Ok I'll admit, I got lazy with comment replying, but hey, I got several updates up in short order recently!
I'll get back to comment replying for the next chapters, I swear!
Well, here's the next chapter. :3
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File #21The musical jingle of windchimes marked her entry as she stepped into the quaint little store, looking around curiously. The lone person behind the counter turned to greet her, wiping her own hands with a tattered old rag.
"Welcome! How may I help you?"
"Ah..." Yuuka stared at the person behind the counter. "Mitsui...san?"
"Eh~ Yuuka-chan! What brings you here alone?" A smiling Mitsui Aika greeted her, putting down the rag on a stool behind her. Her fingernails still had a hint of grease underneath them, quite unlike the image of the antiquities and assorted items the shop sold.
"Ah, Nii-sama said to pass this along..." Yuuka walked up to the counter, and Aika took the plain manila envelope wordlessly, casting a sidelong glance at Yuuka.
"So it's your turn huh?" Aika murmured, stepping out from behind the counter and hurrying over to the door, flipping the sign over to 'Closed' and locking it.
"Mm...I'm still nowhere near Ai-oneesama though..." Yuuka followed behind Aika as the young proprietor of the shop led her to a back door that led to an ordinary-looking storeroom.
"Well, if it helps, as far as I can remember, Takahashi-san was younger than you when she first started. Of course, it was
my Neechan helping her at the time." Aika shrugged, moving some boxes aside to reveal a patch of floor that looked no different from the rest of the ground.
"Can't be helped though, we must do our best." Aika said practically as she bent down and pressed at some invisible catch, the seemingly normal floor sliding smoothly out of the way to reveal a ladder leading down into the darkness.
"There's so many details though..." Yuuka said aloud, after both girls had successfully entered the hidden basement. Aika flipped on a light switch, revealing a spartan setting that was not so much different from a laboratory out of a futuristic nightmare.
"First time down here?" Aika grinned as Yuuka stared wide-eyed at the strange things all around the hidden basement. Yuuka nodded.
"Ai-oneesama always left me upstairs whenever she brought me along." Yuuka seemed impressed by the setup of the place. "So Mitsui-san handles everything around here?"
"Mm, Neechan's out of town for a bit, so I'm taking care of business for a while." Aika stopped at a large work table that was impeccably neat, proceeding to open the manila envelope and scan through its contents.
Yuuka wandered over to a rack full of weapons, careful enough not to touch anything without permission. She didn't want to have something blowing up on her if she wasn't careful. On yet another work table next to the rack, several spent bullets were scattered around, some half-finished, as if interrupted in the process of crafting.
"Seems like a pretty standard mission you've got. Shouldn't be too difficult to hook you up." Aika noted professionally, putting down the file. Moving next to Yuuka, she picked up one of the plain handguns and handed it to Yuuka.
"Eh?" Yuuka blinked. She was hardly unfamiliar with a gun, but what was the point of giving her one now? Aika merely grinned.
"Come on, let's go over to the test range. I need to know your skill level before I can do anything." Aika led a bemused Yuuka down another narrow tunnel that opened up to a small firing range that appeared to be heavily reinforced.
At Aika's instruction, Yuuka shot at a range of targets, hardly missing at all. Ai had drilled her very well, so the girl had steady hands. Aika merely nodded, asking a few other questions, before bringing her back to the main room.
"You definitely have a long way to go before matching Takahashi-san, but you'll do." Aika noted as she went back to one of her many work tables, picking up some unidentifable gadget to fiddle with. Yuuka sighed.
"Oneesama's so perfect at everything...I didn't even know how much work she had to do until Niisama started me out on this." Yuuka looked a bit dejected. Aika laughed, walking over and patting Yuuka comfortingly on the shoulder.
"Don't worry about it, everyone has to start
somewhere." Aika shrugged. "Takahashi-san has had a lot of practice, so all you really have to do is put in the same kind of effort and you'll reach her level some day."
"Really?" Yuuka brightened up a bit. Aika grinned.
"Of course, not everyone can
look as good as Takahashi-san does doing whatever she does. It seems to be natural talent in that area." Yuuka seemed a bit disappointed about that.
"Alright, then! Come on now." Aika rubbed her hands together in anticipation. Yuuka blinked.
"What?" Aika rolled her eyes.
"Since you're starting out too, you get to be my new guinea pig while Takahashi-san isn't around." A strange glitter sparkled in Aika's eyes, making Yuuka step back nervously.
"Don't worry, I don't bite." Aika grabbed hold of Yuuka's wrist, hauling the wide-eyed girl towards yet another door.
