Heeeere we go: another alternate path by Distraction. Thanks to GrimGrave for beta-ing and also for being wonderful in general.

I do not own the Dead or Alive series. If I did… It would focus more on the "extreme volleyball" aspects than anything.

-We Meet Again…-

…Tokyo…

The city was awash with neon lights, impossibly tall skyscrapers towering over a network of streets that were flooded with civilians on foot and in motor vehicles. Despite the hour, there were droves of people milling around downtown Tokyo, laughing and smiling as the huge television screens built into the sides of buildings displayed a mixture of colourful advertisements and news stories.

A pretty young brunette dressed in a neatly pressed, white button-up dress shirt under a mustard yellow cardigan, a short brown miniskirt, and thigh-high socks coupled with well-polished brown Mary Jane's wandered aimlessly through those very same streets, dark brown eyes wide with wonder behind the rounded frames of her glasses.

"Wow… I don't think I'll ever get used to the big city," she mused. She had grown so accustomed to the peace and quiet of her temple located high in the mountains, far away from all of this hubbub.

Just then, one of the flat screens high above flicked through a series of images to settle on that of a stunning woman blonde woman dressed in a sheer white blouse that showcased plentiful cleavage—Helena Douglas, President and CEO of DAOTEC, according to the headline passing underneath her impressive bosom.

They had met once before what felt like forever ago, during the previous year's Dead or Alive Tournament and the charismatic young woman had really caught the geisha-in-training's attention.

"Greetings, I am Helena Douglas, the new CEO of DAOTEC." Her French accent was thick, sultry. It just made you want to listen. "I am holding another Dead or Alive tournament, just as my father before me would have. I invite every capable fighter from every corner of the world to participate." The woman smiled, the expression both challenging and inviting, "I look forward to seeing you all."

When the screen went black, the brunette blinked, emerging from the stupor she had sunk into upon seeing Miss Helena Douglas's face. What was it about the woman that made her thoughts race and her heart speed up to match its whirlwind pace?

'Maybe if I entered, I'd see her again...'

An explosion from directly overhead shook the girl from her thoughts and she dropped into a crouch, instinctively curling up to make herself a smaller target and clapping her hands over her ears. "Oh dear. This is terrible. Tokyo's really scary..."

She made as if to stand up, only to nearly be knocked onto her bottom on the pavement by a dark-skinned woman who was racing clear of the veritable firestorm that had previously been a construction site.

"Are you crazy? Get out of the wa-Kokoro? Is that you?"

The girl—Kokoro—scowled, her temper flaring, and slid into a combat-ready stance. She recognized this woman from the 4th Dead or Alive Tournament as well: Lisa Hamilton, former head scientist of DAOTEC Germany and current Lucha Libre wrestler. She also happened to be friends with Kokoro's mother, but that wasn't about to stop her from teaching the tall warrior some manners.

Ba Ji Quan was a martial arts style based on powerful, close-range blows and low stances and Lisa soon found that the explosive power behind each strike forced her onto the defensive—unable to retaliate for fear of being struck down.

She crossed her arms in front of her, deflecting a partially-closed fist and grappling with the Japanese girl, expertly using her own weight to unbalance the brunette and pin her to the ground. "Geez, Kokoro, chill out!"

Kokoro twisted violently, throwing Lisa off of her and, a moment later, she pushed herself into a handstand, easily regaining her footing and resting her foot on the other woman's ribcage. When she applied pressure, the wrestler whimpered.

"Say you're sorry."

"What—?" More pressure; suddenly, the woman was out of breath. "I'm sorry!"

All at once, the pressure was gone and a hand was proffered. "Thank you."

Lisa allowed herself to be helped to her feet, though she frowned distrustfully at the woman who had been her opponent only moments before. "So, uh, how is your moth—Miyako? Is she here with you?"

"Yes. She's very busy with work." Which left Kokoro to herself to do as she wished.

"Would you like some company?"

...

"So you intend to enter this year's Dead or Alive Tournament?

"I do. Since I left DAOTEC, I've been training hard as a luchadora. Are you?"

"Yes. I'd like to test my skills and there's someone I want to see..."

