Bubblegum Hime

Chapter Eleven

"They knew about them all along?!" Takeda yelped indignantly as the official announcement finished, Yukino Kikukawa's voice fading away. The school secretary was apparently also the school's contact with the armored vigilantes, along with Haruka Suzushiro.

The announcement had been Academy wide as Yukino explained what was going on. Apparently the Hime had first appeared during the initial Orphan attack on the school a year ago, stopping it. After the crisis a armored figure called Duran had contacted the school, offering the assistance of all the Hime. Listening to all this, and thinking about how long he'd chased the Hime for the school council, Takeda felt more than a bit annoyed by it all.

"So, do you think they really don't know where the Orphans come from?" Chie Harada asked, the black haired right hand woman standing nearby in the kendo hall that also doubled as a 'police headquarters' for the campus force. She was considered the queen of campus gossip, and had been using that tallent for good in passing on tips to the police.

"That's a good question," Takeda admitted.

Nao Yuuki snorted in amusement, the younger redhead having been dumped on them once again for breaking the rules. It had happened so often that she was practically a member, though no one wanted to admit it. "Of course they don't know," she said dryly as she added, "if they knew they could predict which direction they were coming from."

"She's got a point," Midori noted, more than one evening an individual Hime had been spotted on patrol, evidently searching for the enemy. She hid a smile, wondering how Takeda would react to knowing she was the Hime's club advisor. 'Not well,' she mused, the brassy young teacher dressed in tight shorts and a t-shirt that was way too revealing.

Takeda gave her a slightly pained look as he asked, "Why do you dress like that, Professor?"

Midori grinned back at him, "Because it's fun!"

"Ugh," Takeda sighed.

"So what's our next move?" Kazuya Kurauchi asked, the brown haired man who was usually heading up the Orphan clean up squads sitting nearby. He was there not because he was a delinquent but instead it was his interest in engineering and construction that lead him to assist in figuring out the best methods to move the heavy beasts. Besides, his girlfriend liked to help out and it made him look good in front of her.

"I guess I have to go talk to Suzushiro," Takeda admitted glumly, "and hope someone actually tells me the truth for once."

"Tired of being a mushroom?" Nao teased him.

"Huh?" Takeda looked at her.

Nao smirked, "Being kept in the dark and fed shi...."

"Hush," Midori said as she swiftly slapped a hand over her mouth, though everyone could guess what she was going to say.

Takeda actually laughed at that as he headed out, the rest of the group soon dispersing to do their various duties. The campus was as busy as usual, with the elementary, high school and university students meeting friends and rushing about to classes. He gave friendly nods to people he knew as he headed to the high school buildings.

"Hello, Takeda," Kaiji Sakomizu nodded to the young man politely as they passed in the hall. The older man often found himself helping out the campus' police force, in part because he was very good at keeping informed on student activities.

"Mr. Sakomizu," Takeda smiled, making a note to talk to him about the Hime later. It wasn't likely he knew more, but he was often a good source for obscure data.

The student council met in what was once a unused classroom, the staff having set it aside for them after a class reorganization opened it up. Since then the council had used it both for formal meetings as well as a office space, storing paperwork and other materials there. Different sub-departments of the council also met there, including security.

Politely Takeda knocked on the door then pushed it open, noting with pleasant surprise that he had managed to catch both Haruka and Yukino there alone. "Ma'ams," he said, letting just a bit of his irritation show in his tone of voice.

"Mr. Takeda," Haruka got up from her seat then she bowed to him slightly as the blond haired woman said seriously, "I owe you an apology."

Takeda was rather startled by that as he said, "Uhm, I...."

Haruka continued on seriously, "We had you chasing red sturgeon...."

"Herrings," Yukino corrected her shyly, the brown haired girl hiding a smile.

"Herrings," Haruka smiled wryly as she continued, "and I'm sorry." She spread out her hands, "In my defense, the majority of the student council thought it would be best if the Hime were kept secret from the students at large."

"I see," Takeda mused, Yukino making them all tea as they sat around one of the smaller tables. "Is that it for secrets, then?" he asked them as he drank.

"I can't promise that," Haruka reluctantly admitted. "You can probably guess that we know more about the Hime than we're telling," she told him earnestly as Yukino gave him a serious look, "but I gave my word to keep it a secret."

Takeda weighed that in his mind as he debated just quitting on the spot. He was very, very tired of people knowing more than he did about what was going on. But still, he had taken on the responsibility... "All right," he said, "I can accept that."

"Good," Yukino smiled suddenly as she informed him, "because I want to be you more involved with what's happening from now on."

"Oh?" Takeda raised his eyebrows.

"The Hime aren't superhuman," Haruka offered dryly, "I've seen them myself running around campus looking for the Orphans after the first explosion goes off. We could use your assistance both as scouts as well as preventing innocents from being hurt."

Takeda nodded eagerly, "Crowd control, huh? That makes sense, especially now that the campus knows about the Hime."

