Author's Note: For years now, I wanted to joke that Kei from It is grew up to be one of the 3WA members as part of the Dirty Pair. When I learned one of the animators from Iria also worked on Dirty air Flash, that just made the joke a little more real. I didn't have a solid story line for this one, so I'm just goofing around with it. Kei and It is are just enjoying a day off with each other.
"What you got there, Kei?" Yogi asked curiously.
Kei quickly closed her hand around the item she had been holding and turned to face her partner. "What are you talking about, Yuri?" she asked , tucking her hands behind her back.
"Oh don't give me that," Yuri said, "What ever that is, you've been staring at it all day!What is it?" Yuri tried to snatch the item from Kei long enough to get a look at the item she was being so secretive about.
"Yogi cut it out!" Kei exclaimed. Both girls took a tumble and fell over on the bed behind them. Kei landed flat on her back, her arms outstretched over her head, both fists still clenched shut. Yuri pulled Kei's fingers open and blinked in confusion. Somewhere in the tussle, Kei had pocketed it without the blue haired girl noticing. Kei blushed. "Yuri? Get off!" she demanded.
"Sorry," Yuri said , quickly moving away.
"It's a keepsake from a friend," Kei sighed.
"That bounty hunter you told me about?" Yuri asked.
Kei nodded, "I haven't heard from her in a while, but yesterday, I got word she was coming by to visit today."
"Oh, how nice," Yuri said, "You're not planning to keep her to yourself, are you? You ARE going to introduce me, right?"
"I dunno, you promise not to embarrass me in front of her?" Kei asked.
"Aw, come on, Kei," Yuri pleaded, "Someone makes an impression on you as much as this woman has, you know I'm gonna wanna meet her!"
Kei sighed, "Alright., you can meet her."
"Great, when is she supposed to get here?" Yuri asked. As if on cue, the doorbell rang.
"I think that's her now," Kei said, heading to the door. Kei opened the door. Standing there was a young woman in a white and blue bounty hunter's suit with matching needs in her short red hair. "Iria! So good to see you!" Kei exclaimed, hugging the woman, "How have you been? Come on in!"
"Good to see you too, Kiddo, " Iria said with a fond chuckle. "Wow, nice place you got here. Doing alright for yourself, I see," she added as she entered the apartment, "Oh. Hello."
" Iria, this is my roommate and my partner from the 3WA, Yuri, " Kei introduced, "Yuri, this is Iria."
"Pleased to meet you, Miss Iria," Yuri greeted her.
"Likewise," Iria returned, "I hope the little tomboy isn't causing you too much trouble?"
"No, not at all," Yuri said with a smile.
"Geeze, Iria, what are you, my mom?" Kei asked, a blush sweeping her face. Iria simply smiled and held back an audible laugh.
"So, how long are you in town for, Miss Iria?" Yuri asked.
"I'm heading out tomorrow. But since I was so close, I wanted to at least stop by and say hello," Iria answered.
"You still in the bounty hunting business?" Kei asked.
"You know it," Iria answered.
"Still with Fujikoro?" Kei asked.
"No, he and I were never partners to start with. Except for bob, I'm pretty much solo." Iria answered.
"Oh yeah, how is Bob?" Kei asked .
"Bob?" Yuri asked, taking interest in the mention of a man.
"So nice of you to remember me, Kei, " a male voice spoke up as an image of what appeared to be a short golden staff with a pearl coloured bead in the center popped in out of nowhere.
"THIS is Bob?" Yuri asked.
"Well, what's left of me, anyway," Bob returned.
Suddenly there was a hissing noise, followed by the sound of a cat as something small and furry jumped at the floating staff, passing right through it and landing on the table. "What the!? Damn it, Mughi, no!" Kei scolded the cat, "Leave Bob some and get down!"
"Aw, how cute," Iria said , seeing the small cat who was now trying to seat at Bob like he were the red dot from a laser pointer.
"Mughi, get down," Yuri scolded, "Mr Bob is not a cat toy!" She grabbed the kitten and moved him back to the bedroom. "Terribly sorry about that.
"Quite alright, no harm done," Bob assured her.
"So, Iria, I was thinking I should take you out for lunch today. There's this great little Chinese place a few blocks away," Kei suggested.
"Oh, Kei, you're not going to take her there, are you?" Yuri sighed.
"That bad?" Iria asked.
"No, the food's good, but the owner's a little questionable," Yuri explained.
"So, the owner's been an informant for us a few times," Kei sighed, "Doesn't mean the food isn't worth it."
"Yeah, why not?" Iria laughed, "Chinese sounds good."
Kei smiled, "Alright, let's go. Yuri, you coming?"
"No, thanks, you girls go have fun, I have a few errands to run in town," Yuri excused herself.
"Suit yourself," Kei shrugged, "Come on, Iria, let's go."
"So, what did you do to your hair?" Iria asked, once they were alone.
"What are you talking about?" Kei asked.
"I remember it being a lot spikier." Iria smiled and ruffled a hand through Kei's hair, "And you used to be a solid read head. Did the blonde grow in natural, or did you dye it?"
"The blonde kind of came in natural, and I started using shampoo that softened my hair a little," Kei admitted.
"I like it," Iria encouraged.
At the end of the day, as Iria got ready to go back to her hotel for the night, Kei pulled her aside. "You're leaving early tomorrow, right?" she asked.
"That's right," Iria answered.
Kei pulled something out of her back pick and passed it toward Iria, her fist closed tight. "I think I'm overdue to give this back," she said .
Iria opened her hand and smiled. I'm her hand was a able and white hair bead matching the ones in Iria's hair. Iria choked back a laugh, reaching back and playing with one of the head in her hair. "Keep it, Kei," Iria said, pushing it back into Kei's hand. "Zerium's still out there, Kei. I don't know when the next time I'll have a chance to see you will arise. I want you to have something to remember me by." She sighed and hugged the 3WA agent. "It's been good to see you, Kiddo. I'm glad you're ok. I want you to take care of yourself, alright?"
"Yeah. You too," Kei said, returning Iria's hug, "Keep her safe for me, will ya', Bob?"
Note: Yeah, so my brain has turned to mush over the last few years. I'm out of practice and don't feel like anything I write is good anymore, but going too long without doing so makes me feel violent. So this was just to get a silly idea out of my head. Iria holds a special place in my heart, as it was her shower scene that !are me come to terms with the fact that I'm not 100% straight, Just like TohruNo and YorEki made me realize I actually do like Yaoi. So, take this as what you will. Just some ramblings to get in a bit of practice, to try and return to my previous level. Thank you all for reading. I really had nothing planned for this piece.