"Hey! Do you do this to Oneesama too!?" Yuuka protested.
"Of course not, I'm not that insane...but then again, she's usually pretty willing to help me out." Aika continued dragging a reluctant Yuuka towards that unidentified door.
"Oh yeah, speaking of Takahashi-san, where
is she? She promised to get me something the last time she came by."
"Oh, Oneesama went on vacation..." Yuuka was still struggling to get out of that death grip, but Aika was surprisingly strong, pulling them both into the next room.
"Her? A vacation? How odd..." The door slowly swung shut behind them.
"Yeah I know...wait, what's that! What the hell are you doing? Hey!!!"
"Don't worry. It won't hurt...much."
And then the door slammed shut.
~*~*~
Sun, sand, and sea. A balmy breeze, bringing in the faint salty tange of the ocean, yet cool enough to relax the senses.
Perfect time for a suntan. Slender limbs laid out on a plain beach towel, large sunglasses covering almost half her face. Her now long hair cascaded in shimmering waves around her, earpieces plugged into her ears as she shut out the world around her.
She kept one eye open though, hidden behind those enormous shades. Takahashi Ai never fully let her guard down, not like this. Her instincts were too firmly ingrained to throw away such cautious habits.
Then again, part of the reason why she kept one eye open was really to look at all the bikini babes strutting around on the beach. Technically, she was also one of them, but it was a lot more fun to look at others than to stare at herself.
It was nice having a vacation every once in a while. Ai sighed. She had really needed the break, especially after that run in with the Kamei case. It still left her with a bad feeling, the whole incident. She still felt somehow cheated by the whole case.
That was what this vacation was really about, of course. Partly just to get away from Japan for a while, avoid the attention of one Kamei Eri in the meantime. She wasn't sure if she was up to dealing with that girl. Something about her gave Ai the chills, deep down.
Also, she needed to deal with a few things herself. Just generally calm down, get her inner self in top shape again, before she could go back to work. Getting away from it all usually helped.
Usually.
"Hey there, babe. You seem awful lonely there. Want us to keep you company?" A group of young men in beach wear smirked down at her, their accented English grinding on her nerves.
"How about no?" Her own English was also lightly accented, but there was no mistaking the venom in it. She ignored them, hoping that they would go away, but they seemed awfully persistent.
"Hey there, we just tryin' to be friendly, yo." One of the other guys, bulkier than the first one that had spoken, stepped closer. Ai was on the verge of feeling
really irritated now.
"I said no. Don't make me repeat myself."
"Or what?" The lead guy squatted down next to her. Ai shot him a sweet smile.
Minutes later, Ai sauntered down the beach with her towel draped around her. Behind her, the surfer dudes crowded around their wounded friend, who had dropped to his knees clutching a very sensitive part of his anatomy.
Humming softly, Ai headed back to her hotel. Perhaps some time with a book to herself in her room would be a better idea. Then shopping in the afternoon And maybe some drinks later in the evening.
Yes, a vacation was just the right thing for her.
~*~*~
Evening came, and Ai was now seated at an open-air bar facing the sea, nursing a fruity cocktail in front of her. Casually dressed in comfortable streetwear, Ai seemed like any other young adult out for a good time, or even possibly a teen, since her long hair had the tendency of making her look younger than she already appeared.
Flipping her hair over one shoulder, Ai sat quietly at one side, not bothering to socialize much and just blending into the background. She was not interested in picking up random girls tonight, even though some of the girls
were pretty hot. She always did like Hawaii.
Something jerked her attention away though, and Ai glanced casually down one side, two tables away, where a young girl was apparently binging away on drinks.
It wasn't so much the fact that the girl was cute, or dressed in a barely there mini-skirt and top, with a bunch of pink accessories on her. No, it was the fact that she was speaking in Japanese that got her attention. Ai was sensitive about things like that sometimes.
"Hmph, Kanon thinks she's so great cos she has a boyfriend. Pfft, if Reina wants, Reina can have 10 at the same time..." The girl wasn't quite drunk, but she was definitely working on it. Ai hid a smile behind the pretext of taking a sip of her drink. How interesting.
There was a nagging feeling at the back of her mind though. The girl seemed oddly familiar. Ai's gaze fell on the table, where the girl's overly decorated cellphone was lying carelessly on.
Now where have I seen that.. Ai mused as she put down her drink, leaning back in her chair to observe the antics of that quirky Japanese girl, who was still gesturing wildly to her makeshift audience while throwing back drinks like it was nothing.
