Sakura: Knight of the Clow
Chapter 20
Misaki Mei was going to be appointed head on Tokyo District monster hunters. She wasn't happy about it.
"Why not Sochiro?" Misaki sighed.
"He's your liason to other government agencies. You KNOW you hate dealing with them."
"Point," Misaki conceded.
"We'll also look into expanding your staff, though that may take some time..."
Misaki sighed, "Am I going to have to handle the press, too?"
"Afraid so."
"Oh JUST lovely...," Misaki sighed. She talked a little longer with her superiors, then hung up.
"How did it go?" Yuna Scarborough, her assistant, stuck her head in the office to ask.
Misaki made a face, "I've been promoted. Damn it."
Yuna looked at her sympathetically, "Sorry, boss. Do you want me to get some tea?"
"Please," Misaki sighed. Once Yuna returned with her cup she asked her, "Any luck with testing the blood samples?"
"It takes longer than that, you know," Yuna pointed out reasonably.
"And putting pressure on the reporter to give up the Knight is a no go," Misaki muttered more to herself than anything.
Normally, having the full weight of the government coming down on you would have a impact. But Tomoyo's boss was firmly behind her, More importantly, Tomoyo's mother was both crazy rich AND had political influence.
"Has the city determined how our division is going to work?" Yuna asked, having only seen some of the documents.
"We'll have a team of specially equipped police, to respond to monster attacks," Misaki said. "In theory, we'll have juristiction all over the city."
"In theory?" Yuna checked.
"Local PDs keep trying to handle incidents themselves," Misaki said flatly.
"And getting cops killed," Yuna frowned.
"I'm having a hard time convincing them regular tacts do NOT work," Misaki sighed.
Yuna looked thoughtful, "Maybe we can use that reporter to out advantage?"
Misaki looked at her, then smiled evilly.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
'Unneeded police casualties! Cover up?!' the headline read.
"I don't think your source intended THAT lurid a headline," Kaho noted, the Editor in Chief meeting with her top reporter.
Tomoyo shrugged, "It's accurate, and it should shame the smaller forces into not sending beat cops against monsters."
"And the headline sells papers," Kaho agreed. "Was Yuki annoyed with you?"
Yuki Lee was the main crime reporter, which usually included any police stuff. Generally speaking, reporters tended to defend their various beats from other reporters.
"She knew it was related to the Knight story," Tomoyo shrugged.
"No new monster attacks?" Kaho checked.
"Other than the one the police botched," Tomoyo sighed. "Half the cops involved died."
"Hmm," Kaho nodded.
"How is Lee's story on the Museum robbery going?" Tomoyo asked, curious. She had read her colleague's first instalment, which had mostly just summarized the case.
"The police are being shy about a official statement," Kaho noted, "but she'll nail them down eventually."
"Any leads?" Tomoyo asked.
"She thinks it's a inside job, but not sure who," Kaho noted. She added, "Probably not your girlfriend, of course."
"Ha ha," Tomoyo deadpanned, "very funny."
"I noticed Sonomi invited you two over for dinner," Kaho changed the subject, "stop trying to duck out of it."
Tomoyo groaned, "Oh come on, not you too..."
Kaho added seriously, "She's trying to bridge the gap you two have."
"There's not...," Tomoyo protested.
"SHE thinks there is," Kaho noted, and Tomoyo sighed. "Well?" Kaho pressed.
"I'll go, I'll go," Tomoyo gave in gracefully.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Mei-Lin didn't monster hunt solo, very often. It was dangerous, she had no reason to, and honestly she couldn't be bothered.
HOWEVER.
The request had come in from a powerful friend of her honored Grandmother. A friend, bluntly, whom debts were owed too. So when she revealed that they had a 'minor' monster issue, the task fell into her lap.
"Welcome, Miss," the gorgeous redhead smiled, dressed in slacks and a snug sweater that hudded her curves.
"Uh, hello," Mei-lin managed, slightly stunned by the woman's looks.
"I'm Nicole Flint, the Mistress' aide," the woman explained sweetly. "I'll explain the situation," she added as she lead her into the building.
"I understood there were sightings, but no actual attacks?" Mei-Lin checked.
"Correct," the woman agreed, "there are a series of access tunnels under the property. Workers have seen something several times now."
"Tunnels. Great," Mei-Lin sighed.
Nicole gave her a sympathetic look, "As I understand it, you are qualified to look into this?"
"My family has certain talents, yes," Mei-Lin said a bit evasively.
"Do you need to prepare? Otherwise I can just take you right to the tunnel access," Nicole said to her briskly.
"I'd like to change into my gear," Mei-Lin admitted, holding up a sachel she brought.
Nicole left her in a side room to change. The bodysuit was one of the ones Tomoyo had made for her, minus the mask. It was snug, light weight but was armored, fire proof and resistant to cutting. And the gloves were especially tough, in case of combat.
"Oh my," Nicole murmured as Mei-Lin came out. "You look very striking."
Mei-Lin wasn't sure what to say ro that, so she said, "All right, take me to the tunnels."
"I could accompany you," Nicole offered as they reached the heavy doorway.
"It's fine," Mei-Lin said firmly. "Where were the sightings?"
"To the north side," Nicole said, then Mei-Lin strode off into the semi-darkness.
The tunnels were well made, reinforced stone and were strung with overhead lights. They were also surprisingly dry, the base of the tunnel clear and clean. WEIRDLY clean.
"How often do they use these?" Mei-Lin wondered aloud as she warily walked along.
Having assisted Sakura and Tomoyo enough times, Mei-Lin had developed a sense when the supernatural was involved. That sense was going off strongly now...
'Though admittedly this whole thing feels off,' Mei-Lin admitted. She reached into her top, feeling the Water Card up against her chest. She'd rather avoid using that, but it was comforting to know she had it.
The tunel curved a bit, and up ahead a light was shining, a bit brighter than the background. Carefully Mei-Lin advanced, then peered around a corner.
The figure LOOKED like a extremely tall women... except for the horn out of her forehead. She had set up a small camp, with somewhere to sleep, and was cooking what looked like a rat over an open fire. A huge club leaned against the wall nearby.
"An Ogre?" Mai-Lin blurted aloud.
"Ack!" the woman jerked in surprise as she saw Mei-Lin. She grabbed her club but... seemed surprisingly non-hostile.
Making a snap decision Mei-Lin stepped into the light, "I'm not here to fight."
The Ogre tiled her head to the side, studying her warily. "You stink of magic," she accused.
"It's an artifact I carry," Mei-Lin said. She asked, "My name is Mei-Lin. Who are you? How long have you been down here?"
The Ogre put her club down, apparently taking her at her word. "Mara," she said as she checked her food, "a few months. Up above is too loud, and men shot stinging weapons at me."
Mai-Lin blinked, realizing someone had shot at her too. "You didn't hurt anyone did you?" she had to ask.
"No," Mara said sourly, "that makes samurai come with swords and bows."
"Hmm," Mei-Lin nodded, wondering how old this woman actually was.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Wait," Nicole blinked, "there's a OGRE living peacefully under the property?!"
"Pretty much," Mei-Lin sighed. "On the plus side, it's hunting any vermin that crop up down there..."
"The Mistress is NOT going to be happy," Nicole whimpered.
To be continued...