Arisugawa's Locket
Out of the Locket: Five
The restaurant was quite posh, as some would say, with people in suits and gowns eating fine dishes with expensive silverware. In a reserved dining room there was a more relaxed atmosphere as men and women gathered, talking merrily.
Touga Kiryuu smiled as the red haired man raised his glass of pop in a toast, "To the profits my investment in your club has made."
"Here here," Nanami agreed, his blond sister smiling warmly.
"Thanks," Juri smiled, the orange haired woman tapping glasses with them. "It's been a slower year," she cautioned the others at the table.
"It's fine, sempai," Miki Kaoru smiled at her. The blue haired young musician looked poised in his suit as he added, "We bought shares because we trust you, Juri."
"And we've all done quite well, thank you," Saionji smiled, his long green hair flowing down his back. He had changed a lot from the moody duelist of years ago, sitting relaxed in his seat as he sipped some wine.
"I sometimes wish you'd let us buy larger shares," Haruka Tenoh noted, the sandy brown haired woman sitting beside her lover, Michiru.
"Sorry," Juri said apologetically, "but I want to retain a majority stake in the bar." She smiled, "It's my name over the door, after all."
Setsuna Meiou chuckled as she patted her wife's arm. "It's fine," she reassured her warmly.
The decision to actually have 'Arisugawa's Locket' become a company with shareholders was suggested by Nabiki Tendo, and to be honest Juri had been resistant to the idea. In the aftermath of the SHIELD attack money had been tight, what with the rebuilding and all, and Nabiki had suggested this as a method to help raise funds. With spreadsheets and other documents she showed Juri how the infusion of cash would help the bar as well as let them provide a good return to their investors.
Nabiki Tendo herself smiled, the boyish young woman dressed in a snugly fitting tuxedo. "All right," she addressed the group, "do we want to get to business?"
"Go ahead," Juri nodded.
"Currently forty five percent of company stock is held by the people in this room and the Locket staff," Nabiki summarized, "and no new shares are planned to be sold. You all have your check by your places, we did pretty good for a recessionary period."
Nabiki gave everyone a chance to open up their envelopes and see how much they had made on their shares. The only one who didn't have such a check was Juri, who was plowing her profits back into the Locket itself.
"Nice," Touga smiled, tucking the check into his suit coat.
Nabiki continued on, "We've received another request from a company looking into opening another Locket restaurant. Juri is opposed, but I thought I should float it to the shareholders."
Juri scowled at Nabiki, but otherwise didn't say anything. "I tend to think no," Haruka offered, "the Locket is unique. I don't want a second rate copy out there, you know?"
"Exactly," Saionji agreed.
Just then the door to the dining room opened an d Utena Tenjou and Anthy hustled in, both looking sheepish. "Sorry," Utena apologized, her long pink hair shining, "we got caught up in something over at the Hinata Inn."
"No problem," Nabiki smiled as she caught them up.
"I also vote no," Anthy said firmly, and murmurs of agreement circled the table.
Juri smiled as she said, "The only other big business thing to bring up is that I've been getting some discrete feelers from the owner of the building next door. He sounds like he might be willing to sell it to us."
"Connect the two buildings and expand the bar?" Nanami mused, looking thoughtful.
"It would be a large capital outlay," Nabiki cautioned the group, "but with how crowded the Locket gets, I think it could be worth it."
"More people buying drinks and food is always good," Saionji noted. He frowned, "But how much is he asking for the building?"
"Too much and there'd be no point," Utena said seriously.
"Why don't I set up a meeting with him?" Nabiki asked the group. "If he's completely out of line, we'll just walk away."
"Good enough," Juri nodded. She looked around the group, "Anything else?" There was a beat of silence and she smiled, "Meeting over!"
"So, how does it feel to run a corporation?" Touga teased, as they ate.
"Don't you start," Juri laughed, shaking her head. "I'm still not sure this is a good idea."
"Why?" Utena asked, smirking. "Do you think we'll get together and vote that you have to take a vacation?" she asked with a wink.
"What a good idea," Setsuna said, batting her eyes at Juri.
Haruka snickered softly and asked, "When was the last time you took more than a weekend off, Arisugawa?"
"Probably the honeymoon," Juri conceded, blushing a bit.
Miki reached out to pat her hand, "No pressure, of course, but you can take off occasionally. You have May as assistant manager, right?"
"Yep," Nabiki nodded, "and she's very good." Covertly she looked at her watch then smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, but I have to take off. Have a good dinner, all."
As the door shut behind Nabiki Utena murmured, "That's unusual, her rushing off like that. What's going on?"
Setsuna smiled slightly, "She has a new girlfriend."
"Really?" Touga asked curiously, "What's she like?"
