"Well why didn't you just tell me in the first place?" Rae demanded. Hannah giggled and Sara sighed.
"Who cares whether or not I told you before" Hannah said, "let's get going, now!"
Rae jumped back, "wait, do I have to do it alone?"
"Only if your partner refuses" Hannah said, her head turned completely to Sara, who jumped.
"M-me?" Sara asked.
"Well, I can't exactly fight, and there's no one else in the room, Sara" Hannah responded, her face completely serious.
Sara nodded, her honey eyes shimmering.
"Right then, let's get down to business" Hannah said, her voice and face chipper again.
Hannah brought out something that looked like a cross between a briefcase and a lunch box and opened it up. Inside was a screen.
"Spirit detective's attendant case" Hannah explained proudly, and opened the bottom half of the inside.
Inside were a bunch of papers, files, a couple bandage rolls, and a bunch of other strange things. Suddenly the screen lit up and a chart appeared. Kamiya's voice talked as a red dot pointed around on it.
"Listen up guys, this case is an odd one. Our assurances are positive that a thief is going to try to steal some very powerful objects from us, and they say she's very powerful. You two are to disguise yourselves as attendants and be around that area. Surely she'll underestimate you and simply blow you away. When she's got her back turned, you will go in and attack. It might be quite a battle".
"One question" Rae said, "who's 'she'?".
"The thief behind this act, Lana" Hannah replied instantly, shutting the case.
"So, uh, how are we going to dress up like attendants?"
"Leave that" Hannah said, "To me"
"Why do we have to look like this? It's not fair!"
Hannah and Sara looked at Rae exasperatedly.
"This is how attendants dress" Hannah said, and Sara added,
"And you don't look that bad, Rae. You're just being stubborn"
"Hmph" Rae said, spinning around in her chair for the eighteenth time today.
Hannah shook her head and walked over to work on Rae's hair. Sara was right; she really didn't look that bad.
Rae was wearing a dark purple kimono with a black band and flowers all over it, and flat violet shoes. Hannah was currently trying to put her hair in a bun.
Sara was wearing dark blue kimono with white flowers on it that had tan band, and pale blue flat shoes. She had kept her long tan hair in a braid and had used it to create a braided bun.
Hannah had on a plain brown kimono and a pair of flat white shoes. Her hair was in a knot at the back of her head.
When Rae's hair was finally finished, she looked at herself in the mirror and practically had a fit. Sara had to hold her down to keep her from killing Hannah right there and then.
"Come on, Rae" Sara said, "We have to get to the vault!"
Rae glared, but got up and stormed off.
"Does she even know where she's going?"
"Not a chance"
When the three girls finally reached the vault, Sara yelling at Rae for getting lost, Hannah sighed and opened the door.
All three girls froze. There stood a tall girl, dark in skin, holding a tan bag in her long hands, facing the opposite direction. She had a brown cat's tail and ears.
"I thought you said she was going to steal the items" Rae hissed in Hannah's ear.
"Well, we were a bit late because we had to find you" Hannah whispered back.
Just then, Lana turned around, and her eyes grew wide.
"Attendants!" she cried, and raised her arm.
"Remember, take the hit" Hannah whispered, and the other two clenched their fists.
Suddenly, a white flash erupted from Lana's palm, and Rae's eyes grew wide. All at once, she was rolling along the floor, her raven hair spilling everywhere, and clutching her arm in pain.
But, just as Lana was getting away, Rae felt a strange sensation in her palm. She smiled and closed her hand around it. She then hurled it as hard as she could at Lana.
"Eat this!" Rae cried.
"What the-"Lana yelled as the purple beam hit her in the back of the leg.
"Well, that wasn't too hard" Rae said as she got up.
"That was awesome, Rae!" Hannah cried, getting up as well and giving the girl a high-five.
But as Sara pulled herself up, she wasn't looking at the other two. She was looking at the cloud of dust Lana had disappeared into when she fell.
Quickly, Sara raced over and grabbed the bag that had fallen out of Lana's hands when she fell.
Just then, there was another flash of white, and the bag dropped out of Sara's hands. The other two covered their eyes with their hands.
"Not so fast, little Sara"
"I thought so" Sara said, gritting her teeth, "Mao"
Lana smirked.
"Hold on a minute" Rae said, confused, "Do you two know each other? And I thought her name was Lana"
"It is" Sara said, balling up her fists, "To most"
"That doesn't make any sense" Rae said, crossing her arms.
