A/N: I don't own Street Fighter nor any associated trademarked material.
A knock came from behind a lustrous wooden door from the front of Chun-li's apartment.
"Just a minute," she called, as she finished styling her hair in a loose ponytail, no time for the buns today, "Li-Fen, you ready? That's probably Eliza," she continued as she hastily put herself together.
The knocking continued, this time slightly more impatiently.
"Damnit," Chun-li muttered under her breath. She started to brush her teeth, as she looked down at her phone. She did this just in time, as her phone flashed showing a fresh message under the name Mrs. Masters.
'We're outside your door…' Chun-li read the message in a hurry, not finishing the remainder of the message.
She finished brushing her teeth, spitting out the left-over toothpaste from her mouth, "Li-Li, she just messaged me its them, can you let them in," Chun-li asked her ward as continued getting ready for her day.
"Ok Jiejie," Li-Fen chanted back.
She could hear the stamping of the young girl's feet as she ran from the kitchen to the door, obviously aware that the household had a bit of a late morning.
Had a little too much fun last night, Chun-li thought to herself.
She let out a sigh.
She looked at herself in the mirror, as she placed her toothbrush in the holder (next to one of a certain visitor).
As said before, her hair is in a ponytail, a little frizzy but she's survived worse hair days.
She notices there's a bit of toothpaste in the corner of her mouth.
She grabs a fresh rag from the linen area by the door, wetting it then cleaning herself off as she hears the distinct voices of their visitors this morning.
Eliza and Mel Masters.
The matriarchs of their respective households sometimes swap carpooling duties, ferrying their children to school together, this one being one of those mornings.
Especially as Chun-li is expecting another visitor this morning.
She finishes, throwing the rag into a nearby hamper.
But she fails to recognize another voice among the conversation of those she's expecting.
She walked out of the ensuite bath in her room, toward the door past her bed which held a person-sized lump that had a tuft of blonde hair sticking out as said lump was curled underneath the blankets and sheets.
Probably trying to drown out how noisy the apartment is this morning, thought Chun-li concerning the lump.
"Li-Fen, did you make sure to…" trailed off Chun-li.
"Whoa," said a familiar, sultry voice, "we're going with the 'Wal-Mart cashier' look today."
Juri Han was dressed in blue jeans, a low-cut white t-shirt that just exposed a bit of her stomach, a leather riding jacket colored black with purple accents on the shoulders that had a pair of matching gloves hanging out one of the pockets and matching riding boots.
She had a black helmet that had a stylized purple spider on the right side, just above the visor and the woman wore a look of amusement as she eyed the Chief Inspector.
Chun-li lifted her arms from her sides, cast her gaze down appraising her look.
A navy-blue polo shirt, a pair of khakis and black walking shoes.
"Chunners," called out Eliza, the woman herself dressed in a blue short sleeved jean dress, that reached just above the knee with a brown leather belt around the waist, a gold necklace with heart pendant and leather boots that matched her belt, "don't listen to her. You can rock pretty much anything and make it look fabulous," she said as she smiled brightly at the officer.
"You're taking her side," Juri said with mock incredulousness, a playful smile on her face as she dramatically placed her hand over her heart. "And I thought our friendship was off to a good start."
Eliza shot a look of her own back, taking the chiding in good humor it seemed as she wore the same bright smile she showed Chun-li, "I gotta look after my girl."
"Pay her no mind," said Chun-li toward Eliza as she eyed Juri right back, returning a more determined smile, "these days Juri's bark is worse than her bite. Thank you for that anyway, Eliza. And if you must know, Juri, I'm supposed to be supervising some surveillances in the field today. Since I'm going to be on the street, I need to be inconspicuous. I can't be dress up like a higher up for this."
Through the exchange, Chun-li caught the tail of a little furry orange visitor swishing between tables and couches.
If anyone else notices they make no mention of it, though Juri does follow Chun-li's eyes to what has her attention.
Mel and Li-Fen dressed in similar white shirts and black pants (though Li-Fen wore shorts today), their school uniform, laughed at the exchange.
The laughter caught Chun-li's attention, "And a good morning to you Mel."
"Hey Auntie," greeted the young Masters, as he waived at his 'auntie.'
"You don't have time for breakfast do you," Chun-li courteously asked Mel and Eliza, though if she were honest, she was hoping she'd have less company about now.
"Oooh," said Juri, mischievously, "what are you serving?"
"Juri…" Chun-li warned.
"No, no. It's probably time we get going," said Eliza, "It was good meeting you Juri. I hope to see you around," she finished knowingly.
"Bye Eliza, bye Mel," said Chun-li as waived as the trio of Eliza, Mel and Li-Fen walked toward the front door, "bye Li-Fen, have a great day!"
The trio returned the goodbye to both Chun-li and Juri as she also shared a goodbye with them.
The door shut, then Chun-li shot a look to Juri, "You're early," she said.
"I figure it's better to get this out of the way now," said Juri, "plus I was promised breakfast."