"You gossip like a school girl, brother," Nanami teased him, laughing, at they all ate.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Nabiki felt a little overdressed as she left the private dining room, walking through the restaurant and flipping open her phone. Pressing speed dial she waited a moment to hear the ring, then smiled as she heard, "Yes?"
"It's me, Nina," Nabiki smiled.
"Nabiki!" Nina sounded happy to see her, and Nabiki smiled. "I was hoping you'd call," Nina added warmly.
"I said I would," Nabiki agreed, smiling, "sorry I'm late, the meeting took a bit longer than I expected. Did you want me to come over?"
"I would," Nina agreed, "but I have to warn you that Milly and Kallen dropped in unexpectedly. Do you mind?"
Nabiki hesitated a moment, then nodded to herself. She had to get to know her girl friend's best friends eventually. "Sure," she answered firmly, "I'll be right over."
"Thanks," Nina answered and they both hung up.
Nabiki had been seeing Nina for the past month, and both of them were being reasonably cautious around each other. Both of them had been hurt romantically, and were understandably taking things fairly slow. They met at the Locket, went out to movie and had dinner, but so far at least they hadn't gone any farther.
The townhouse wasn't that far away, so Nabiki took the bus as she sat back and relaxed. A few people eyed the suit but she gave then a cool look and they backed off. Getting off the bus she walked to the building, driving back a surge of fear as she went up and rang the bell.
"Coming!" Nina called, then quickly answered the door. The black haired shorter woman smiled up at Nabiki as she murmured, "I'm glad you're here."
"Me too," Nabiki said, leaning forward and brushing her lips across Nina's. Nina pressed them together to return the kiss, only pulling back reluctantly.
"Whoo-hoo!" Milly Ashford cheered, the light brown haired woman looking amused from where she sat on the couch with her lover Kallen Kozuki.
"Hush!" Nina chided, blushing sweetly as she led Nabiki inside.
"Nice to see you again," Kallen nodded politely, the redhead wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans.
"Nice suit," Milly smirked, wearing a somewhat more dressy skirt and blouse.
Nabiki calmly shrugged off the suit jacket and tie, then she undid the top button of her white undershirt with a relieved sigh. "Sorry," she smiled at Nina as she explained, "I was at a business meeting before I called."
Quite proudly Nina told then, "Nabiki is the accountant at Arisugawa's Locket as well as Chief Financial Officer of the company."
"We all wear several hats," Nabiki shrugged casually as she and Nina sat in the oversized love seat together. Almost instinctively Nina cuddled into her side and Nabiki casually wrapped a arm around her shoulders.
"Is the Locket usually as crazy as it was on Halloween?" Kallen had to ask.
"Not really," Nabiki answered frankly, "the Locket gets some odd customers, at times, but it's really a place where a woman can get a drink and a meal, and not be harassed by some ass."
"God knows that's happened to me a few times," Milly admitted. She looked at Nabiki curiously, "So how did a martial artists and con woman like you end up there?"
Nina flushed slightly, "Milly! You don't have to interrogate her."
"No, it's okay," Nabiki patted her arm gently. She looked at Milly frankly, "I guess it started when I got thrown out of my home..."
Over the next few minutes Nabiki sketched in how she ended up being helped by Juri Arisugawa, then helping the other woman out opening her club. She also didn't white-wash her own rather mixed past, including her teenaged con-artist days.
"Wow," Kallen murmured after a moment, "I think I'm impressed."
Milly gave her a sympathetic gaze as she asked Nabiki gently, "Did you and your father ever reconnect?"
"Sort of," Nabiki admitted, "we're not best friends, but I'm welcome back at the family home again." She took Nina's hand as she admitted, "I have no idea what he'd do if I brought a girlfriend home, though."
"I think my mother would like you," Nina patted Nabiki's arm.
"I'd like to meet her," Nabiki agreed.
Both Kallen and Milly embarked on telling their meet the parents stories and Nabiki relaxed, glad that this was going pretty well. Nina relaxed at her side, smiling as she listened, and as they sat there Nabiki decided there was nowhere she would rather be.
To be continued...
Characters in this chapter: Touga and Nanami Kiryuu, Juri Arisugawa, Utena Tenjou, Anthy Himemiya, Miki Kaoru and Saionji from Revolutionary Girl Utena, Nabiki Tendo from Ranma 1./2, Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna from Sailor Moon and Nina, Kallen and Milly from Code Geass.
Notes: Why is Arisugawa's Locket a company? While Juri is wealthy enough to run the Locket and it makes good money, unexpected costs can make balancing the bills hard. The shareholders provide added resources, and are kept happy with dividends from profits the club makes. This was a idea I was batting around earlier, and this is the first chance I've had to work it into a chapter.