Bubblegum Hime
Ending
Yukino and Mashiro managed to meet about a day and a half after the battle, to debrief and compare notes. Which was actually pretty fast, considering how insane the campus became after the news media, military and government forces descended on the campus after the news broke.
"So, Nagi's disappeared?" Yukino confirmed as they drank tea.
"Yes, he's gone," Mashiro agreed grimly. "When the police raided First District they found a body, all his records but no trace of him. Nagi's accounts are also empty, so I expect he planned for a eventual escape."
Yukino sipped her tea as she added, "And he left the military on the hook. I could almost admire him for the deviousness..."
In a move of cruel genius Nagi had left intact all the evidence connecting his company to the military establishment. All of the slush funding, the secret equipment transfers, emails and letters, all of it was left for the investigators to find. The scandal was rapidly overtaking Nagi's crimes for attention in the news media, probably just as Nagi planned.
Fumi arrived with more cake, which the pink haired woman set on the table, then she checked the tea. "Would you like me to start lunch, ma'am?" she asked pleasantly.
"No, it's fine," Mashiro smiled, "you can take a break if you like."
"Thank you, ma'am," Fumi beamed cheerfully.
Yukino again found it hard to imagine that Fumi, just a day ago, had been chasing soldiers in a kevlar lined maid's uniform and a energized scythe. Clearly, the seemingly ditzy maid had hidden depths. Shaking her head, she decided to dwell on it later.
"So, I take it we Hime are not retiring?" Yukino asked, with a faint bit of disappointment in her voice. Not that she hated being a HIME, but it would be nice not to have the responsibility any more.
"I'm sorry," Mashiro admitted, "but no, I'd like if the team remains available. I suspect Nagi has retained some of his resources, even if he's on the run."
"Fair enough, and I'll let the others know." Yukino sipped her tea, "I don't think anyone will mind, Mai could use the money and Haruka and Mikoto enjoy the work. The only one who might consider leaving is Natsuki."
"Yes, Natsuki," Mashiro nodded. She shrugged, "I think she has her own issues to deal with."
"True enough," Yukino agreed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Alyssa Searrs liked a reunion as much as anyone, though this wasn't going quite as well as the attractive blond had expected. Natsuki Kuga was understandably suspicious of her Mother suddenly appearing, especially since she had been thought dead!
'Tho Natsuki didn't seem ALL that startled,' Alyssa noted. She would almost wonder if she had known about Saeko being alive before this meeting. 'Did she see her during our scrap with the Orphans?' she wondered.
"Calm down, Natsuki," Shizuru said gently, patting Natsuki's arm as she was about to go off on a rant about being abandoned. "You are glad to see your mother, whatever the circumstances," she reminded her.
Natsuki blushed slightly but nodded. "I am glad to see you," she said to the slightly shorter woman "it's just..."
"You have mixed feelings," Saeko agreed, "I understand."
They hugged, and Alyssa smiled faintly. They had a similar sort of pricklyness to their personalities, and it was kind of cute to see them interact. Nearby Rena Sayers was also watching them interact, her expression warm and almost maternal.
"It's going to take some time for me to get used to this," Natsuki admitted as they seperated, "I have a lot of questions, still."
"And I'll do my best to answer them," Saeko answered. She turned slightly as she gestured to Rena, "This isn't the best time I think, but I want to introduce my lover Rena Sayers." She hesitated as Natsuki was dead silent, "I hope you're okay with this?"
Natsuki burst out laughing. "And I hope you're okay with MY lover, Shizuru," Natsuki introduced her, smiling impishly.
Alyssa hid a chuckle, even as she considered her professional situation. Before she had fled First District with Miyu, she had managed to erase a lot of SEARSS connections to the company, but they were still being investigated for the remaining links. Nagi had also done a distressingly good job of erasing the technical data they needed, which meant the only source of the information was in Saeko Kuga's head.
She watched Saeko, silently wishing that Alyssa could just snatch the woman and haul her to the United States. But Saeko was determined to try to fix her relationship with her daughter, and was unwilling to try to force the girl to move. And annoyingly Rena had come down on Saeko's side, and refused to try to talk her into moving.
Alyssa sighed softly, nodding to Miyu as they slipped away from them. She could be patient... SEARRS had been around for a very long time, they could wait a while longer. Besides, Fuka was a interesting place... maybe there were more possibilities here.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Tomoe Marguerite had expected to be arrested after the police and military arrived to clean up the Orphan attack, and had been rather bemused to be let go. For the next few days she had expected the officers of the law to descend on them, but the only thing that happened was Mashiro Kazahana inviting her to tea.
