~*~*~
"Wow, you're married." Eri said with a note of wonder in her voice. "Wow."
Risa buried her face in her hands. "I know..."
"I can't believe you're married."
"Neither can I." The sharpshooter muttered, sinking down to squat despondently against the wall of the back alley.
"Married...to another girl." Eri was still in a daze after hearing from Risa the whole account of what had transpired. It was a quite a lot of information to swallow. The whole idea seemed bizarre. Like a dream. Or even a nightmare. Eri was personally glad that it wasn't her, but felt great pity for her friend.
"There there, marriage isn't so bad." Eri tried to comfort Risa. "It just means you're an adult now."
"But I don't know what to do!" Risa cried out, feeling all panicky again. She was truly at a loss for what to do. She was part of the Royal Navy, on a mission to eradicate piracy! She couldn't just up and get married somewhere in between! Would the captain even allow her to bring Ai-chan along? Leaving the girl behind didn't seem very nice. Staying behind wasn't really an option either. Risa felt so very lost and very frightened. What would the future bring?
But of course, before she could worry about the troubles the distant future could bring, she would have to deal with a far more present and immediate problem.
"Tsk, cheating on Ai-chan so quickly already?" A mockingly disappointed voice, heavily tinged with amusement, came from next to them. The two girls jumped at the intrusion. It wasn't difficult to see how the intruder, in this case, a smirking Miki, had drawn the least innocent conclusion possible from the way Eri had one arm slung around Risa's shoulders in a gesture originally intended to be sympathetic in nature.
Eri quickly withdrew from the otherwise un-incriminating position (guilty only in Miki's eyes, frankly), while Risa looked indignant and frightened at the same time.
"You again! Why won't you leave me alone?" Exasperation was heavy in Risa's voice. Despite not knowing very much about Miki, not even knowing the other's name actually, the way Miki had imposed her presence on her hadn't been the most pleasant experience in her life up to now.
Miki strolled over with a wide grin. "Temper temper. Should I be worried that Ai-chan married the wrong person? We know so very little about you after all." The pirate appeared to be seriously considering the whole matter, which lent a certain surreal air to the whole exchange, especially to the pirate crew who were currently avidly watching the whole thing from a small window overlooking the alley.
"And this is her bright idea?" Kei whispered disbelievingly from where she was plastered against the window, with Yuko pushing down on her from behind and Kaori jostling her from the side. Yossi and Rika took the easy way out and were peeking from the back door where Miki had stepped out from.
"Shh, it's getting to the good part."
Risa had gotten up, while Eri had shrunk away, slinking unconsciously away to hide inside an empty crate that had one side levered open. Miki wasn't very much taller than Risa, but the forbidding aura around her increased her stature, and thus the pirate was able to back poor Risa up against the wall even further.
Eri's eyes were wide with fear as Miki happily started terrorising Risa. For her part, Risa was holding up remarkably well, clamping down stubbornly on her usual urge to blurt things out in a frenzy. Clearly, Aya's orders left a mark on her not to speak of their origins, although if one were to speculate, Maki's elaborate threats might have more to do with Risa's tight-lipped resistance against all forms of questioning. But naturally, Eri was not privy to the second, since she hadn't been present when the Lieutenant had decided to "advise" Risa in her own way what not to say.
Can't say anything, can't say anything, can't say anything... Risa was repeating to herself mentally even as Miki's voice was starting to cause considerable stress to her psyche. However, her lips remained firmly sealed shut at the very idea of what Maki would do to her if she revealed anything. Which was terrible indeed, and the only reason why she hadn't cracked yet. Well, even with her resistance, Miki wasn't going to give up, especially since the girl was the only available target right now. Eri had since vanished (into the crate, but Miki hadn't noticed), and was peeking out through the slats in between the planking and torn between wanting to rescue her friend or just staying safe in her comfort zone. The comfort zone was winning out as of now.
Miki was smirking. The brat in front of her was trembling violently and sweating even more profusely. Leaning even closer, the pirate savored the fear that was rolling in waves off the younger sailor. Risa looked like she was about die of apoplexy right then. Or even sweat to death by excessive loss of moisture. A trickle of blood slipped out through the pinched lips, Risa's teeth clearly having worn the skin open with the ferocity of which she had clamped down on her own lips, just to prevent herself from speaking. Her mind was so fuzzled now that she couldn't even think of pulling a gun on Miki just to give herself space.
Just as spots were starting to form in front of Risa's eyes, something happened.