"I didn't," started Chun-li, but she realized she's once again taking the bait. "You know what, help yourself. Li-Fen should have left a few cheese Danishes warming up in oven. They're from the place across the street."
Juri placed her jacket on the back of one of the nearby chairs and made her way to the range.
"There's like half a dozen in here," said Juri looking back to Chun-li as the officer made her way to the table Juri just left her jacket at, tablet in her hand. "You're expecting more company?"
A tiny bit of sweat appeared on Chun-li's brow, as she responded, "Like I said I've got long day ahead of me."
"Right," trailed off Juri as she grabbed the nearby oven mitten, taking the gray baking sheet out of the oven. She took a paper towel from the roll close by placing a flaky, hot pastry on it, "Want me to bring you one?"
"No, I'm fine," said Chun-li, "I don't plan on this being long."
Juri walked over to the table where Chun-li was situated.
She laid her helping of the confectionery treat on the table as she sat down. She tore a piece off, "You seem occupied this morning," said Juri suspiciously, as she waived the morsel at Chun-li.
Chun-li just laid her best poker face on as they sat there for a beat.
"Should we get started or not," asked Chun-li.
Juri narrowed her eyes at her opposite, popping the piece of the Danish her mouth patronizingly.
Juri makes a gesture as if signing for them to move on as she chewed.
"Any new business," asked Chun-li.
"Some big wig from the FBI called me. They want to hire me for a job. Something called an 'asset protection assessment'. I guess they want drill security protocol for when they have a big fish in custody, I'd figure I'd run it by you before saying yes," Juri shrugged her shoulders, "that's my all business these days."
Chun-li smiled inwardly.
That's not all your business these days, she thought to herself.
"OK," said Chun-li punching in something on her tablet. "While we're on the subject of the FBI, their backing off."
"Excellent," said Juri, placing another piece of pastry into her mouth, "you're the only law enforcement I need in my life," she went on playfully with her mouth full.
"Juri," said Chun-li, breaking into a smile, "table manners!"
Juri swatted at her, dismissing the chiding.
"Well, then. That's all I got," said Chun-li, placing the tablet to the side and gave Juri an amused look, "unless there's something else you want to talk about," she asked as if telling a joke.
Juri huffed spiritedly, folding her arms over her body having just finished the Danish, she pouted as she turned her head away from Chun-li but still meeting her eyes, "I can't imagine what else there is to talk about," said Juri, "you said my name came up in case of yours the other night, let's talk about that," the taekwondo specialist tried to deflect.
"The other night, huh," Chun-li questioned teasingly, happy to continue to have Juri be the focus of the conversation, "that's exactly what I was talking about!"
Juri dropped her hands into her lap, "You're not going to drop this are you?"
"My briefing for today's surveillances isn't until 11am, its barely 8:30 in the morning," said Chun-li lowly but still maintaining her impishness, "I've got all the time in world."
"Fine," said Juri, leaning her arms onto the table in defeat.
"You and Ryu," went Chun-li, placing her elbow on the table leaning her head in her hand, "when and how?"
Juri shrugs once more, "There's not much to it. I was having an evening meal on the patio of The Flemenco Tavern. Ryu happened to be walking by, with this look on his face," Juri stops, her facing going neutral, "he looked like he really needed someone to talk to. I called out to him and invited him to join me." Her expression starts to brighten, her lips curling into a smile, "We talked. I think I ended up unloading more on him than the other way around. But after dinner, we went to The Lemony for drinks and dancing. Tough guy had two left feet, but he was a competent dancer by the end of the night."
Chun-li drops her head, giving Juri a scrutinizing look, "Tough guy," she questioned.
Juri breaks eye contact, a small blush creeping on to her face, "It's a little nick name I gave him," she said slightly frantically, "he doesn't seem to mind."
It's strange, thought Chun-li.
Despite being occupied this morning, Chun-li is somewhat surprised to see Juri in better sprits.
To Chun-li, Juri had seemed aimless and listless since she became her parolee.
It seemed as if Juri was just going through the motions with her life, only seeming happy or at the very least content with her younger friend Rachel.
Chun-li thought Juri was in such a great mood the other night was because she may have had a drink or two.
But now it's starting to look like it's because of Ryu.
"Well," said Chun-li, as she reached, lightly patting Juri's hand, "know that I'm happy for you two."
"Really? You weren't so happy the other night," said Juri, mirth returning to her face, "and we didn't even do anything."
It was Chun-li's turn to huff, "I specifically said no funny business after I got your statements," she said, "and to my surprise I find you two in each other's arms the next morning on my couch, after doing god knows what after Li-Fen and I went to sleep."
"We talked, and did a little bit of cuddling," shot back Juri lightheartedly.
"You kissed him that night, I know that much," said Chun-li, "he had your lipstick smudge all over him when I came on the scene."
"What can I say," went Juri, "it was exciting dispatching those would be muggers. Plus, I might've slightly used the Feng-Shui engine, just a tiny bit. Also, he kissed a wound on my neck, well," she started, pausing as she recalled the moment, "its probably fairer to say sucked on it to stop it from bleeding. That had me pretty revved up, but I didn't want to scare him off."
