Chapter 15.5: Down and Out
“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Eri!” The group sang in all different keys as they presented the cake to the birthday girl. Sayu chimed in late with an ‘Eririn!’ causing Eri to laugh. “Happy birthday to you~~!”
“And many more~!” Jun sang deeply into the silence that followed, eliciting more laughter.
With a grin, Eri blew out her candles. “What did you wish for?” Reina asked her partner curiously.
“I wished for some singing lessons for you guys. Ai-chan’s the only one that can carry a tune at all!” Eri exclaimed, receiving bops on the head from the others.
Presents were distributed and happiness was shared in the following celebration. After a while, though, Ai excused herself back to her room, trying to sneak out quietly.
“Where are you going?” Though she wasn’t quite successful as the birthday girl caught up to her.
“I’m heading back up to the manor. I need to go now, as it’s a long drive.” Ai turned her back to Eri as she spoke, making a show of gathering her things.
“Stay, please. Gaki-san will be alright without you there for one night.” the cop countered, “You need to rest, too. You need to take your mind off her for a little while.”
“How can you say that? What if she wakes up? What if she needs me and I’m not there?” Ai frantically asked, turning and waving her arms around, brows knit in distress.
“What if she wakes up and finds that you’ve worried yourself to the brink like this. You look terrible, Ai-chan. I know you haven’t been eating or sleeping since she went into her coma.” The demo expert flinched at the word, but Eri paid it no mind, “You need to rest, you need to have some fun. And no drinking! Don’t think I don’t know about you doing that a lot more lately, too.”
“You don’t understand, I need to be there. I need to see her.” Ai held out her hands pleadingly.
“I understand more than you think. You are afraid that she won’t wake up at all.” Eri crossed her arms, “Well shame on you! You know Gaki-san won’t let a little bump on the head keep her down for long! She just needs some time to heal and she’ll be back to her old self in no time. What would she say if she knew you were losing faith in her?”
Ai chuckled, slightly tickled at the thought, “It would probably be something annoyingly cocky, but she might be hurt, too.” The smile dropped off her face, “I miss her, Eri. It’s been seven days since then and I miss her smile, her laugh, her voice. I just want her back already.”
“I know, Ai-chan, I know., but Gaki-san will be up and running around the city like crazy again in no time. Don’t worry so much.” The cop laid a comforting hand on the older girl’s shoulder as Ai pressed her knuckles against her eyes, looking every inch the sad little girl she felt like.
“You think she’ll be up by Christmas?” she asked, needing to be reassured.
“Maybe. I know she’ll want to be up by then. Who wants to miss Christmas, after all. And if she’s not, we’ll just have to go decorate her like a tree.” Eri joked, trying to cheer the demo expert up.
Ai laughed a little and let herself be lead back to the party. Eri was right, Risa would pull through this with all the vigor that she used to fight anything else.
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Come Christmas night, Ai found herself hovering over Risa’s still form, continually searching her face for any signs of awakening. She’d spent the day with the girls, exchanging presents and stories of Christmas past and now she was here again. Ai found it very odd, still, how the occupants of the manor catered to her, doing everything she asked without question. She supposed the last master hadn’t been very well liked if there was no opposition to her and Risa taking over.
Ai shook her head, reliving the memory again of the aftermath of Risa’s collapse.
The room fell into stunned silence as Risa hit the floor, before Ai exploded forward, crying out her lover’s name. She pulled the gunner out of the arms of the still kneeling man in front of her and glared harshly at him, “Go find a doctor!” she ordered and he complied immediately.
With shaking hands, Ai checked Risa’s vital signs, sighing in relief as she felt a strong pulse at her throat and the steady rise and fall of her chest. After that, Ai felt lost, what was she supposed to do now? She never had to deal with this kind of situation before. She looked up with teary eyes and realized that all eyes were on her, looking for instruction.
Pausing in her frantically running thoughts, the demo expert took a look at the state of the room. Twenty people lay about in various forms of unconsciousness and injury, some clutching their chests, others rolling around in pain. Takashi lay dead on his back, a neat hole in between his eyes and blood and brain matter staining the carpet around him.
After assessing the situation quickly, Ai took another look down at her lover, eyes closed peacefully and blood no longer flowing from her nose and ears. ‘If it were me in her place, what would Risa do?’ She would take charge, she would deal with the bigger problem before worrying about one person.
With that thought in mind, Ai stood with renewed strength, eyes drying and hefting the gunner in her arms. “You!” she nodded at the closest suited man, “Do you know any first aid?” He shook his head, no, and no one spoke up indicating that they knew any either, “Well go find someone who does!” she ordered and he scrambled to do as she said. “The rest of you.” she directed this not only to the suited men, but also to the girls, “Pick a person and make them comfortable until he gets back.” her tone brooked no arguments and the surprised group complied quickly. “Jun!” Ai struggled to hit the comm in her ear as she headed to what she thought might be the master bedroom, “Get upstairs. We’re regrouping.”
As gently as she could, Ai opened the door and set Risa down on the large, four poster bed. The room was fairly bare, as if no one spent much time in it, and the decorations were practically Spartan, but it was functional. The demo expert took off her lover’s shoes and tucked her in as if she were merely sleeping. With one last affectionate stroke to her head, Ai turned resolutely and left the room.