"Reina's cooler than all of them! Hmph! I'm their senpai, those girls have no respect at all! I'll have Daddy teach them respect when I get home, that's right!"
Ai shook her head in amusement. This was turning out to be quite entertaining for a change. Suddenly, her mind clicked, putting two and two together.
Ah, I saw her this afternoon while shopping! Ai snapped her fingers together at the memory. She had picked up the girl's cellphone at the department store after it had fallen from her bag, and had returned it to her.
She had found it amusing at the time that there was someone even shorter than her. Now, to meet her again... Surely, it was a small world.
There
was something else though, another detail. Ai raised an eyebrow as this 'Reina' downed another shot of what looked like tequila without pause. Well, at least she had to give credit to the girl for her alcohol tolerance. For someone so small, it was incredible that she hadn't fallen over from how much she had consumed so far.
What's a high school student doing in Hawaii...? Ai thought to herself, more interested in that fact than the issue of underage drinking that was going on. Well, they
were out of Japan, and it was not like Ai was a champion of moral values or the like.
Yes, Ai had seen Reina earlier that afternoon, with a bunch of other girls dressed in
seifuku. How interesting that a high school student was out on her own, minus entourage, and drinking hard liquor at a bar in a foreign country. Very brazen, if nothing else.
Shrugging, Ai picked up her glass again. It was none of her business after all.
Her business or not though, it seemed trouble was approaching the petite little girl who was still aggressively drinking everything in sight. Some men were approaching her with a suspicious sort of glint in their eyes. Ai took another sip of her drink. It looked like that little girl was going to learn the hard way why she shouldn't be drinking so much on her own, without protection.
She could not hear the exchange too clearly, but it was obvious that Reina was not pleased by being hit on by random guys, seeing how she threw her drink into their faces. Ai smirked. The girl had spunk, but it wouldn't be enough.
Watching somewhat indifferently, Ai took another sip of her drink as one of the guys took hold of Reina, clearly intent on dragging her out to do...well, everyone knew what they would do. The tiny girl gave it as good as she got, really, since she kicked and clawed like some kind of wild animal, but the alcohol was clearly affecting her senses since it was barely effective.
Ai finished her drink just as the men succeeded in hauling the half drunk Reina out of the back door. Standing up, Ai left a rather generous tip on the table as she picked up her jacket, heading out through the nearest door, which also happened to be the back door.
She did not immediately step out though, standing in the entrance to let her eyes adjust to the gloom outside before she exited. Off to her left, she saw the men who had grabbed the girl.
"Hey, me first!" One of the guys was saying, pushing another aside. They all seemed slightly drunk as well. Reina was on the ground, all but passed out from the alcohol. Of course, being knocked around a bit while being dragged out also contributed to that.
A tsking sound made some of the guys turn around, even as the one who wanted to go first was undoing his belt. Ai was looking at the men with a derisive expression.
"At least have the decency to bring her to a motel, dude." Ai rolled her eyes, about to turn away and walk off. One of the still partially sober guys stared at her ass.
"Hey, she's hot too..." They tapped the other guy, who was having trouble trying to pull down his pants. Drunkenness definitely affected coordination.
"Let's grab that girl too, yeah..."
Biggest mistake they would ever make.
"Please, I have better standards than this." Ai said almost conversationally as she ground one booted heel into the face of one of the fallen guys. She walked ominously over to the other guy who was still crouched over the comatose Reina, eyes bulging at how easily Ai had dispatched of all his friends.
"Do you even know which hole to put it in, jerk?" The guy started to cry. Ai rolled her eyes and booted him in the head, hard. He collapsed like a sack of flour.
"What a bunch of assholes." Ai grumbled, dusting her hands off professionally. She half turned, ready to walk off, when she caught sight of Reina still curled up on the street.
"Hmm..." It really wasn't any of her business if the girl got herself raped. She had very little sympathy for people who didn't know how to take care of themselves.
Reina groaned, shifting on the hard ground. Ai turned away, stepping out into the street. Everything seemed so very peaceful. Her cellphone beeped.
It was from Yuuka, a cheery message that brought a smile to her face. Her little sister was so adorable. If there was anyone that Ai even gave more than two shits about, Yuuka was probably one of them.
Glancing back at the alleyway where her victims laid strewn about, groaning or knocked out, Ai looked back down at the message, then back up. She sighed and put it away.
"Aw, what the hell..."
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Hehehehe. New arc! =D
Topic: Nocturne [13/02 - Epilogue (END)] (Read 114309 times)