The older woman grinned. "Oh?"

"N-not like that. I was talking about Miss Douglas"

Lisa's eyebrows drew together, her smile fading. "Helena? What do you want with her?"

That was a good question-one that she herself didn't know the answer to. Why did she wish to see the DAOTEC CEO so badly? It didn't make any sense. They had met just once, but that match-

/ "It appears as though you lose, mon ami." A smirk curved the corners of full lips and the gorgeous blonde woman offered her hand. "No hard feelings?"

Kokoro shook her head, rendered utterly speechless by the victor's grace and beauty. She was honestly surprised that she had managed to hold out for long during their fight considering how distracted she had been by the ferocity of Pi Gua Quan.

And, more importantly, the breathtaking beauty of the woman who had mastered the martial art form.

"Hm? Is there something on my face?"

Had she been staring? She felt her cheeks heat. "N-no... I'm sorry."

"What for?" The blonde chuckled. "You fight well. Though perhaps you should learn Pi Gua Quan? I feel as though doing so would help you become even stronger."

Kokoro allowed herself to be helped up, a shiver travelling the length of her spine at the touch of warm, silken skin against hers.

"I could give you a few pointers."

No... She had to focus. There was something she wanted to ask. Unfortunately, those eyes were an intense shade of blue that robbed the brunette of her ability to think rationally.

"I would like that..."/

Right, now she remembered. There was a rumor—a suspicion—she had to confirm.

"Kokoro, are you in there?"

The young maiko started, shaken from her reminiscing. "I'm here."

Lisa's expression was incredulous. "Just stay away from Helena Douglas, okay? She's twice as deadly as she is beautiful."

Now that was a terrifying thought.

...Kyoto...

Kokoro leaped backwards, narrowly avoiding the foot that slammed down in the spot she had just vacated with enough force to leave a small crater in the solid stone of the massive courtyard.

She had been training for weeks without pause and the physical exertion was beginning to show in dulled reflexes and weakened strikes. Still, she had to keep pushing herself if she was to have any hope of challenging Helena to a rematch.

Her current sparring partner, a burly man with spiky black hair dressed in a sleeveless white Gi, was known as Akira Yuki and he was a fellow disciple of Ba Ji Quan.

Kokoro feinted to the right, flinching at the shockwave the man's fist created as it shot past her, and jabbed low, forcing him to stumble backwards.

"Is that the best you've got?" Akira rolled broad shoulders then gestured challengingly. "Come. Try harder."

The girl's retort was interrupted by the loud sound of whirling blades and a bright yellow helicopter rose from the other side of the mountain range that surrounded the warriors, casting a long shadow on the pair before it bobbed precariously and set down in the middle of the courtyard. Through the wide windscreen of the cockpit, the warriors could make out the familiar face of a snazzily dressed black man; he grinned, waving, when he noticed their stares and the blades slowed to a halt.

"Hey! It's Kokoro! And, um..."

Akira folded well-muscled arms over his broad chest, expression particularly unimpressed,

"It's good to see you, Zack. This is Akira. He's travelling in order to perfect his Ba Ji Quan."

"Ah... That's cool, man." Zack grinned, but the other man remained stony-faced. "Anyway, we best be off."

"Where are we going?" She had a pretty good idea, but there was no sense in getting her hopes up for nothing.

"Dead or Alive, baby!"

Zack maneuvered the helicopter gently onto the landing pad below, cutting off the engine and politely waiting for his passenger to undo her safety belt before gesturing for her to follow and hopping out onto solid ground.

It was only when she followed suit that she realized that they were quite high up: from this vantage point, she could make out the entirety of the vast plot of land DAOTEC used for its tournament, including the multitude of arenas and training facilities available to the combatants.

She blinked, a little red flag going off in the back of her mind. When she had come here last year, there had been a cluster of tall buildings off-limits to the fighters. And, seeing as all of the other facilities save the lodging had been only one or two stories… This building had to be none other than Helena's private quarters.

"Keep up, kid. Miss Douglas hates tardiness."

Her heart gave a weak little skip-hop as she hastened to follow.

...