It had been so hard to focus on the task at hand, making sure everyone who was injured was cared for and dealing with damages and finally informing the entire gang of the leadership change. Technically Risa, who had killed the old leader, was in charge, but seeing as she was unable to deal with anything at the moment and no one had argued with her yet, Ai had been taking care of the paperwork, of which there was a surprising amount.
So far she’d had transferred ownership of his many investments, cars, and houses to her and Risa’s names. All of his money went to them, as well, and Ai’s mind still boggled at the amount. And that only covered his legal investments, the income of which she’d routed as much as she could into paying his many legal workers. Ai was no lawyer, though, and there was a lot about the books that she didn’t understand. She in no way trusted Takashi’s chosen lawyer, so everything else would have to wait until Risa woke up to help her.
With a sigh, she pushed away some hanging tinsel and grabbed her lover‘s hand; as promised, Eri had come over with her partner and Sayu to decorate Risa like a tree and the ornaments hung from every available space on the bed. It made the room quite cheerful, but nothing could seem to make Ai any happier.
A knock on the door startled her and she called out a croaky welcome to the intruder. Reina opened the door and poked her head in, “You have some visitors, Ai. Those two agents are here.” Her voice showed her obvious displeasure.
“Let them in.” Ai commanded lightly and the two cheerful guests entered with well wishes.
“I see that you’ve been doing well, considering the circumstances.” Yossui said, moving closer to examine the prone girl on the bed. Rika simply wandered around the room, carelessly examining anything that caught her eye.
“Yes, since you’ve taken over, the gang has been very quiet, but we’ve noticed that you don’t seem to have any intention of disbanding them.” Rika followed up eerily from somewhere behind Ai.
“No, we don’t have any intentions of disbanding them. At least not yet. We can still get some use out them yet. Until such time as they become more trouble than they’re worth, we will keep this gang together.” Ai replied firmly, unflinching in the hard gaze Yossui was giving her across the bed.
“And you really think you’ll be able to control these thugs?” the woman asked seriously, face never dropping her slight smile.
“Yes.” the demo expert nodded severely. Two hands settled themselves on her shoulders and it took all her willpower not to jump. As it was, Ai flinched and watched the two agents exchange a look.
“As long as you’re sure, Ai-chan.” Rika’s amused voice floated softly into her ear, “We’ll leave this to you. Merry Christmas and remember, Big Brother is watching you..” A slim box was dropped in her lap and the two agents left.
Ai looked down at the object and snorted, “Final Fantasy Tactics.” Reina poked her head in again.
“Ai-chan? You okay?” the younger girl asked, sauntering over to her. Ai looked up at her fondly, Reina had been such a big help to her this past week and a half. She really didn’t know what she would have done without her support.
“Yeah, I’m fine, Rei.” The cop gave her a searching look and Ai chuckled, “Really, I’m alright. How about you? Have you called your father yet?” Reina looked down guiltily and Ai had her answer, “Take out your cell and dial it, now. That’s an order.” For a second, the younger girl looked shocked, but when Ai continued to give her a hard stare, she reluctant did as she was told.
“Okay, alright.” Slowly, Reina dialed the familiar number and held the device up to her ear. She paused for a long second, swallowed once and cleared her throat, “H-Hello? Daddy? M-Merry Christmas.” She gave Ai a wide eyed look, but the demo expert just waved her on encouragingly and the cop left the room hurriedly.
Ai was hardly alone for a minute, before Lin Lin scampered through the door quickly, scrambling over to sit at her feet and rest her head on Ai’s knee. Obligingly, Ai began to stroke her hair; the hacker, too, had been a great support system, seeming to instinctively know when the demo expert wanted to be left alone and when she wanted company. As she pet Lin, her free hand reached out to wrap comfortingly around Risa’s own cool appendage.
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Hearing fireworks going off outside the window behind her, the blitzed Ai gave a half hearted blow on her noise maker, “Happy New Year, Risa.” she mumbled, draped across the side of the bed, an empty bottle dangling from her hand.
The pressures of running the gang with no idea what she was doing and Risa’s predicament had sent Ai back to the cold comfort of intoxication and the older woman had spent the last few days trying her damnedest to hide her habit from the younglings, as she affectionately referred to the other girls in her head.
“I wish you were awake.” Not for the first time did her voice flood with tears as she spoke to her lover’s prone form, “How could a simple blow to the head keep you out for so long? You’re stronger than this!” Ai clutched Risa’s hand in both of hers desperately, sobbing hopelessly into her shoulder. “Come back to me! I’m lonely here without you and I need your guidance. And your love.”
Her tiny body shuddering with the force of her emotions, Ai cried, pleading with her lover and to God and to anyone who was listening. Eventually, exhaustion and the alcohol caught up to her and Ai fell into a fitful sleep, still clutching Risa’s hand. She never noticed the younger girl return the grip slightly, fingers flexing weakly in her grasp.
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Okay, for serious, I'm taking a break now! Though, the more I say that, the more I want to start on the second arc...
Topic: Black and Blue (Ch 34 6/4 The End!) (Read 175865 times)