作品派遣協会、ロンドン事業部
Chapter 2: Falling Maiden
Our group gathered once more and were met by red head, Mr. Sutcliff. Grell was a flamboyant and most of what he wore had red on it.
Red hair. I froze. 'Could this be him?' I thought as we got ushered along by Grell. Soon I began to tire of his continuous nattering and I zoned out. Once again my brain went back to the creepy guy from the weapons room.
"Let's go." Jon whispered down my neck. Not creepy at all.
"What?" I replied back.
"You heard. Let's go and explore this place for ourselves."
"But Will said that we shouldn't wander -"
"No wandering off on your own," He interrupted repeating Will's earlier instructions. He grabbed my arm and yanked me down one of the many corridors. "But if you're with me, neither of us are technically alone."
Now put yourself in my shoes. You are currently being dragged down a massive top secret head quarters for a super secret organisation for soul reapers, by a guy you met only a couple of hours earlier. Where does he take you?
If you guessed the most romantic place, the toilets, then give yourself -26 points.
"Jon. When you said you wanted to explore this place, I didn't think you meant the boy's bathroom. Now if you don't mind I am going to wait outside, this place is... icky." Not bothering to wait for an answer, I stalked out of the bathroom and straight into someone. Before I could fall he caught me and held me in his arms.
"Careful there, young lady. I am a trained to catch falling maidens but I am currently not on duty." I looked up. He had blonde hair, black at the ends. His eyes were sparkling and alive with amusement, as if he found me funny. His glasses were thick rimmed and his smile was impeccable. +4 points for smile.
"I know you. You're the creep from the weapons room." I said. His eyes looked hurt but the smile on his face remained as he said " Ronald Knoxx at your service." He helped me up and checked I was okay before continuing. "Now what is a young girl like you doing coming out of the boys bathroom? Weren't doing anything illegal were you?" He winked.
"I have a name and it's not young girl. It's Nina and what I was doing inside the boys bathroom is none of your business. Now if you'll excuse me." Attempting to barge past him but he stuck he left arm out, creating a barrier in front of me.
"You've got guts. It takes courage to talk back to a full shinigami. Now come on darling, why don't you and I have some fun?"
'Unfortunately' I never found out what Ronald meant by fun because Jon strode out of the bathroom. He looked at Ronald and then at me.
"Hello, My name is Ronald Knoxx." He shook hands with Jon who just stared at him coldly. Ronald turned to me and said "This is where I leave you Miss Nina. I shall see you around."
Jon linked arms with my own and began to drag me away. I sneaked a quick peak over my shoulder and saw Ronald leaning against the wall staring back at me.
Weirdo.
"Ah! Mr. O'Connor and Miss Murphy. How nice of you two to join us. Now everyone listen up!" Grell clapped his hands dramatically and the rest of the group gathered round. He paired us up and showed each of us our rooms in turn.
Mr. Sutcliff explained how newcomers were buddied with an experienced and skilled shinigami so they can help guide and support, as he showed us our new room. Three beds occupied each corner of the large room. Only one bed looked ready to sleep in. The covers of the bed were black with a white lawn mower on it. The walls around the bed were plastered with posters of lawn mowers and random girls.
Seriously who puts pictures of lawn mowers on the wall? I thought as I walked to an unoccupied bed. Next to each bed was a small work desk. A large black sofa adorned with pillows occupied the area under the window and a door on the left opened up to a small bathroom. There was even a little kitchenette at the back of the room.
I lay on my bed and stared at the ceiling. It was peeling and cracked in places. A sudden idea came to me. I rummaged through my suitcase and pulled out a book. The book held many photos, postcards, letters and posters from my previous life. It was sort of weird to think as myself as dead but not dead. Surely that made me some sort of vampire? I cast the vampire thoughts from my mind and started tacking the photos and posters to the walls. Shelving units had been nailed to the wall above the bed. I placed my exceedingly small book collection on them. It started feeling like my old bedroom. Lastly I grabbed my iPod and speakers and plugged into the outlet and dumped my suitcase in the wardrobe.
"I might be proud, but least I'm proud of something, you've taken pride, in becoming nothing!"
"Nina! Turn the singing down a notch!" Jon, who I had sort of forgotten about was stood before me, dripping wet with only a towel around his waste. +7 for abs.
I stared at him, You Me At Six blaring in the background. He blushed and grabbed his clothes from his already made bed and legged it back into the bathroom.
A small knock on the door broke the silence and a young girl entered the room. She was young, tanned and small. Her attire consisted of a long sleeved white shirt with dark green detail. Over that she wore a black wait coat and black shorts. Strangely she wore no shoes and her glasses looked like the brown aviator type.
"Sorry, I did not mean to intrude. Mr. Spears has asked me to find Mr. Knox." She stood awkward at the door playing with the fraying edges of her wait jacket.
"Would you like to come in? I have Coffee? Or if you're feeling particularly bad ass we can pinch some of Ron's tea. So what will it be?"
"Coffee. Just nothing too strong please." She walked over to my bed and sat on the edge.
"Forgive me for not introducing myself sooner. My name is Lilian T. Spears. You are?"
No way she was related to William?
"Nina Murphy. Sorry for asking but are you related to William T. Spears?" She nodded and smiled.
"Yes, Will can be a hot head at times but we cannot choose our family. Besides he is a good brother." I carried our coffee over to the bed and she sipped her coffee.
At that moment, Jon walked out dressed in his magician (without the cape and top hat) clothes.
"Who are you?"
"How rude, you might have the decency to at least ask in more of a polite manner. My name Is Lilian T. Spears. And you are?"
"Jonathan O'Connor. I'm sorry. Being rude was not my intention." An awkward silence filled the air.
