Hello again, guys. The sixth chapter for this story!
Thanks for the reviews!
I don't own Maid Sama! or any of its characters.
Running along the contours of the road, Misaki looked for the familiar van. And then she spotted it; standing on the side of an isolated garage.
Bingo.
Jogging around the area, she finally saw the tall man with a small girl bobbing along next to him. Probably to make another profit out of jumbo pops.
But not today.
"Oh, hey, look who it is. It's the popsicle hustlers!"
The two looked back to see the cheery cop waving at them.
"Well, well, if it's not our sweet little cop. What brings you here? I hope you've not ditched your job to join us on a hustle."
"Oh, no, of course not. Are you kidding me? I've come to ask you about a woman, who goes by the name of Patricia Hirose." Holding up the picture of the blonde woman, she continued, "Do you remember her from anywhere?"
"Well, I know everyone. What do you need from her? Advice on how to quit your job? Don't think you'll get it from her."
"Very funny. Do you remember selling a popsicle to her, you ridiculous popsicle hustler?"
"Excuse me? I make 200 bucks a day for every day of the week, which I happen to have been doing 365 days a year since I was twelve. Don't mess with me, sweetie."
Losing her patience, she said, "Do you remember?"
"...'Course I do. What about it?"
"Well, Mrs. Hirose has been reported missing, and I've been tasked to find her. And you, are a clear link to where I can find her. If you don't want me reporting you on your taxes and jailing you for it, then you'll cooperate."
Waving the picture, she got a snarky reply.
"Look, I don't see why I should help you when I've got a whole day to spend. Can't waste time, dear. Now, I don't see how a wee little girl like you is going to report me. Your word against mine. Won't work, honey."
Sighing, Misaki pulled out the carrot-shaped pen from her pocket, and pressed a button on it.
A warbled noise issued from the pen, and then, "I make 200 bucks a day for every day of the week, which I happen to have been doing 365 days a year since I was twelve."
"Hmm, now let's see. 200 bucks every day of the week, which is 73,000 a year! That's quite a lot, tiger."
Usui had this peeved expression on his face, which quickly turned to irritation.
"Now, are you willing to help me, or do you want to sell popsicles in the jail cafeteria?"
Suddenly, Misaki heard the girl next to him snort loudly; and then the girl burst into laughter, the bow on her head bobbing as she hit her fist on the ground; kneeling with the weight of her laughter.
"Ooh, you sure got busted, Taku-chan. Busted by a girl cop!"
Howling and cackling, the girl staggered away, leaving Misaki and Usui.
Turning back to Usui, she said, "Start talking."
Sighing and slumping his shoulders, he said, "Look...I don't know where she is, but I know where she went after buying the popsicle."
"Good. Then lead me there, if you want this pen back."
"I'm...not sure it's a place for a cute girl cop."
"...Don't call me cute, and get in the car."
"If you say so. You're the boss."
Usui led her to a place that was named as the 'Mystic Spring Oasis'.
Pushing aside the beaded string curtain, they came across a shaggy haired man, who was sitting behind a desk, cross-legged, and was chanting.
"Om..."
"Om..."
"Om..."
"Uh, hello?"
Misaki spoke softly, trying not to disrupt the man's concentration.
But when the man didn't respond, she shouted, "Hello!"
Startled, the man stopped chanting, and pushed the hair out of his face.
"Hi! I'm Off-", Misaki said.
"Oh, imma pause right there. We don't need any more of Genna's carrot cookies."
"Uh...no. I'm Officer Ayuzawa, from the ZPD. I wanted to ask about a woman called Patricia Hirose."
Giving him the picture, the man widened his eyes, as if he instantaneously recognized the woman. Opening his mouth, to say-
"Achoo!"
Flies hat had been buzzing around moved away from the sudden disruption of quiet, and then the man spoke again.
"Oh, yeah, Patricia. She used to come here for yoga classes. Come on, I'll show you to her yoga instructor."
"Thank you!"
The man got up, and came around the table, and moved toward the door.
"WAIT, YOU'RE NAKED!"
"...Oh, yeah, we prefer staying natural. Keeps the relaxation up to full throttle."
Horrified, Misaki turned back to look at Usui, who seemingly wasn't bothered by seeing this guy naked. He looked at her, and seeing the horror written on her face, he smirked.
"In Zootopia, anyone can be anything. And these guys, they can be naked."
The man opened the door, and Misaki thought that she'd just entered another Era.
Naked.
There was a pool filled with obese men splashing around, and a volleyball court where naked women were playing. The trio passed by horrifying sights; except the only one horrified by it all was Misaki. Usui seemed unaffected, following the shaggy man to the other side of the pool. And Misaki followed, closing her eyes tightly to preserve her sanity.
"Hey, Mami. This cop's here to ask about Patricia."
"Who?"
The woman, whose obese fat lolled about as she did various yoga poses.
"Uhh, Patricia Hirose? She'd been coming here as your student for six years...?"
The tattooed woman said, "I have no recollection of this woman, Gouki."
"Yeah, I remember her. She was wearing a pair of leggings with a cream-colored sweater the last time she came here. Remember that, Mami?"
"No."
"Yeah, and then she went and ate some carrot cookies. Remember that, Mami?"
"No."
"Yeah, and when she finished her class, she went inside this big white car with a silver trim. Remember that, Mami?"
"No."
Misaki, realizing that the man was giving her valuable info on her missing woman, took down notes, the pen flying across the page.
"You...didn't happen to catch the license plate, did you?"
"Oh, yeah! It was...2-9-T-H-D-0-3."
"Well, that was interesting. Now you can run your plate and find your person. So give me the pen, so that I can go."
"Oh...wait. I can't run a plate! Ugh..."
Biting the end of the pen, she remembered something.
"Wait a minute. Didn't you say that you knew everyone?"
Usui stopped short, his fingers reaching out for the pen.
"Oh, come on. You can't keep me on the hook for that long! We had a deal."
"Can you run a plate or not?"
Sighing, he gave in.
"I...remembered that I have a pal at the DMV. We should go there. He's the fastest one there."
"I'm glad your friend's the fastest. I have only 36 hours left to find this woman, and we are really running out of time."
Pushing the doors open, Misaki stopped.
"They're all OLD people?!"
"What, you think just because they're old they can't be fast? Anyone in Zootopia can be anything, sweetie."
Growling, Misaki walked up to the grandpa who was free.
Usui beat her to it though.
"Yukimura-san! Ooh, long time no see, man."
Haha, Yukimura's the sloth. I know that Usui calling Yukimura with the -san honorific is weird, but since he's a jii-chan here, I figured it's better if he called him with a bit of respect.
Anyway, please review!