Messages and the Paper Sisters

In the far off country of Japan, the sun was rising over the city of Tokyo. Not too far from the shore a larger house was lit up by the morning sun, pigeons flapping about as they began their day. Inside Sumiregawa Nenene lay curled up on the couch, not far from her personal computer. Her work room on the second floor was a disaster area, but it was an orderly disaster, with stacks of books, papers, and reference materials all around. The blanket shifted, a messy head looking up blearily.

The brown haired young woman got up and stretched, scratching at her armpit. Nenene stumbled out of the room, the square rimmed glasses that she usually wore catching the light. Down the stairs she went, moving through the messy living room and in to the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom three young women stood in front of the sink, brushing away at

their teeth almost exactly in synch. The tall, black haired woman towered over them all, the green haired girl was Nenene's height, and the redhead was a little girl.

"Good morning, Sensei," the tall black haired girl said to Nenene bashfully once the three finished their brushing, gargling and spitting into the sink.

"Good morning Maggie," Nenene nodded to her with a little smile, moving in to grab her own toothbrush. "Who's turn is it to cook breakfast today, Michelle?" she asked the green haired girl.

"Mine," Michelle said mournfully. She brightened up as she looked down at the little redhead, "Anita, could you help me?"

"I'd better," Anita sighed, "I've had your cooking."

"Don't be so cruel, Anita," Michelle pouted.

"Thanks," Nenene murmured with a relieved sigh. She had tried Michelle's cooking, too, and hoped not to have to eat it ever again.

The four of them finished up breakfast, then Nenene went back upstairs to her work room. She sat down at her computer and checked her e-mail first, then she called up her website. She was surprised to see a message attached to the Yomiko section, and clicked on it.

"Dan Wisner," Nenene murmured as she read the message, "The Mariana's university?" She called up a search-engine, typing in the school name and calling up their site. She checked through the teacher's listing, coming to a dead stop when she hit a certain name, "My god. Yomiko?!"

A digital image was attached to the listing, and with a mix of excitement and fear Nenene clicked on it. Yomiko Readman looked a bit older, her long hair flowing over her shoulders as she smiled tentatively. A short biography was attached, and Nenene ran through it quickly.

"Where have you been the last five years, Yomiko?" Nenene murmured as she finally sat back with a soft sigh. She checked her schedule, clearing all her upcoming appointments, then got on the phone. "Lee-san?" she smiled at her editor's voice, "I may be out of the country for awhile. I'll send you the latest pages as I finish them."

"But Sensei.." Lee started to protest, and Nenene could easily imagine him dropping the pen he was chewing on.

"Don't worry, I'll keep to my usual schedule. See you later," Nenene answered cheerfully, hanging up. She opened up her door and stuck her head out into the hallway as she called, "Maggie, Michelle, Anita?"

"Hai?" they answered from different places in the house, Maggie in the dining room under a table, Michelle upstairs in their own bedroom and Anita out on the porch..

"Pack your bags," Nenene yelled, "we're going on a little trip!" Not waiting for an answer, she strode back to the computer and called up her email account. She copied the email address from the Yomiko post, composed the message quickly, then hit send.

"Thank you, Mr. Wisner," Nenene smiled wryly as she murmured, "whoever you are."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Meanwhile, half way around the world in the dorm room that he shared with his roommate Koyomi Kishiro, Dan Wisner suddenly had to sneeze. The two of them were sharing a dorm room due to a computer mix up, Dan having been listed as a female in the system. While the staff had soon fixed the bug the school had already filled most of the dorm spaces, leaving the boy and girl stuck with each other for the time being.

"You catching as cold, Dan?" Koyomi asked curiously.

Dan shook his head, reaching out and grabbing at a tissue to blow his nose. "No," he wiped at his nose, "I don't know where that came from."

Koyomi chuckled to herself as she suggested, "Then maybe someone is talking about you."

A soft sound from Dan's personal computer called for his attention, indicating that he had a message. He got up from his seat and walked over to his desk, clicking on the computer's email program. "I'll be damned," he murmured, seeing the name attached.

"That's the author you emailed, Nenene," Koyomi read over his shoulder. She jabbed him in the shoulder when Dan hesitated, "Open it."

"Thank you for the message," Nenene's mail said, "and I look forward to meeting you soon. Sumiregawa Nenene."

"Looks like she's coming here," Koyomi said calmly, her expression thoughtful as she considered what might be happening soon.

