Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 Fanfic Series

Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 File 1: Dominant Species

Part 2: Hunters

Chapter 12: Odd Girl Out

by P. Kristen Enos (bgcpost2040@aol.com)

* * * * *

A Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 English Dub Version Fanfic. All rights belong to AIC, ADV Films and the other creative powers that be. I just want credit for writing the story. Contains spoilers! Rated PG13. Yuri warning! Nothing in here should be a shock if you've watched the episodes and paid attention. All I'm doing is filling in the gaps with my own interpretation of events! Special thanks to egret for betaing!

* * * * *

"Are you certain you don't want another one, Mistress Linna?" the elderly butler asked, referring to his tray of hors d'oeuvre.

She smiled sheepishly as she held up her choice and answered, "Let me finish this one first, Henderson. I'll be sure to signal when I want another."

The man barely masked his look of disappointment with a pleasant smile as he bowed and said, "I'll be ready!"

Linna waited until the man was absorbed with tending to the other guests of the party before letting out a deep sigh. She stared at the morsel in her hand and realized it would be the eighth snack she didn't want yet would force herself to eat. This time she was smarter and decided to hold it for a bit as she returned her attention to the display of exotic fish before her.

She was glad that the grand reopening party of the Silky Doll was very loud and crowded, allowing her to sulk by herself in the corner and not be bothered, with the exception of an overly attentive butler. She actually didn't want to attend, but she didn't want to be rude by turning down Sylia's invitation. However, she now wondered if it was ruder to show up and remain standoffish. The few times she actually looked at the surrounding people, she did notice some of the female guests, presumably Sylia's customer's, give her a very flirtatious look, but she just wasn't interested.

It had been almost three week since she had last seen Reika, and she still couldn't stop thinking about her. Then again, she wasn't exactly making an effort to stop either.

Her reluctance to force herself to forget Reika was fueled by the fact that she really didn't blame the other woman for ending things the way she did. If there was any blame, she felt it was owed to the universe in general. She had come to that final conclusion when in her walk back to the office after that fateful talk, she had run into a street cleaning boomer whose core hadn't been upgraded from the "white noise" version. She spent the rest of the afternoon suffering from a broken heart as well as a whopping headache. At least the headache had gone away even though the broken heart remained, especially since she had to suffer the nosiness of coworkers.

It was because of this broken heart that Linna had kept quiet about Reika to everyone in her life. She didn't say anything when they went on their social outings because she was afraid to jinx something that felt too good to be true. And after it was over, she didn't want to talk about it because it just hurt too much. Plus, given that they only saw each other a total of three times before the end, she felt a little embarrassed about acting like a naive school girl suffering from her first real heartbreak.

She had even stopped going to the gym for fear of running to Irene, who would unwittingly be a painful reminder and source of awkwardness. She was grateful Irene never called to check up on her because she wasn't sure what she would say.

Linna had actually minimized all social contact for the past few weeks as she tried to come to terms with the current pathetic state of her life. She wondered if this would be the ultimate incentive to move back to the farm and pump out grandchildren for her parents.

On that morbid thought, she was surprised by the sudden appearance of the hostess of the party next to her.

"Henderson is extremely cute to watch whenever you're here," Sylia commented as she stood side by side with her, each visually focused on the fish before them. "I like how excited he becomes when I tell him you're coming over."

Linna blushed but answered, "I'm sorry for being such a poor guest, Sylia. I should really go before I bring the party down."

She started to take a step but was stopped by a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"And I'm sorry for being such a poor friend these past few weeks. But now that I'm done with the move, I am fully committed to taking care of matters I've neglected," Sylia answered in a firm tone as they looked each other in the eye. "If you can wait, I'll make certain the party ends in an hour. And then I can spend some time with you and find out if there's anything I can do to bring the old Linna back."

"Sylia, you shouldn't have to end your party because of me!" her friend protested. "I'm just going through a huge self-pity period right now. I'll be fine. It's my own fault for letting it drag out so long."

