Ga Rei Hime

Five

Midori burst into laughter as Natsuki finished explaining the situation over the phone. "They're BOTH drunk?" she snickered.

"Stop laughing damn it," Natsuki sighed, leaning against the back wall of the bar. "What the hell do I DO?"

Midori ran a hand through her flaming red hair. "Where are you?" she asked.

"A dive bar out in the western part of town," Natsuki said and gave the address.

"Right," Midori said decisively, "hole up there and I'll be there as soon as I can. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Like that's a long list..." Natsuki muttered as she hung up the cellphone she had borrowed from Midori a while back.

Rena Sayers was leaning against the side of the bench, giggling to herself softly. The brown haired woman had only had three beer, but apparently that was enough to be over her limit. Maybe she didn't drink much?

Sara Gallagher was sitting across from her, the scruffy blond giving Natsuki a appreciative look. She sat back, her 'hooker outfit' clinging to a sexy, very fit body. "Where did you go, Natsuki?" she purred, "I was getting lonely."

"Calling for reinforcements," Natsuki said dryly.

Rena frowned slightly sleepily as she peered at Natsuki. "Not woman enough to handle both of us?" she demanded.

"I really hope you didn't mean what that sounded like," Natsuki noted. "I asked a friend to come help me get you guys home, as I doubt I could carry you both on my bike."

"Tho I'd love to share a ride with you," Sara noted.

"Down, girl," Rena said then snickered softly.

"No more booze for either of you," Natsuki decided firmly. She waved down the amused waitress, "Coffee, please."

"Right," she snapped her gum, "should I bring the whole pot?"

"Probably a good idea," Natsuki admitted.

Not long after that Midori arrived, and Natsuki had gotten a couple of cups of coffee into both women. The sobering effects of coffee were somewhat exaggerated, but at least Sara was a bit steadier. Rena, amusingly, had just fallen asleep.

"Sara, what the hell?" Midori asked her boss' niece.

"What?" Sara tried to look innocent as she finished up another cup of coffee. "Natsuki, this stuff is vile... couldn't we at least have cream and sugar?"

"No," Natsuki said shortly. She looked over at Midori, "Sorry about this..."

"It's all right," Midori said, "Elliot would have my head if I left Sara to fend for herself."

"Oooh," the same Sara groaned as she choked down more coffee.

"So we can run Sara home, but what about her?" Midori asked, nodding to the other woman who had fallen fast asleep in the booth after her second coffee.

Natsuki ran a hand through her hair. She had no idea where Rena lived, which meant... "Can we put her up at your place tonight?" she asked Midori.

"Yeah, but I only have the one guest room," Midori pointed out.

Natsuki sighed as she picked Rena up, "I'll take the couch."

"Always knew you were a gentleman," Midori teased as she helped Sara up.

"Oh shut up," Natsuki growled.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Rena Sayers awoke groggy, blinking as she looked up at a unfamiliar ceiling. She was also suffering a profound headache, like a army of gnomes was pounding on her skull. She very gingerly sat up, noting she had been laying on a single bed in a small room.

Rena noticed she was still dressed, thankfully, though that also meant she was still in her hooker costume. Carefully she got up and made her way out into a hallway. Not to far away she could smell coffee, and made her way up the hall to the kitchen.

"Morning," the brassy redhead beamed. "I'm Midori, this is my house."

"Morning," Rena smiled back sheepishly, "I'm Rena. Uhm... how did I get here?"

"Didn't think you'd remember," Midori passed over a cup of coffee. "You had a run in with my friend Natsuki last night. A cop we know also got involved, and after that you all retired to a nearby bar to talk."

Rena winced visibly. "I really don't hold my liquor well," she admitted the obvious, "I take it I got drunk?"

"Drunk, then fell asleep, yeah," Midori noted with some amusement. "We ran the other woman home, but since we didn't know where to take you Natsuki suggested we bring you here."

"Thank you," Rena sighed. She sipped the cup of coffee thankfully as she asked her, "Where is Natsuki, anyway?"

"Well, we put you in her room so she took the living room couch," Midori shrugged.

Feeling incredibly guilty Rena peeked into the living room, seeing the tall black haired woman semi-mashed on a too small couch, covered by a blanket. At least she seemed sound asleep.

"Sorry about this," Rena shook her head, sighing.

Midori sipped her own coffee. "You mind telling me what happened last night?" she asked impishly, "I got a kinda garbled account out of Sara, but she was drunk..."

"Well..." with a sigh, Rena went over that night from her perspective.

By the end Midori was chuckling while Rena blushed. She patted the other woman's hand, "Well, at least things have turned out okay. Sort of."

"Sort of," Rena admitted with a sigh. "I still don't know what, if anything, is preying on the working girls..."

"You were looking into that too?" Natsuki asked as she sleepilly shuffled into the kitchen. "Please tell me there's coffee."

"Coffee," Midori passed her a cup.

"Thank you," Natsuki said greatfully as she slurped some down.

"So, you sensed something going on here too?" Rena asked thoughtfully.

"Police reports actually," Natsuki nodded to Midori tiredly. She drank more coffee, "But despite trying to be as visible as possible, no one's jumped me other than you."

"Gee, thanks. You ARE a supernatural entity you know," Rena said defensively.

"Not by choice," Natsuki said dryly. She finished off the coffee, "Did you have any luck finding anything out there?"

Rena deflated a little. "Not really," she said, "though it's not just working girls disappearing. It's their clients too."

That made Midori stop in surprise. "Seriously?" she blinked, "I didn't see that in the reports."

"How many families are going to admit their husband went missing after hitting the red light district?" Rena pointed out reasonably.

"Ah, yeah," Midori conceded thoughtfully. She shook her head, "I'm going to have to mention that to Elliot. Maybe we can expand the search for possible victims?"

"That will be fun. Check for missing middle aged men having mid-life crises?" Natsuki suggested mildly.

"Oy," Rena nodded, "good luck with that."

Meanwhile, in another part of Japan...

"How can we be lost AGAIN?" Nao yeled, the redhead looking pissed.

"Now now," Shizuru calmly said, "I'm sure we'll figure out where we are." She looked around at the countryside, "And it IS very pretty."

Mai took the map for Reito and flipped it. "Men." she growled.

"Sorry," Reito said politely.

"Have you figured out where...?" Shizuru started.

"Someplace called Hinamizawa," Mai noted.

Nao paused, "The crickets just stopped chirping."

There was a moment of dead silence then Mai said, "Start driving, Reito."

"We could stay here for the night," Reito started.

"I don't like the feel of this either. Go," Shizuru ordered.

"Yes ma'am," Reito started the car up, unknowingly avoiding a truly gruesome fate when the madness seized Hinamizawa once again...

To be continued.

Notes: The last bit is a When the Cry reference.