"Oh, yeah," Dan sighed, feeling a little stunned. He had not expected such a fast response and felt a sudden headache coming on. "I wonder if we should go tell Yomiko about this?" he asked.

"It's your email," Koyomi smiled, "and I think she'd be a bit upset if Nenene came here with no warning at all."

"You're right," Dan sighed, "but you were the one who actually sent the message, so you're going to help me."

"All right, all right," Koyomi smiled. She looked thoughtful, "Should we talk to her after class, or see her on her own time?"

"What, at her home?" Dan looked at her in surprise, "How are we going to do that?"

"Leave it to me," Koyomi grinned wickedly, leaving Dan with a sinking feeling in his guts.

Dan had the oddest look on his face later that day as they went up to the apartment that Yomiko lived in. "How did you manage this?" he asked weakly.

"Kelly hacked Yomiko's school records," Koyomi shrugged casually. "According to her the security is top rate, too."

"Gah," Dan made a face as he muttered, "I didn't need to know that." They reached the door together, both hesitating, then Dan sucked it up and knocked firmly.

The door opened a few moments later, and Dan's eyes widened slightly. The slim black haired woman standing there was clearly not their teacher Yomiko, and she was only wearing a awfully short damp towel that barely hid her well shaped breasts. "Yes?" she asked.

Koyomi had to fight to control her amusement at Dan's bug eyed reaction as she asked bluntly, "Is Yomiko Readman here?"

"Who wants to know?" the woman seemed entirely untroubled by her near nudity, her blue-black hair falling around a attractive face.

"We're students from her English class," Dan managed to get out, blushing.

"Ah," Nancy nodded slightly. She turned back to the interior of the suite to call, "Sensei, your students are here to see you!"

"What?" Yomiko walked towards the entranceway, blinking in surprise when she saw them standing there. "Koyomi, Dan?" she blinked.

"Hello, Ms Readman," Koyomi waved casually, not at all bothered by their intruding on the two older women.

"Hi," Dan nodded weakly.

"Care to come in?" Nancy drawled, also rather amused by the whole situation.

"Thanks," Koyomi nodded, all but dragging the visibly uncomfortable Dan inside. They all sat down in chairs around the kitchen table, Dan looking about in awe at the piles of books that covered every available surface.

"What did you want to see me about?" Yomiko asked. Rather gently she added, "If it's something academic, you should really see me at the school.."

"No," Dan shook his head, "It's.. I mean.. " He sighed, reaching into his pocket for the printout he'd made of Nenene's message. "Here," he passed it over.

"Smooth," Koyomi shook her head wryly.

Yomiko unfolded it, her eyes widening as she quickly read the words. "What?" Nancy moved over, putting a comforting hand on Yomiko's shoulder.

Yomiko gave her a grateful smile. "We'd better get an extra room ready," she passed the note over to Nancy, "it looks like Nenene is coming to the islands."

"Better call Shane too," Nancy murmured thoughtfully.

"Shane-san!" Yomiko called and a older man emerged from one of the rooms branching off from the hallway.

"The librarian?" Dan blinked.

Koyomi looked at the three adults, a smile twitching at her lips, "Threesome? I'm impressed."

Shane shook his head, blushing, "We're just roommates."

"Here," Nancy handed the printout over to him.

"Not quite what I expected when I showed you her site," Shane admitted as he looked up at the students wryly.

"You did!" Nancy looked at him, annoyed.

"I think we'll be going now," Dan said as he and Koyomi swiftly snuck out.

"Poor guy," Koyomi noted as they hurried down the hall.

To be continued...


Exploration

As the muck welled up over his boots and splashed down over his socks, Shane Llewellyn cursed under his breath. "I hate this island," the brown haired man muttered, pulling his feet free from the mud and slogging forward through the underground tunnel.

The earpiece Shane wore chirped softly, then Nancy Mukahari asked with some amusement, "What happened?"

"The underground stream feeding the tunnel is deeper than I thought," Shane admitted ruefully, "went right over my boots."

"Does it match the layout we figured?" Nancy asked, biting off a chuckle.

"So far," Shane admitted as he walked on. "I could so think of better things to do with my day off," he muttered.

"You said it," Nancy agreed.