"So, wait. When I walked up," she stopped short, a blush washing over Chun-li's face at the implication, "I was joking!"
They both laughed at the exclamation.
A silence fell over the duo as they smiled at each other.
"Juri," Chun-li said, "seriously. I think this might be good for you. It's been a while since I've seen you so lively. To be honest I was worried about you there for a hot second."
A look of curiosity comes across Juri's face as she asks, "We're not becoming friends, are we," Juri's face morphing into a teasing smile.
For the umptieth time that morning, Chun-li returned it, "God I hope not."
A few more moments went by Chun-li and Juri still talking about the latter's new relationship with Ryu.
"I do want to let you know though," said Chun-li.
"Oh," interrupted Juri, "is this the part where you warn me not break his heart?"
"Well, that goes without saying. Ryu's a very cherished friend and he clearly doesn't need my protection. But if you go about breaking his heart," Chun-li stops, playfully punching her fist in her open hand.
"So, what? If he breaks my heart? You're going to kick his ass on my behalf," Juri responded.
"If he did that something tells me that there wouldn't be much left once you got to him first. What I'm really getting at is that Ryu's maybe recharging his batteries so to speak. He's taken breaks in his journey before and those times we really thought he was gonna settle down. Without knowing what your intentions are with him, I really don't want you to get your hopes up," said Chun-li.
"Huh," went Juri aloud, as her gaze dropped to the table.
I didn't really think what it is we're doing, thought Juri, I enjoy being in his company, I trust him and there's no doubt at all we're attracted to each other.
"I have no plans to stop seeing him no time soon, and he's asked me out again," said Juri. "Maybe the third time out is the time to clarify."
Juri then looks to Chun-li and is surprised by what she sees.
All color has faded from her face as she looks at something behind her.
Juri goes to look at what could possibly be causing this.
"What the," Juri muttered as an orange blur darted past the legs of the table and chairs they occupied, her eyes trying and failing to follow it.
I'm pretty sure that was that cat, she thought.
She hears the light patting of bare feet on the wooden floor as she turns around once more.
Cammy White is walking straight toward them having come from one the bedrooms.
She was rubbing sleep from her eyes as she approached, dressed in an oversized blue T-shirt that had the face of Tom (of Tom and Jerry fame) in the middle of it. It was difficult to discern if that was all that she was wearing due to the length of the shirt, her legs completely bare beyond the bottom of said shirt. Her hair lacked her usual pig tail braids and was messy and frizzy from sleep.
"Chun-li," she muttered as she walked right past Juri like she wasn't there. She plops herself into the officer's lap unceremoniously, throwing her arms around Chun-li, nuzzling herself into her neck. "Come back to bed, love. There plenty of time before…"
Cammy's blue eyes go wide, then dart to Juri in panic, "Before…" she muttered dumbly.
"Before what exactly, Kitten," said Juri, very much amused by the display.
"Juri," Cammy said, tucking her head further into Chun-li's neck as her face turned red, "good morning," she mumbled.
"Sorry, Kitten," went Juri very much enjoying seeing usually serious delta red operative all about business, "I can't hear you over you necking with your girlfriend at 9 in the morning."
Cammy gets up from Chun-li's lap, placing a quick kiss to ICPO Chief Inspector's forehead, "Right. I said going morning. Chun-li," she went on shakily very much failing to hide how flustered she is, "I see you've had company this morning. If you need me, I'll be in the bedroom, getting ready for the day."
She then scampered off; power walking as fast as she could toward the bedroom.
Juri then looks to Chun-li, her face just as red as Cammy's was.
"Talk about my love life," Juri said loudly as she broke out on a cackle, clapping her hands animatedly at Chun-li, "what's going on with yours!?"
"You don't have to answer that!" Yelled Cammy from the bedroom
Chun-li shook her head, "No fair is fair. You told me about yours, I guess I'll tell you about mine."
That was interesting, thought Juri, zipping up her jacket as she made her way out of Chun-li's apartment building.
She always suspected there was something between Chun-li and Cammy.
But to find out like this made Juri's day.
She pulls out her phone, looking down at the text a certain Ansatsuken practitioner sent her this morning.
'See you again on Saturday?' It read simply.
She smiled as she typed back, 'Of course. What did you have in mind? And I want to talk to you about somethings too.'
The smell of the bakery across the street is very inciting as it invades her senses as she finished responding to Ryu.
Plus, those danishes Chun-li had upstairs were amazing.
Juri tucks her helmet under her arm as she crosses the street having decided to get some of those danishes to take home.
There's a man sitting at one of the tables outside the bakery, a newspaper in hand, baked good on a paper plate, and a drink, maybe coffee or tea in a disposable cup, sitting on the table.
He's dressed in business casual, a white golf polo and black dress pants and dress shoes.
It seems like he's putting a concerted effort into looking like he's not paying attention to her as Juri's caught his eyes on her a few times in the moments it took to cross the street.
Chun-li did say the FBI's backing off, maybe the order's delayed.
Juri paid him little mind as she entered the bakery.