Even though she let go of her shoulder, Sylia was quiet for a moment as her gaze penetrated Linna's, obviously looking for something.

"I promise. I'll be fine!" Linna insisted, becoming uncomfortable by the stare as well as not knowing what the other woman would find out. "It's your party. Don't worry about me!"

"Hi, guys! What's up?!" Nene called out as she approached the two of them, armed with a bowl of chips for personal consumption.

Sylia flashed the younger woman a pleasant smile, "Nene, you're just in time to help wipe off the frown from our little Linna!"

"I'm always game for that!" she answered cheerfully. Then she blushed and fished out two scraps of paper from her pockets. "Actually, Linna, I've had two women ask if I knew you and when I said I did, they asked if I could pass their phone numbers on to you."

"I can actually add five to that count," Sylia commented with a wink and a sip from her own drink. "Nothing fascinates people more but also keeps them at a distance than a brooding look that's incredibly sexy."

Linna's face was now the color of a tomato. She could handle having women look at her but to involve her friends was too embarrassing. "Uh, I'm not interested in dating anyone right now! I'm already dealing with being dumped."

"You are? Since when?!" a bewildered Nene exclaimed as Sylia merely looked at Linna expectantly for clarification.

Linna would have clamped her hands over her mouth if only she wasn't loaded down with a drink in one and an hors d'oeuvre in the other.

"I-I'm exaggerating! Honest!" she declared with a nervous and obviously forced laugh. "I just went on a couple of dates with a woman named Reika, and it just didn't work out. That's all."

Sylia looked mildly surprised and then asked curiously, "What was her last name?"

"Chen. Reika Chen," Linna answered, expecting the question. After all, she remembered Sylia's stories of her school romance with girl named Reika, and she had to admit that she was curious to know if it was the same person no matter how wild the coincidence would be.

"Oh," Sylia answered, apparently not recognizing the name. Then she put her free hand firmly on her hip and said, "Well, you've been keeping a big secret from us, nevertheless."

"Don't call the kettle black, Sylia," Linna retorted with a narrowed gaze.

The other woman broke out in a laugh. "Touché! Well, I'm off to my other guests. Nene, I leave her in your hands!"

"Got it covered!" she responded with a playful salute.

"I'm surprised Mackie's not here yet," Linna said as she scanned the room, careful not to linger with unexpected eye contact with anyone who might be looking for any signs of genuine interest.

"Oh, I'm sure he's loitering at the garage since Nigel is definitely not attending," Nene explained airily. "He should be showing up soon."

Linna was actually glad that he wasn't there yet since it gave her a chance to chat with Nene without having to suffer through watching cutesy couple behavior that would have been salt in her wounds.

In the course of an hour, the two women had a fun time chatting about a new dessert shop that was down the street, avoiding office gossip, and Nene's new past time of hanging out in Sylia's private shooting range. Nene explained the last addiction as thrilling because Sylia's weapons selection was much more diverse than what was available at the police station.

By the time Mackie showed up, Linna's spirits were considerably raised as she laughed and joked with one of her best friends.

"Hi, Linna," Sylia's brother greeted cheerful as he approached them, apparently freshly showered and dressed after spending all day at Nigel's garage. "Nigel wanted me to tell you that your scooter should be as good as new by tomorrow."

Nene scowled. "I thought you got rid of that thing when you went to Osaka! You'd get everywhere faster by walking."

Her friend shrugged and answered, "I guess I need to be devoted to something!"

She felt a slight twinge of jealousy when she saw the two of them easily slide their hands together, reminding her of the extremely brief moment when she had held Reika's hand. Perhaps this was the cue to leave the party for the night.

"Hey, look!" Nene declared merrily as she pointed to the two new guests who were being greeted by Henderson at the front door. "Daley made it after all! And you'll get to meet his boyfriend Yuuji, Linna!"

Linna tried to hide her frown behind a forced smile as she darkly thought 'Oh, swell! Even Daley's seeing someone!'

-- End Chapter 12 --