear Mom and Dad, I'm out doing nerd things, totes not fighting crime. Hugs and kisses, Kathy. So if it hadn't been for me poking around in your stuff, you probably would have gotten caught out already. So, you're welcome."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You--you covered for me?" Kathy asked. "That's incredibly cool of you, Sarah."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"What, like I'm gonna narc on my sister to Mom and Dad? As if!" Sarah snorted. "Just think about what I might have been motivated to do if you'd just told me. I'm your cuter, smarter, little sister."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Well, cuter, I'll give you," Kathy said. "I'm the smart one."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Maybe that's just what I want everyone to think," Sarah said, smug. "Maybe I'm just good at lying."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Maybe you're just a brat," Kathy muttered.

Then, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I should have. And I know you never would have snitched on me. I just..." She sighed. "I don't even have a good reason. You're half the reason I started this. I wanted to get good, then come home and kick the Seventeens out of here so you could walk to school without having to worry about seeing drug deals or dealing with gang violence."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"You really started dressing up in rainbows for me?" Sarah sounded like she didn't know whether to be touched or appalled. "For real?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Part of it was for you, yeah. A lot of it actually," Kathy admitted. "But a lot of it was for me, too. Behind the mask, I got to be someone else. Someone different, light-years away from Kathy. I was fast and colorful and bouncy. I took down grown men with repurposed gymnastics equipment in the beginning. It was awesome. For the first time ever, I got to feel like somebody important. But in the back of my mind, it was always prep to come out here and clean out Koreatown and keep you safe."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Aww, Kathy..." Sarah said, throwing her arms around her sister's middle and holding tight. "You are so stupid, you know that? Only an idiot would do something that huge and unnecessary and that dumb. And then not tell the person they're doing it for! Seriously, there is something wrong with your brain."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I probably would have gotten around to telling you when I came back to California," Kathy said. "...Eventually. Shut up, okay? It's hard to remember that you're not the tiny sister I have to protect anymore. I was just a little older than you when I left for the island."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, but I'm like a million times more capable of dealing with the real world at fourteen that you were," Sarah sniffed. "Even if I got powers, I wouldn't run around like a comic book reject."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oh my god you sound just like--" Kathy shook her head. "Never mind, it doesn't matter who you sound like. Either way, hush. It's a good thing I did decide to run around like a comic book reject, isn't it? Otherwise I wouldn't be here. Making sure you don't get eaten on your way to school or whatever."