Shane paused, feeling rather silly in his 'explorer wear.' He wore black trousers tucked into heavy rubber boots, a t-shirt, a camouflage jacket adorned with pouches and a baseball cap with a flashlight attached. He was dressed like this because it was the best gear he could acquire unobtrusively, and the mail-order gear he sent for hadn't arrived.

Investigating the islands for the rare book that was their target, Shane, Yomiko and Nancy had made several distressing discoveries. Firstly, the island had a long history of habitation. Second, there had been several earthquakes, historically, that had caused the collapse of structures underground. Third, much of the school was built over the rubble of earlier buildings. All these factors meant that the number of places the lost book could be had increased exponentially.

Finding maps of the old structures seemed impossible, currently, though they would continue to try and find them, but several students had found at least one tunnel underground in the past several years. After some debate it was decided Shane would take a look down there on his day off, sort of as a initial reconnaissance.

Falling water had opened up a underground tunnel, apparently, then the liquid merely flowed down into it while gently widening the hole. Entering had required some careful climbing down a steep rise, but thankfully the tunnel itself was roomy and not too slick. Seismic readings from Balalaika's arrival survey gave them a rough layout, but it was mostly still unknown.

Shane's light shone off the walls, illuminating them a blue-gray as he walked on. They were oddly regular, too, the height and width of the tunnel almost regular. He reached out and touched the stone, feeling the smoothness as he frowned thoughtfully.

"Hey, Nancy?" he asked.

"Yeah?" Nancy asked, sounding more than a bit bored.

"Are there any chance these tunnels are man made?" Shannon asked, panning his light around the tunnel. He couldn't see any tool marks on the walls, but he supposed they could have been worn away with time...

"Are you serious?" Nancy asked, sounding surprised. As he related the unusual regularity of the walls she said, "I suppose it's possible,. But what would a school on a remote island we doing with underground tunnels?"

"Just one of the many questions we want answered, Nancy," Shane noted dryly.

Shane walked on, the tunnel dipping downward as he went. After about ten minutes he reached what was clearly a man made junction, a 't' with two paths going left and right. "Which way do you want to try?" Nancy asked him.

"Left takes me in to the island, right to the shore," Shane mused, "assuming they go roughly straight. Let's try the shore."

"Why that way?" Nancy asked as she used a computer to plot out a rough map of the tunnels.

"The first operations rule Drake Anderson taught me," Shane said as he walked down the tunnel, "make sure the escape routes are clear."

The creek had turned to follow the inner tunnel, so this route was relatively dry as Shane walked on. He could smell sea air as he progressed gradually upwards, and the tunnel was more irregular than the other. Sections of the roof showed cracks, and as he began to see light ahead he nearly tripped over several fallen boulders. Much more cautiously he moved forward, reaching the opening which lead to a sheer drop down to the sea.

"I've reached the end of the tunnel," Shane reported as he peered outside carefully, the brisk wind blowing his hair, "it leads out from a cliff. No way to climb down by hand, though I suppose a expert could do it."

"And how about you?" Nancy had to ask, knowing Shane had been trained by a expert or two, over the years. .

Shane shrugged, even though he knew she couldn't see it as he studied the cliff. "Maybe,." he admitted, "I sure as hell wouldn't want to try it in a hurry."

"Fair enough," Nancy noted, adding it to the map.

Shane turned around, walking back towards the original intersection even as he considered the situation. These tunnels certainly seemed man made, even though the entrance way had been revealed by erosion. There were no signs or indications of who built it, but the regularity of the tunnels and the fact they were still standing showed some skill had gone into making them.

Reaching the intersection Shane panned his light over the walls and floor, more out of habit than anything else, and stopped. Kneeling down he examined a scuffed tread mark, a faint frown crossing his face. The pattern did not match his boots, which meant that there was someone else in here, now or possibly in the past.

"I'm back at the intersection," Shane said quietly, "spotted another footprint. I might not be all alone down here."

"You want extraction?" Nancy asked tersely.

That, in the language they spoke on operations, meant that Shane would bug out and Nancy and any other operatives involved would hurry to meet him, usually loaded for bear. They'd had to do it a few times, in different parts of the world, and it was always a dangerous thing.

"No, if needed I'll pull out on my own,." Shane answered seriously. "No reason to blow your or Yomiko's cover, after all."

"Stay in touch," Nancy ordered as Shane headed down the left tunnel.