Sergei Wang insisted on accompaning Tomoe, which she would have found funny under other circumstances. A grown man coming along to protect her from a wheelchair bound woman? But they had seen how dangerous the armored Hime of Fuka were, and Mashiro's own maid had joined the battle with a damn electrified scythe! She was not taking chances.
The maid from hell greeted them pleasantly enough, leading them inside to a study where Mashiro was calmly waiting. She had two seats ready, interestingly, so it appeared she had expected them. They settled down in their seats, and Fumi brought them tea and cakes.
"Thank you for coming," Mashiro smiled pleasantly.
Tomoe decided to get right down to business as she said, "I take it you are why Otome Solutions aren't in jail?"
"Pretty much," Mashiro agreed cheerfully. "I informed investigators that you were private security protecting Alyssa and Rena, which was sort of true."
"Hmm," Tomoe conceded as she drank some tea.
Sergei sat forward, washing a bit of cake down with some tea. "I assume you want something in return for doing us this favor?" he asked dryly.
Mashiro nodded to him, smiling, "Yery good, Mr. Wang. You're smarter than your reputation implies." Sergei looked complimented, then annoyed as she continued, "Simply put, I want to hire you."
Tomoe nearly choked on a cup of tea in surprise. Swallowing she managed to get out, "What?"
Mashiro looked amused as she ate her slice of cake. "As you are no doubt aware, Nagi escaped before he could be arrested," she said calmly.
"And before we could collect the rest of our money from him," Tomoe admitted.
Sergei munched his cake and drank a bit of tea. Reasonably he asked, "And will you replace the helicopters we lost?"
Mashiro snorted. "Sorry, consider their loss the fortunes of war," she said dryly. She sipped tea, "However I will pay you going rate for your services."
"And if we say no?" Tomoe had to ask.
"I could blackmail you," Mashiro conceded, "reveal your working with Nagi to the police, but really, this deal benefits you. You need the money, frankly, and I believe I could talk to the technical expert behind the Hime to upgrade your equipment."
That, Tomoe had to admit, was quite a enticement. Not that the money was bad, too, but having science fiction weapons could come in very handy. And honestly, she'd rather be fighting beside the Hime than against them.
Tomoe offered her hand, "Where do we sign up?"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The young women of the Hime got together after class the day after Yukino had her meeting with Mashiro. They took the news of their continued employment calmly, and only Natsuki seemed to have any issues with it.
"I have enough problems with my Mom reappearing," Natsuki grumbled, but she didn't seem displeased, exactly. Bit overwhelmed, maybe, but not unhappy.
"I'm okay with keeping the armor," Mai said with a shrug.
"I think it's fun!" Mikoto beamed.
Haruka frowned at the girl as she said, "It's a great reasonability."
"Responsibility, Haruka," Yukino corrected. She patted her girlfriend's arm, "Don't worry, Mikoto always comes through for us."
"Ah think you should put Natsuki and myself on a sort of emergency call list, for now," Shizuru said regretfully. "I'm still getting to know my mother-in-laws, and they want to catch up with Natsuki too. Is that all right?"
"I think we can manage," Mai patted Natsuki on the shoulder. She smiled, "And who knows, maybe Mashiro will recruit more help for us?"
"As long as there's no delinquents involved," Haruha offered mildly.
There was a moment of silence as EVERYONE had the same thought. "Mashiro wouldn't..." Natsuki said just a bit worriedly.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Nao Yuuki nervously entered the parlor, the slim redhead wondering what she had done wrong this time. She didn't think any of her scams rated the attention of the headmistress,but why else would she be called here?
"Miss Yuuki, welcome," Mashiro smiled like a spider welcoming a fly into her web.
Nao gulped then found herself blurting, "The thing with photographing the seniors in bathing suits was TOTALLY with their permission, ma'am. Really."
"No, that's not why I called you here," Mashiro said, though she made a mental note to look into it later on.
"So, why did you call me, ma'am?" Nao had to ask.
Mashiro smiled warmly, "How would you like a job?"
End.
Notes: Well, for now it's the end. There is still the SEARRS plotline and if they have evil plans for android technology. But I'm currently working on too many stories, so where I can I'm wrapping up series. Hope you continue to follow my other works!