Kokoro followed her host through a series of hallways and down several flights of stairs, a little at awe with her surroundings. She was used to the simple, traditional elegance of the temple... Not this blue-blooded decadence.

So this was the home of DAOTEC's loveliest: thick burgundy carpet ran from wall to wall, under furniture made of rich mahogany. The walls were painted a contrasting crème colour and every fixture was dark wrought iron or gold-plated for a very royal appearance.

The pair came to a pair of heavy doors flanked by two dangerous looking men in pressed suits and Zack stopped smartly a few paces away. "This is your stop. Go right on in—she's expecting you."

As if that had been a secret password of some sort, the guards grabbed the handle of their corresponding door and tugged, pulling them outward and revealing a short hallway with a weak light source at its end.

After a moment's hesitation, the brunette took a deep, calming breath and headed down the dimly lit corridor.

...

This room was even more lavish than the hallways preceding it suggested, though the thing that caught the maiko's attention wasn't the ornate bookshelf filled with priceless works of literature or the glass doors left slightly ajar so that a chilling breeze made the gossamer white curtains hanging before them dance. No, what caught the girl's attention was the stark white pelt of a polar bear, its face frozen into a terrifying snarl, which lay in front of a roaring fire.

More importantly, the woman dressed in a sheer, indigo nightgown, lounging amongst a pile of pillows atop the aforementioned pelt. Kokoro's mind went entirely blank, heat filling her cheeks with a fetching shade of pink.

Why was she suddenly so nervous?

"Just the woman I wanted to see," the blond remarked upon turning her head to find out who was disturbing her peace. "Come—join me."

It was then that her mind kicked into gear and the pressure in her chest reminded her that she had been holding her breath; her vision swam a bit and she stumbled forward a step—

A warm hand rested on her arm to steady her and her senses were flooded by the rich scent of vanilla. "Oh my... Are you not feeling well?"

Well, right at that moment she was far too hot and her heart threatened to hammer its way out of her rib cage...

The maiko shook her head and gave her hostess a reassuring smile. "I'm fine. Please, don't concern yourself."

"Nonsense." Helena led the younger girl closer to the fire, waving away her protest and lowering the brunette gently into a seated position with a firm grip on her shoulder. "Would you care for a drink?"

She didn't get a chance to respond before the DAOTEC CEO was crossing the room to her desk; there was a faint 'click' and the bookshelf slid to the side to reveal a private stock of bottles upon bottles of varying types of alcohol.

"Pick your poison."

The geisha-in-training hadn't had much experience with libations other than the sake they occasionally served at the temple and she smiled shyly as she admitted as much, drawing a warm chuckle from her hostess.

"Worry not, mon ami. You're in good hands." From the shelf she chose an opaque glass bottle and two wine glasses, the furniture sliding back into place with a dull 'thud' as she turned back to her guest.

Kokoro watched, transfixed, as the blonde woman returned to the fire, the sensual way her hips swayed with each poised step adding new meaning to their meeting.

Meaning that made something within stir in a warm, wanting way.

"Miss Douglas," she began as she accepted the newly-filled vessel of dark red fluid.

"Please, call me Helena." That rich French accent made the Japanese woman pause and bite her lip.

"I wanted to ask you something..."

"Anything," Helena responded, sipping from her own glass.

Was it just her imagination or was there a suggestive lilt to that single, innocent word?

She flushed and almost forgot her purpose again. "What kind of person was my father?"

Dark eyes watched attentively as the blonde woman swirled the contents of her cup around, trying to glean information from the unreadable calm on the warrior's lovely face.

Her mother refused to talk about her father and she had never met him before, but something she had once heard made her think that perhaps Helena would be able to shed some light on the situation...

/ "You know I can't do that..." Miyako tucked a loose strand of dark brown hair behind her ear and chewed her lip anxiously. "Kokoro has no need to be tied up in the affairs of DAOTEC. Whatever we had in the past is dead and gone. Just leave my family alone." She listened for a moment, and then her expression hardened. "It was never our family. Make no mistake."

Kokoro shifted, muscles protesting her cramped hiding space, and the stack of crates against her back leaned backwards, toppling the lighter containers at the top of the pile with a series of crashes.