The stream ran down one side of the tunnel, gouging a deep path in the rock as it flowed by. Splashing water had let some kind of moss grow on the path, making Shane watch his step as he walked on. He didn't see any indications of of human passage here, which meant either the other person had stopped at the intersection and gone back, or was trailing him.

'Comforting thought,' Shane thought dryly.

The tunnel flattened out as it lead into a larger chamber, and Shane carefully hugged the wall as he peered inside, noting the water disappearing down a hole off to the side. Taking in the room he blinked in disbelief, then took another long look just to be sure. "Nancy," he murmured, "you aren't gonna believe this."

"Yeah?" Nancy asked sharply.

"I've found a large chamber," Shane said flatly, "and it looks like some kind of mad alchemist's lab." With that he began to describe what he saw, including several vats of unknown fluids, massive corkscrew lines between clear containers, tables, vats, basins and what most looked like some kind of lightning rod.

"Any guesses on how old it is?" Nancy asked as Shane cautiously made his way into the room, looking around warily.

"No idea," Shane admitted as he carefully touched a glass tube, "there's dust everywhere, but nothing's been broken."

"Does the tunnel continue on?" Nancy asked seriously.

Shane took a few steps forward, wishing the light he was wearing was more powerful. "Two tunnels on the far side, I think," he reported. As he walked deeper into the room he passed a man sized wide glass tube, blinking as he realized it contained something.

Hearing him curse Nancy asked, "What?!"

"Some kind of jars," Shane looked at them with revulsion, "about human sized. One's got a badly deformed man inside, another... some kind of demon dog. It's big, heavily fanged and scary." As he got close enough to look the dog's eye sprung open in the yellow fluid, "Shit!" Shane stepped back, "The dog's alive!"

Even as Nancy barked for him to pull out Shane was running for the first tunnel, turning back to look. The Dog twisted in the glass cage then threw itself against the side wall, splintering the glass. A few more b lows and the foul smelling fluid gushed out, then the dog broke free, dropping to the ground in a parody of birth.

Shane bolted for the tunnel as the beast was getting it's bearings. He ran through the chemist's equipment then blinked as he saw a woman in the tunnel mouth, dressed in shorts and t-shirt, carrying twin pistols. "Laura Croft?" he joked as he ran right towards her.

"Don't even start," Revy Chambers growled as the half Asian, black haired woman saw the hound chasing after him. She aimed and fired one shot per pistol, staggering the dog which collapsed to the ground. "Well," she slid one pistol away, "that's that."

"Holy shit," Shane blinked as the dog picked itself up, seemingly shaking the bullets off to run at them again.

"What the fuck?!" Revy yelped, pointing her free pistol at it and emptying the clip, this time. The dog's flesh shredded as it bled a puss yellow fluid, staggering forward even with it's obscene wounds.

"Shit," Shane repeated, looking around wildly. A oversized wrench rested on a table by the door and he grabbed it, hefting the thing. Stepping forward he swung down at the staggering dog as hard as he could, shattering the skull and driving it down.

The two watched warily, but except for twitching the enormous dog was finally still. "Think it's dead?" Revy asked, reloading her pistols.

"I don't know and I don't want to wait to find out," Shane answered, nodding towards the open tunnel, "let's get the hell out of here."

"Right," Revy agreed, both hurrying down the tunnel. They ran down the tunnel then she blinked as he jumped into the stream and walked fast up it. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Breaking off my scent, in case that dog keeps coming," Shane answered briskly.

"You don't think it's dead?" Revy blinked as they ran, "You crushed it's brain!"

"It shouldn't have lived through being shot, either," Shane shrugged. Revy looked at him a moment, then joined him in the stream as they reached the intersection and took the tunnel out.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"So what did you tell her?" Yomiko asked sympathetically as she got him a piping hot cup of tea and a plate of biscuits.

"Just that a student told me about the tunnels and I wanted to explore," Shane answered, taking the tea gratefully.

"Think she bought it?" Nancy asked.

"I hid the earpiece as soon as I could and it was dark in the tunnel, so she might not have seen it," Shane shrugged, "but to be honest, I don't think so. On the other hand, she can't prove I was doing anything wrong."

Nancy nodded as she had her own tea, "True."

"What do you think will happen to the lab?" Yomiko asked curiously.

"Revy will tell Balalaika," Shane shrugged, "she'll investigate it." He sighed, "Hopefully without unleashing any more critters."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"So," Balalaika said with some amusement as the white blonde woman looked around the lab, "you were saved by the librarian?"

