Part 1/ "The Angel of Flame"
As usual, Jo was enjoying her horror movies after hunting down another bounty. She ignored everything else around her, though the aroma of food cooking in the kitchen slightly peaked her interest. Her red-haired friend Meg sat across from her with her head rested in her arms.
"Lunch'll be ready in about an hour", Kyohei announced. Meg lifted her head off the table and yawned drowsily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"It's about time, I'm starving!"
"Yeah, I figured you guys would be hungry after that job you had this morning". Kyohei turned down the heat to the stir-fry rice and took the freshly baked bread from the oven. He looked up when Sei entered the trailer, having just finished a conversation on her cell phone.
"Food smells great, Kyohei. We really appreciate you cooking for us", the twenty year old replied sweetly. The young student cook blushed and returned her smile.
"Oh, it's no problem at all…"
"Great. Because I have a little favor. I was wondering if there is enough…we'll be having a guest". Kyohei scratched his head for a second.
"Uh…sure, I suppose. I can make more no problem. Luckily, I don't have class today". Meg and Jo exchanged suspicious side glances.
"What's up, Sei? You never mentioned this to us", Meg questioned, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"One of your Bai Lan guys?", Jo put in emotionlessly without even looking up from her movie.
"Well, no…not exactly. But you girls will make her feel welcome won't you?"
"Her? Who is it? Don't tell me you went and hired someone else to our team!? Jo and I don't need any help. Come on Jo, say something", Meg complained. She glared at the silver-haired teenager, waiting for her best friend to back her up. But Jo merely shrugged her shoulders in a 'Why should I care' gesture and returned to her movie.
Meg retired outside on the roof of the trailer, laying on her back looking up a the clouds. She moaned as her stomach growled hungrily; she wanted nothing more than to eat. But lunch had been pushed back fifteen minutes so Kyohei could run out to the market to pick up more ingredients. His food really was worth the wait, so she didn't really mind too much. At least before he left, the group had a small snack to hold them over until their "guest" arrived. Meg closed her eyes and tried to get her mind off food, which she found to be impossible. Suddenly, a shadow loomed over her, blocking out the sun. Meg opened her eyes to see Jo staring down at her, a slight grin on her face.
"What're you doing?", Jo asked as she sat down next to the red-head.
"Nothin'. Just thinking. Hey, what do you think Sei's got in mind for this mystery woman?" Jo stared out into the parking lot where the trailer was parked.
"Don't know. Don't really care either".
"Oh come on, Jo. Are you telling me that you're not in the least bit worried?"
"…Should I be?"
"Sigh You're impossible. You don't care about anything that doesn't involve bounty hunting or all those horror movies you watch", Meg replied. She gave up, sitting back on her elbows.
"That's not true…I care about you", Jo replied as she meet Meg's glare. Meg held back her smile and rolled over on to her side.
"Yeah yeah, I know". Jo reached over and poked Meg in the back, making her jump.
"That's what happens when you turn your back to me".
Just then, a bright red trailer with black flames painted on either side, pulled into the parking lot. Meg sat up and watched it roll up next to theirs, followed closely by Sei's car. Meg stood and dusted herself off, slowly walking over to the railing to watch the activity below. Now that she could see it better, Meg noticed that the new trailer wasn't much bigger, though it had a sleeker design - she liked it. It was really shiny and smooth, like it was brand new. Two minutes passed before the new trailer's engine turned off, letting out streams of white steam from several exhaust pipes. A door opened on the driver's side, and out stepped a tall very lean and slightly tanned girl wearing a dark red trench coat that covered a dark blue leotard cut off at the knee on one leg, a smoke grey scarf, and bright orange hair. A breeze ruffled it gently, making it look like her hair was on fire. Meg's jaw dropped as she came to the realization who this teenager was.
"… Come right on in, Ryoko. Our little Kyohei has been in our kitchen fixing up a great lunch", Sei replied. The teenager didn't answer at first; her eyes had traveled up to where Jo and Meg were staked out. Ryoko met Jo's searching glare, and for five seconds it was as if the two could read each other's mind. Finally, the flame haired rock star/bounty hunter looked away and proceeded to walk back to her trailer.
"I'll be right there. My sis is still sleep I think…she'll be hungry I'll bet. I hope that cook of yours can fix more than one style of food. Rin's picky about what she eats", Ryoko informed. Sei smiled and motioned towards the trailer.
"Take your time. Just come in when you're ready. I'm sure the girls are anxious to meet you". Ryoko watched Sei disappear into her trailer before turning around and heading back to hers.
Now all seated around the table, Sei began introductions. Meg was most interested in their guest. Ryoko was pretty well known around Japan at being one of the best J-pop/rock singers. Needless to say, Meg was a really big fan. She had a few of her cds and had managed to get to her last concert. Amy caught Meg staring and a smug expression grew across her face.
"Gosh, Meg why don't you just ask for her autograph. Or maybe take a picture…it'll last longer", the eleven year old computer hacker snickered. Meg flushed red and stuffed her mouth full of fried rice, whacking Amy on the head with her free hand, making her whine. Ryoko seemed annoyed at the outburst at first, staring down Meg; her eyes were red like her trench coat. But then she chuckled and took a sip of the miso soup.