She heard her mother swear quietly followed by the sound of the phone being slammed down in the cradle. "Who's there?"

The maiko quickly turned tail and fled. /

That incident had occurred sometime before the fourth Dead or Alive tournament and, combined with the fact that the young CEO had revealed that she knew Miyako during the tournament…

It couldn't be a coincidence. Helena knew something about her origins that she did not.

"Drink," she said at last, nodding towards Kokoro's untouched glass.

"I want an answer."

"Miyako really told you nothing of your father?"

"No… Nothing."

Helena tutted, gesturing once again for the brunette to drink and, this time, she obeyed, sampling the dark red liquid. She found that she rather liked the taste and, soon, the glass was empty—a fact that did not go unnoticed by her generous hostess, who refilled it in one elegant motion.

"What if I told that you had a sibling? A sister."

Dark eyes widened. "I do…?"

"Mm… A half-sister." She quirked an eyebrow almost expectantly and took another small sip from her own glass. "You were your father's second child."

"How do you know all this?" When had her glass gone empty again?

Helena refilled it surreptitiously and she frowned accusingly, but ended up drinking anyway, her head swimming pleasantly

"Would you like to meet her?" Aquamarine orbs were deadly serious.

Kokoro nodded eagerly, though she instantly regretted the action as it made the room shift. "I would love that. I've always wanted a sister."

The blonde chuckled warmly and lifted her hand to the maiko's cheek. "It makes me very happy to hear that, Kokoro."

Ko-ko-ro—the syllables rolled off her tongue in a sex-charge purr that had heat pooling between the Japanese woman's legs and her eyes became heavy-lidded.

"Helena…"

What was it about the other woman that made her want—just want? The raw, intense kind of desire and driven by pure animal instinct.

"Ah…" A soft whimper left the brunette as full lips brushed gently against hers, tasting faintly of alcohol, and she reached up to release blonde tresses from the bright blue ribbon that held them. Burying her hands in them, the young warrior pulled Helena closer, bringing their upper bodies into contact and sending little thrills of pleasure spiking from neuron to neuron.

By the time they pulled away from each other, breasts rose and fell rapidly with each ragged, excited breath and the heat in twin gazes—one brown, one blue—was fervent enough to be felt like a physical touch.

The Frenchwoman licked her lips, the slow, sensual slide of her tongue sending a sharp spike of desire straight to Kokoro's loins. "Shall we adjourn to the bedroom?"

Somewhere along the way, they had both lost their clothes.

Somewhere along the way, Helena had ended up on top of young maiko, a smirk curving the edges of full lips as she pinned the younger girl's wrists with one hand and fondled warm, malleable mounds with the other.

Somewhere along the way, Kokoro had drank just a little too much and that made her body hypersensitive and her vocal chords more than willing to vocalize her approval of that firm, knowing touch.

She nearly screamed when a firm thigh slid between her legs, pressing up against the slick flesh of her sex and creating delicious friction, her hips bucking as her eyes rolled back into her head.

'Gods above…'

Helena quirked a pale pink nipple and nipped at the column of Kokoro's throat, a pleased sound escaping her when her half-sister's hands buried themselves in long, golden tresses. Nails raked along her spine the moment slim fingers slipped between damp folds, those little pricks of pain-pleasure encouraging the Frenchwoman to claim slightly parted lips to muffle the pleasurable outbursts the brunette released.

"Mm…!"

When she came to a thin barrier of flesh, Helena blinked and made as though to detangle herself from her lover, but the maiko made a disapproving sound and caught her wrist, hips bucking in a desperate attempt to force her deeper.

"Helena…!"

'Oh… My…' When she moaned her name like that—fair cheeks flushed, hair mussed, dark eyes unfocused—the blonde was hard put to deny her.

With a soft moan, the older woman raised her thumb to toy with the throbbing bundle of nerves at the top of Kokoro's slit to great affect: the brunette yelped and arched nearly in half, spreading her legs eagerly.

"Helena!"