"Don't rub it in, Big Sis," Revy grumbled. "I don't buy his 'I was just looking around' story, either," she added.

"Did he knew this was here?" Balalaika asked thoughtfully, a unlit cigar between her teeth.

"No, I think he was as surprised by that thing as I was," Revy admitted as they watched a hazmat team bag up the still occasionally moving creature and haul it away. "What are you going to do with it?" she asked.

"We'll burn it," Balalaika answered calmly. "And carefully dispose of the ashes. I have no wish to star in a horror movie."

"Seconded," Revy shuddered, remembering it getting up after being shot. She brightened as another man entered, "Hey, Rock!"

"Revy," Rock grinned, the Asian businessman as crisp as ever in his suit. He looked at Balalaika in a more serious way, "I've talked to Benny and Jane, but we really need qualified scientists in here to take this shit apart."

Balalaika made a face, "I don't want word of this lab getting out. I fear it would damage the island's reputation."

"We'll find someone discrete," Rock promised before hurrying off.

Revy watched Rock go, feeling a slight pang at the end of their romance so long ago. She wanted a smoke but didn't dare, looking at the stained spot on the floor where they'd scraped up the demon dog, as the lab techs were calling it.

'You know,' Revy mused to herself, 'that librarian really was kind of impressive...'

To be continued...

Notes: Based off some story bits I and Dranger came up for Tennokiken, slightly rewritten.


Investigator

Nancy Mukahari checked the address of her appointment, then looked over the slightly shabby building. With a shrug the purple haired woman went inside, walking over to the elevator and going up to the third floor. She checked her note again and read off room numbers, eventually finding the office marked 'Asogi Consulting.'

The secretary looked young, maybe only in her teens as the light purple haired girl looked up attentively. "Hello," she smiled, "how may I help you?"

"My name is Nancy," she smiled back, "I think I have a appointment with Miss Asogi?"

"Right," she smiled as she got up, "my name's Mimi. Follow me."

They walked into the inner office without knocking, revealing a good looking dark green haired woman who was casually sitting behind the desk. The rather well endowed woman with glasses sat up as they entered, smiling in welcome.

"Rin Asogi," Mimi smiled impishly, "meet Nancy Mukahari."

Rin came around her desk and offered her hand, "Nice to meet you."

Nancy shook it, surprised at the strength of her grip and her warm smile. "You too," she agreed. Curiously she said, "I thought you were a private investigation company, not consultants?"

Rin waved her to a seat as she said cheerfully, "We are, but we also do a lot of other stuff. Jack of all trades, that's me."

"Nothing illegal, of course," Mimi perched on the side of the desk, her skirt riding up a bit, "but everything from body guarding to investigation."

"Fair enough," Nancy nodded. She leaned forward, "As we discussed on the phone, I applied for a private investigators license on the island. I qualify for most of the requirements, but I need to do a six month trial period with a local agency."

"And you saw our help wanted ad," Rin noted. "Can I see your resume?" she asked.

"Sure," Nancy passed the sheets over.

Rin flipped through the papers, her expression thoughtful. "British police, SAS qualified?" she noted. She looked at Nancy, "Why not apply with the police? They'd pay good money to have you."

Nancy shrugged, "What my resume does not say is that I had a little trouble with authority figures. As in, I don't work well with them."

Mimi snickered softly even as Rin grinned. "My kind of person," she noted cheerfully.

"What do you think?" Mimi looked at Rin.

"How about we try you for a month?" Rin offered. "If it doesn't work out, we can just go our separate ways."

"I'd like that," Nancy nodded.

Rin stuck her hand out, "Well then, welcome to Asogi Consulting."

Nancy shook it, "Thanks."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"And that was it?" a mildly surprised Shane asked over the cellphone as Nancy walked from the office on her first assignment.

"Yup," Nancy agreed, "though I bet you that they're checking into my background now."

"Your background was set up by the Library, it'll hold up," Shane said.

"It better," Nancy agreed. "Keep an eye on Yomiko for me, I might be late tonight."

"Will do," Shane said before they disconnected.

As Nancy walked through the neighborhood, she considered what she had read in the Library's file on Rin Asogi. The woman's file was thick and Nancy only had time to skim it, but she could barely believe some of it. Rin was apparently some kind of immortal, locked at her present age & appearance. She literally could not die, though that did not mean she couldn't be hurt. She simply recovered from any harm done to her, rapidly but also quite painfully.