Yossi and Rika had been very surprised by the whirlwind that swept past behind their backs, and the rest of the audience was even more surprised when Miki was suddenly violently assaulted from behind by someone. A very livid someone. Who was armed with a very large wooden ladle. A ladle that was still hot and dripping from whatever concoction it had been immersed in until being pressed into service as a tool for inflicting grievous bodily harm.
"OW!" Miki yelped, her hands immediately going to shield the back of her head even as she stumbled away from a gasping Risa, who was about an inch away from collapsing in a heap. "What the hell?! Who..." The knife-throwing pirate trailed off when she turned to see her assailant.
"Never knew she had it in her." Kaori observed after elbowing Kei out of the way for a better view. Yuko shoved the heads of the two in front of her down to look for herself, whistling appreciatively at the sight she was treated to.
"Nice one, Ai-chan!"
For indeed, it was Ai who stood breathlessly wielding a large wooden ladle like a club, poised for another swing should Miki get within range. The pirate was wise enough not to get nailed for a second time, and was rubbing ruefully at the back of her head, looking Ai over with a different expression.
"Hmpf, spunky aren't you? Grown a backbone for that brat? How touching." Miki sneered even as she stalked off, carefully keeping out of range of the ladle-bearing Ai.
"I..I'm not afraid of you." Ai's voice was trembling violently, betraying her own nervousness after the initial adrenaline rush had started to fade away.
"Che, you're not worth the trouble." Miki made her way towards the door, where Yossi was snickering at her comrade. "Shut up." Miki growled, clearly not amused at having been caught unawares. With some difficulty, Yossi was just barely able to stifle the more obvious signs of her merriment, stepping aside for Miki to be able to nurse her injury out of the public eye. Behind her childhood friend, Rika was also biting her lip to prevent herself from saying something that might invite Miki's wrath. She might not know Miki personally, but her instincts were telling her that it was generally unwise to toy with a wounded tiger such as Miki.
Ai's attention had diverted back onto her hyperventilating wife the moment Miki had disappeared back into the tavern. Risa's eyes were nearly popping out of their sockets, mostly from the accumulated panic under Miki's interrogation, and she looked sheet-white and was shaking like she had epilepsy. Trying to shake and talk her out of it didn't appear to have any visible effect, and even a few lightly experimental knocks with the almighty ladle didn't seem to do anymore than cause light bruising where they had made contact with Risa's head.
Clearly, drastic measures were going to be necessary. Ai's own panic over what to do with Risa was subsiding even as the idea formed in her head. There seemed no other alternative, and radical methods were probably the only way out here. Taking a deep breath, the barmaid calmed herself, one hand already cradling Risa's clammy cheek...
...and slapping the younger girl hard across the cheek.
The force of the slap snapped Risa's head to one side, the other cheek making rough contact with the grimy wall she was leaning against. The shock jolted the sailor back into reality, her eyes gaining a strange kind of clarity even as she turned back slowly to look at a mortified Ai, who was already apologising tearfully for hitting so hard.
Suddenly Risa seized a shocked Ai by the shoulders, words pouring out of her mouth like a torrent before she could even stop herself.
"Oh my god I'm so sorry so sorry sorry...I didn't mean to walk in...not at all, not at all...no no...I won't say a word...no, never...I swear...don't kill me Lieutenant!!!"
By now Risa was a teary wreck, and Ai was instead cuddling her sobbing wife close. Clearly, the accumulated stresses that had piled up over the weeks had finally caught up with poor Risa. The poor girl was a mess.
Unfortunately, the rest of the audience looking on were hardly concerned by the waterworks. Eri, and to a lesser extent Rika, was aghast by the inadvertent slip of the tongue.
Oh no...Yuko, Kei and Kaori were looking at each other with bemused expressions. Finally, Kei quipped
"Looks like Miki's method worked after all..."
==========================================
Eh, this chapter didn't feel quite up to par to me, but well, it just made the cut. Barely.
Miki: You let me get nailed by a ladle?!
Me: *ducks* Sorry...
Miki: You, are so going to get it. *knives flashing*
Me: Eeep. *looks around frantically* Aya! Keep a leash on your pet!
Miki: *smirking* Sorry girl, Aya's...not available at the moment. It's just you and me.
Me: Ack. *starts running* Everyone pray that Miki doesn't kill me! *runs faster*
Topic: All Aboard! [Chapter 26! --sorry for the wait] (Read 98758 times)