She didn't even register the twinge of pain that was the loss of her virginity over the mind-blowing pleasure that swept over her senses, reducing her world to a multi-coloured mass of light and heat.

The brunette was indeed "in good hands."

…

Fingers ran soothingly through long dark hair and lips brushed against a temple damp with sweat. "How are you feeling, mon ami?"

Kokoro moaned throatily, yanking Helena close and sealing their lips together, her hands roaming the blonde's curvaceous form until the older woman was writhing beneath her touch.

Those low, throaty moans were like auditory sex.

The brunette purred satisfactorily, sliding down that perfect, porcelain body and leaving a trail of heat in her wake with each lingering kiss.

She gripped full hips as Helena arched her spine, baring her core to the younger woman's dark gaze, and licked her lips eagerly at the musk of the blonde's excitement.

"Kokoro…" the Frenchwoman gasped, her sex throbbing. She had experienced arousal before, but it had never been like this—had never made her feel so utterly out of control.

The low laughter that left the maiko made her inner muscles clench wantonly, desperate for the other woman's touch.

"Don't worry, Miss Douglas…" A teasing tongue traced along lips swollen with desire, drawing a long, throaty moan from her partner. "I'll take care of you."

She wouldn't last long, especially with the way long digits and warm, wet tongue worked so sweetly between pale thighs.

Kokoro woke the moment the sun peeked over the horizon as she customarily did, only to frown and snap her eyes shut as the gentle rays sent a sharp twinge of pain through her gray matter.

Her head hurt… Why? She didn't often get headaches.

The maiko stirred, tensing when she noticed the grip around her waist. It was loose, but just firm enough to prevent her from moving without fear of waking whoever was wrapped around her—

"Good morning."

That voice—or, rather, the sensual French accent—was very familiar.

"Helena?"

"Were you expecting someone else?" She sounded amused and, when Kokoro twisted in her grip, she found that the woman's lovely face did indeed reveal a mixture of merriment and affection.

"No, I—" Full lips pressed against her temple and the brunette's cheeks heated as memories of the night before assailed her mind. "H-Helena…!"

"Yes, mon chéri?"

She blinked, unfamiliar with the French language. "What did you call me?"

That smile was breathtaking. "'My darling.'"

… She'd be lying if she said that pet name didn't make her feel all warm and fuzzy.

"You're… My half-sister."

"Mhmm."

"Then why did you…"

"Make love to you?" Helena completed, smiling wider.

Kokoro's cheeks became hotter, if that was possible. "Y-yes. That was…"

There were a lot of words that came to mind, but none seemed adequate enough to describe what they had shared the night before.

"When my father told me of his affair, I was… Appalled." Her fingers stroked over fair skin, soothing the sting over her words. "He told me of his illegitimate child and I swore that I would meet this bâtard and show her what a true Douglas looked like." She chuckled ruefully. "But then I actually met you and I was transfixed by your loveliness."

"What!?"

The blonde blinked, taken aback by the tone and volume of the outburst. "Did I say something that offended you?"

She snorted. "Not at all. I'm simply stunned."

"By?"

"You." Without thinking, she leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to the older woman's lips and the resulting look of awed happiness made her heart skip a beat. "I have been since the moment we first met."

"It seems that you and I are not so different."

The comment sent a little pang of guilt through her mind. "Possibly because we're… Related."

"There are ties that run deeper than blood, mon chéri." Slim fingers meshed with Kokoro's and the blonde lifted their joined hands to her breast. Beneath her skin, her heart beat strong and steady, though it sped up a bit at the contact. "Is it so wrong for two people that love each other to be together?"

No… She supposed not.

'Wait—'

"You… love me…?"

"Of course." Her expression was quizzical—as though the answer was painfully obvious.

And Kokoro supposed it was.

A huge, dazzling smile spread across the Japanese woman's pretty face and she threw her arms around Helena's neck, burying her face in flaxen locks and murmuring a reverent, "I love you, too..."

Once the tournament ended, she would have to leave her newfound lover and head back to Kyoto, but that wouldn't be for a while. She would desperately miss the other woman…

"Stay with me a bit longer?"

…But the brunette knew it wouldn't be long before they met again.

-Fin-