Where Rin came from or how old she was, no one had any idea. She started out in their files in Shinjuku, Tokyo, where she had run a earlier version of her consulting agency. She dealt with various incidents in and around Tokyo, even coming into contact with Library agents. Rin had even been hired by the Library once or twice, though only through intermediaries. Thankfully she hadn't met any of their team, tho she had encountered Drake at least once.

'Remind me to call him later,' Nancy noted as she reached the area Rin had described. With a sigh she cupped her hands around her mouth and called, "Here, kitty kitty kitty!"

Meanwhile, back at the office Mimi's fingers were flying over the computer keyboard as she hunted for data. "It's awfully mean sending her after Hercules," she noted.

Rin smirked, thinking of her several encounters with the half feral cat. "If she can't take a few scratches...," she shrugged. She looked at Mimi curiously, "How does she check out?"

"Background is clean so far," Mimi nodded thoughtfully as she worked, "I even found the demerits for criticizing a superior officer." She sat back with a frown, "It's almost TOO clean."

"You think she's hiding something?" Rin asked curiously.

"We all have secrets, Rin," Mimi softly mused, "it just depends on if they're gonna blow up in our face later on."

Rin nodded, knowing she had her own secrets to hide. "Do some discrete digging," she suggested, "if you want, we can talk to a informant about it."

"Please, no," Mimi made a face, "I don't like what they charge us."

Rin walked over and hugged Mimi from behind, kissing the top of her head. "Feeling jealous?" she gently teased.

"No, I'm not," Mimi pouted.

"Oh, really?" Rin laughed.

There was a sound out in the hallway, a mix of a growl and a cough and the two women separated. Mimi looked up at Rin, "You don't think she already...?"

The door opened and Nancy staggered inside, twigs in her hair, good suit dirty and cuts on her hands, but in her arms she carried a large, very disgruntled cat who was glaring about him dangerously. "I hope like hell he hasn't got anything infectious," Nancy growled as she hauled the struggling cat to a carrier waiting by the desk.

"We'll cover any shots you need," Mimi offered as she opened the door and got the annoyed cat inside. "Where did you find him?"

"In a gopher burrow," Nancy said grimly as she looked at her filthy clothes, "looks like he beat up and evicted the last occupant."

"That cat scares me," Rin noted wryly. She looked at Nancy, "Can you believe his owner is the cutest little ten year old? I wouldn't take the case otherwise."

"Heh," Nancy smiled slightly.

About half an hour later and the promised adorable girl appeared, nearly squealing with joy to be reunited with her cat. The big fuzz ball took the hugging with good nature, curling up against her as she rumbled out her purr. The girl smiled up at them, "Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Mimi smiled then nodded towards Nancy, who had managed to clean up a bit while they were waiting, "but she found her this time."

The little girl looked a bit more shyly at Nancy as she repeated, "Thank you."

Nancy knelt down, giving the little girl her best smile as she said, "I was glad to help."

The little girl left soon after, waving goodbye as she skipped down the street with the cat in her arms. "So," Rin said as they watched the girl go from the window upstairs, "what do you think of the job? Want out already?"

Nancy had her hands in her pocket, faintly surprised at how nice it had been to help the kid. "I think I'd like to stick around," she answered, "if you'll have me."

"I think you'll fit in," Mimi smiled.

Rin sat at her desk tiredly as she smiled, "Mimi, could you get us some water?"

"Sure," Mimi left the room for a moment, returning with a unmarked bottle and three shot glasses. She poured for all of them, perching on the edge of the desk again.

"Bottoms up," Rin toasted Nancy.

Nancy tossed the 'water' back, then nearly choked as the taste hit her. "That's vodka!" she yelped, coughing.

Mimi shrugged as she said cheerfully, "Vodka means water in Russian."

"Sorry," Rin patted her on the back, "I should have warned you."

"Geh," Nancy's eyes watered but she drank the rest of it, then held out the glass. "Hit me again," she ordered, "I still feel the scratches from that damn cat."

Mimi laughed as she refilled her cup, "Yes, I think you're going to fit in just fine."

To be continued...

Notes: Rin and Mimi are from Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne, a semi-adult anime featuring a immortal private eye/consultant. Going to be mostly ignoring canon except for the basic concepts, so you do NOT have to see the series before hand.