" Heh Are you guys always like this? Hey, this soup is great. I can't tell you the last time I had good food like this. We move around so much that we never really have time to sit down for a decent meal". Kyohei came from the kitchen carrying another platter full of food.
"Oh, thanks. I get lots of practice…I'm studying to be a pastry chef".
"Pastries, huh? Hey, did'ja here that, Rin…you love pastries", Ryoko replied. Her thirteen year old sister huddled closer to the corner, not looking up from her plate; she hadn't taken a single bite since they all sat down. She twirled her short dark blue hair nervously in her fingers and looked out the window, pretending to see something interesting outside.
"Come on, Rin. You have to eat something or you'll make yourself sick". Rin still didn't budge…
"What's her problem?", Amy asked with a mouthful of curry noodles. Ryoko shook her head and drained her glass of juice.
"Nothing…she's just really shy around strangers. But believe me, once she gets to know you, she never shuts up. Rin's pretty smart. She likes to play around with broken gadgets and fix them. She's got a network set up in our trailer, too…ow!" Ryoko was abruptly cut off as her little sister kicked her in the ankle. Then she pulled Ryoko's trench coat off the back of the seat and hid herself under it.
"So, Ryoko what brings you here?", Meg finally asked after gathering her courage. The flame haired singer finished her plate of food and proceeded to pile more on it.
"Sei here tells me that you guys hunt bounties as well…and that one of you is a cybot pilot", Ryoko replied as she glanced over at Jo, ' My other two teammates are away on a vacation. Normally, I can handle things on my own with my cybot Suzaku, but Rin here worries about me and she insists that I enlist some help on this new bounty I received. This guy has flunkies behind them and they are all rumored to have powerful cybots. I could use the backup". Ryoko's sister finally decided to participate in the conversation. She popped out from under Ryoko's trench coat with a very serious look on her face.
"… I want to help you! Why won't you let me fight with you!?"
"Well, she can talk after all", Jo replied as she leaned back, having had her fill of food. Rin caught herself and huddled back in the corner, embarrassed.
"First of all, your cybot is out of commission because of that last fiasco you pulled. Because of that, it'll be in the shop for at least another week. The new parts you needed weren't cheap, you know. Second, this job is too dangerous, you'll get hurt. I'm only looking out for you…".
"Have you heard about this guy, Sei?", Meg questioned. Amy pulled her computer out from under the table and accessed the net.
"There have been rumors going around about some mafia group selling stolen cybot parts underground…Yeah here he is! Whoa, this guy's got a huge bounty on his head. Hey ,Sei if we're gonna take this job, we better do it quick before RAPT gets to him". Ryoko grinned and polished off her soup.
"I don't think you have to worry about that, kiddo. These guys have been running RAPT around in circles. They've already spent millions and lost hundreds of their men already."
"What do you say Jo? There's enough to split between us and Ryoko…", Sei asked.
"I don't really care about the money. I bounty hunt for the pure joy of it. You guys can keep it if you want". Ryoko reached over and took her trench coat from her sister.
"Where is this cybot of yours? I want to see it", Jo replied with her arms crossed. Ryoko's expression hardened; she didn't like the fact that this girl was challenging her. She grumbled under her breath and jammed a few pot stickers in her mouth.
"If anyone should be asking to see anything, it should be me. Just how good are you with this DJango I heard about?" The two cybot pilots stared unblinking, sizing each other up; the tension in the room instantly got tighter.
"Good enough", Jo answered, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Ryoko grimaced and tried to hold back her temper; she definitely wasn't liking this silver haired bounty hunter's attitude.
"…Our bounty's on the move. Rin and I have pin-pointed his next location somewhere in the downtown Ikebukuro district within the next two days. If we want to catch him we better be ready', Ryoko informed as she tossed her trench coat over her shoulders, ' I think tonight we should go over our strategy".
"How'd you figure out where this whacko would be?", Amy asked not looking up from her computer. A proud smile came across the singer's face; she affectionately ruffled her little sister's hair.
"You're lookin' at my team's computer hacker. One of his flukies got careless and thought he could take me on. We got all the information we needed from the cybot's mainframe I busted up". Rin growled and climbed over the seat, and without looking back, left the trailer.
"I think going over everything will be a good idea. How about we all meet back for dinner and we can discuss our plans. Does that sound all right?", Sei asked.
"Mm. Sounds like a plan…that is if it's all right with your cook. What do ya say, kid?", Ryoko called to Kyohei who had begun to clean up.
"Okay. Since you're our guest, is there anything special you want me to fix?"
"Anything would be fine, don't worry about it. Look, don't take things personally. I'm sorry Rin won't eat the spaghetti you fixed her. It's normally her favorite dish, but…well she hasn't really been herself ever since our mother passed away. She was only five at the time, she's still taking it pretty hard". A silence swept over the group.
"That's too bad. It must be really tough for you to raise Rin all by yourself. I know what it's like to look after younger kids", Meg replied sympathetically.
"Ah, it's not as bad as you think. When all of us are together, it's like we're all family. We keep each other company". Meg smiled and put an arm around Jo.
"We kinda have that here too. Just one big happy family…who hunts bounties"