Yukino made a face as she said, "To be honest, I wish we had been able to keep a lid on it, if only for the safety of the students."

"How does keeping the Hime a secret protect the students?" Takeda had to ask.

Haruka made a face as she grumped, "Want to bet that for the next few nights we'll have a crowd of gawkers out to watch the Hime fight Orphans?"

Takeda winced, "Good point."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Apparently the school council has announced the existence of the Hime to the entire school," Miyu reported to Alyssa Searrs, the blue haired young woman dressed in her usual secretarial guise of a woman's business suit and glasses.

"They actually went public?" Alyssa sounded surprised. The blond haired executive had expected them to build a cover story of some such, perhaps of a film being made. She supposed that attitude came from being raised a Searrs, who had made secret keeping into a art form.

"Yes ma'am," Miyu nodded as she continued, "I recorded the announcement for you to listen to later." She paused as she noted, "Surprisingly it was Yukino Kikukawa who made the announcement, rather than President Fujino."

"Interesting I'll do that later," Alyssa agreed. She looked thoughtful, "And has Mashiro called in any government agencies or other such entities?"

"Our taps on Fuka Academy's communications aren't perfect," Miyu conceded, "we've had to be careful of our own security, but Searrs has good contacts in the agencies that matter. So far, there's been no attempt at bringing in the authorities."

"Good," Alyssa smiled.

For the entirety of their conflict, Nagi and Mashiro seemed to view the situation as a private battle of wits between the two of them via their proxies, Orphans on one side and Hime on the other. A dangerously foolish view, from Alyssa's perspective, since their single minded focus on each other left her free to move about as she wished, following her own plans.

A smirk teased her lips as she thought of poor Nagi's attempts to build a humanoid design combat Orphan. Working behind the scenes she and Miyu had severely damaged his research and development efforts, not to mention having stolen several design concepts for SEARRS R&D. Even if their alliance with Nagi ended right now, SEARRS would end up ahead.

"I've received a update notice on Project Valkyrie too," Miyu added calmly. As Alyssa looked up eagerly Miyu said, "The AI of the current model still shows distressing levels of instability. They can not activate until that is cleared up."

Alyssa grimaced as she said sourly, "Send another copy of that memo to Professor Greer. I've told them before, human interaction helps stabilize the android development. You can't raise human like beings in a lab without human contact."

"I'll do that, milady," Miyu smiled warmly.

Alyssa smiled back, glad she had entered the research labs when she did to meet the 'newly born' Miyu. She had visited the developing android steadily, helping educate and socialize her, and Alyssa felt sure it was that human contact that had helped Miyu develop normally.

'Maybe they're afraid they'll end up with more lesbian androids?' Alyssa wondered, smiling in amusement. She sat back in her desk with a sigh and changed the subject, "Was there any problems placing cousin Rena at the school?"

"No ma'am," Miyu said, "her scientific records are entirely legitimate, after all. My only concern was her entering under her own name."

"People usually don't connect Searrs and Sayers," Alyssa shrugged, "besides, I don't think Mashiro even knows we're involved, other than as financiers of Nagi's operations." She smiled again, "And hopefully she won't learn any more until it's too late."

Miyu hesitated broaching the subject, but she felt she had to ask, "You are aware that she went undercover in the school for personal reasons?"

"Yes, I am," Alyssa answered, frowning a little. She sat back in her chair as she mused aloud, "I have mixed feelings about it, honestly. On one hand I'm happy that she's dating Saoko Kuga, as it makes my cousin happy and, to be frank, Saeko is quite a catch. She's brilliant in her field and if we can grab her for SEARRS we'll all be quite well off."

"But?" Miyu prompted.

"But on the other hand," Alyssa acknowledged, "I'm worried that Rena might put her feelings before the family's interests. It's happened to us before, that's why we have a Sayers branch in the first place!"

About two hundred years ago a Searrs son had fallen in love with a girl forbidden to him by his father, and in defiance of his will he had changed his name to Sayers and married her. The majority of the family at the time thought the father in question was being a idiot so there were no hard feelings towards the newly christened Sayers, but the Sayers still rarely mixed with the Searrs. Rena herself was a rare exception, having met the family by chance in her profession as a materials scientist.

"Smith is keeping an eye on her as per standard orders," Miyu calmly noted before asking, "do you want me to as well?"

"No," Alyssa swiftly decided, "keep an eye on Smith, instead. I don't trust that weasel as far as I can throw him, and I don't want him doing anything rash."

"Understood," Miyu nodded.

Alyssa checked the time and sighed, "Damn it, another meeting with Nagi." She got up, revealing her own steel gray business suit as she said, "Let's go."

As Miyu followed her out of the office she found herself distracted by the view of a finely shaped bottom. Shaking off the effects of the lovely view she impishly offered, "If you like I could stage another emergency and get you out of it."

"Nah, I feel guilty enough about setting the bathroom on fire last time," Alyssa winked. "Besides, I want to save the next time for a real emergency."

"Yes ma'am," Miyu chuckled.

To be continued....