"For once, I agree with Rae" Hannah said, and the others could practically see the question mark appearing over her head.
"It doesn't make sense to you" Sara said, pointing to Rae, "Because you're thick.
"And as for you, Hannah, you were off with Kamiya when I met Mao"
"Mao?"
"Yes, Mao, you thick-headed attendant" Lana said, pointing to Rae, "But, you're not really attendants, are you?"
"Well, we're not" Rae said, and then pointed to Hannah, "But she is"
"How did you know?" Hannah asked.
"Well, first and most obvious of all, you were with little Sara here" Lana said, nodding to the former, "But I guess I can't call you little anymore, can I? You've grown up, though you're still the same little crybaby on the inside"
"How do you two know each other? And why do you keep calling her Mao, already?"
"I'll tell you" Sara said, "But Mao here has to promise to stay put and keep out of it"
"Fine" Lana or Mao or whatever her name was, said.
"I was six years old" Sara began, "And I was miserable. I told you about Diana, well, she hadn't come into my life yet. I was an outcast among attendants, and I was constantly being yelled at by Nonaro. I finally had enough of it and ran away.
"I didn't get far before I grew exhausted, but I managed to reach the forest. I sat down and looked up to the sky, praying for someone to talk to.
"As if an answer to my prayers, a brown cat jumped out of a tree and into my lap. I told her everything, and knew she could understand by the way she rubbed against my skin when I started to cry. I named her Mao after the English word, meow.
"Well, my mom was sent out to fetch me, and found me soon enough, but not before the cat jumped out of my hands and into her tree. Though I was severely punished for running away, I came back every day, sometimes for hours, other times just mere minutes I had to spare, to talk to Mao.
"Then, when Diana took me under her wing, I went to say goodbye to Mao, but she wasn't there. I never did get to say goodbye when I went to the human world.
"And now, apparently, Mao has resorted to a life of crime, reverting to her proper form and name, Lana"
"Oh" Rae and Hannah said.
"Now that we're all caught up" Lana said, "I think we have a fight to return to"
"Yes" Sara said, "But there's one more thing, Mao. You called me a crybaby, but I'm afraid I've changed quite a bit"
"We'll just see about that" Lana raised her hand once more.
"I don't want to fight you, Mao, but if I must, I will" Sara said, and brought her fists up to her face.
"What do you mean, you will?" Rae asked, bracing herself as well, "I'm fighting, too!"
"No!" Sara cried, and Rae stepped back, "This is my fight!"
"Big mistake, little Sara"
A white flash once more came out of Lana's hand, but this time, Sara was ready. She jumped out of the way, and Rae gasped as Hannah whipped out her oar and pulled her onto it, floating up to the ceiling.
"Good, little Sara. Perhaps you have improved after all. But you're still no match for me!"
Sara gasped as Lana was suddenly all over her, using her sharp claws to scratch her in several key points.
"Take this, cat breath!"
Sara yelped as a purple ball of energy flew at the two of them, hitting Lana in the chest. She looked back to see Rae off of Hannah's oar and her arms crossed.
"B-But I said-"
"Who cares?" Rae barked, walking up to Sara and offered her a hand, "You're my friend. You think I'm just gonna let you take her on your own?"
Sara smiled slightly.
"Thanks" she said, taking the hand and allowing her friend to pull her up.
"No problem" Rae said, and then turned to Lana, who was also on the ground.
"Now get up, you baka neko!"
"Studying Japanese, are you?" Sara asked, and Rae rolled her eyes.
"A sub of mine knew it"
"And you actually listened?"
"Hey, it was interesting!"
"Would you two shut up a minute?"
Both girls turned to see, indeed, that Lana had indeed risen, and was ready for another round.
"All right!" Rae cried, "Now here's where the real action begins!"
baka neko- "stupid cat"
Author's notes: Hope you enjoyed it, and I'm sorry Flora isn't here, she's asleep. I think she thought I ditched her and wore herself out trying to beat the crap out of our punching bag. Well, I'm really sorry I didn't update for so long, but I really just lost the feel for this story. In fact, I'm actually quite proud that I managed to pick it back up (I kind of had to force myself, but by the fifth paragraph I was rolling) and finish the chapter for you guys. I can't promise a new chapter soon, but I'm pretty sure it won't take as long as this one did. So, Sayonara Bye Bye, and until next chapter!