Demon City Tokyo
Chapter 30
Kiddy Phenil paused, then knocked on the door.
There was complete silence.
Kiddy knocked AGAIN, louder, and heard a groaning sound from inside. "Katsumi?" she called a bit worriedly.
There was another groan, then a croaked, "Go away."
Kiddy sighed, glad that Katsumi was (apparently) all right. "You've slept in," Kiddy said diplomatically.
In fact Katsumi had overslept by HOURS. It was pretty unusual for her, and Lebia had decided to send her to check on her.
'Thanks a LOT, Lebia,' Kiddy though, sighing.
The door opened and Katsumi leaned against the doorway, the black haired woman dressed in a hastily thrown on robe.
"How...," Katsumi croaked out, then she weakly cleared her throat. "How late is it?" she asked Kiddy blearily.
"Ten AM," Kiddy noted, trying not to be amused at the clearly hung over woman.
"Fuck," Katsumi winced. "Does Rally know...?"
"Yup," Kiddy noted, fighting back a smile.
"Ugh," Katsumi winced slightly.
"Are you all right?" Kiddy asked mildly.
"Honestly? No," Katsumi admitted with a soft sigh. Her guts suddenly made a weird noise and she suddenly paled.
"Huh?" Kiddy blinked.
"Excuse me!" Katsumi bolted for the bathroom and threw up in the toilet.
Kiddy followed her into her quarters, then lingered awkwardly. "Do you want me to...?" she started to say.
"GO AWAY," Katsumi croaked. She rinsed her mouth, gagging a bit then sighed, "Tell everyone I'm taking a sick day, okay?"
Kiddy sighed, but wasn't going to push. "Will do," she agreed.
"She's taking a sick day?" Lebia blinked once Kiddy reported in.
"She's really hungover," Kiddy decided it wouldn't hurt to say.
Lebia looked at her a moment, "And you didn't stay to nurse her back to health?"
Kiddy looked at her blankly, "She told me to go."
Lebia walked away, shaking her head as she muttered, "useless lesbian..."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"You wanted to see me?" Yui Ikari asked mildly.
Ritsuko hesitated then burst out, "Maya and Misato are in a relationship?!"
"Yes, I know," Yui replied.
"What," Ritsuko blinked.
Yui continued calmly, "Misato wanted to make sure they weren't violating policy."
Ritsuko sat back, visibly deflated.
"I assumed you'd be okay with it?" Yui looked at her thoughtfully.
Ritsuko scowled, "Of course I am! It's just..."
"Yes?" Yui prompted her.
"I suppose I just was surprised they didn't tell me," Ritsuko admitted. "I've known Misato a long time..."
Yui gave her a sympathetic look. "Respectfully, is it any of your business?" the older woman asked her gently.
Ritsuko made a face, "Point."
Yui looked slightly uncomfortable.
"What?" Ritsuko asked curiously.
"The sense I got from Misato is that it's not a romantic relationship," Yui admitted. "I decided immediately I did NOT want her to elaborate."
Ritsuko made a face, "Agreed."
"How is Mari healing?" Yui asked.
"We've let her out of the infirmary, but she's still on light duty," Ritsuko noted. "It takes time for ribs to heal."
"Do you think Mana is ready to move up to Hunter status?" Yui mused aloud.
"I think so," Riysuko agreed, "assuming you're ok with her being a spy."
Yui, of course, knew that Mana was working for someone. The fake background was good, but they had found hints it was fake. The question was, who sent her?
"I think we can use her," Yui decided.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Welcome to the team, junior," Mayumi Yamagishi said cheerfully.
"You REALLY wanted to say that. Huh?" Asuka noted as they welcomed Mana.
"I've never HAD a junior," Mayumi defended herself.
Mana Kirishima smiled wryly as she said, "Thank you."
Asuka nodded, the group in the locker room as they readied going out on patrol.
"We promise we won't haze you," Victoria added wryly.
"At least not TOO much," Asuka smirked.
"Oh, gee, thanks," Mana said. "And WHY is by armor suit purple?" she wondered, holding up the tight armor.
"We THOUGHT about making it pink," Mayumi teased.
"You can adjust the color later," Victoria added wryly, "we need to head out."
"We'll be in two teams," Asuka lead the way to the vehicles, "Victoria, are you okay with patrolling with Mana?"
"No problem," Victoria agreed as they went to the Rei compound.
"Mistress," a long haired Rei nodded to Victoria.
"Uh, hello," Mana nodded.
The Rei nodded back respectfully.
Mayumi noted that Mana seemed a bit creeped out, "You get used to it."
"Right, right," Mana made a face.
"Don't do anything too stupid on your first day," Asuka teased as they split up.
"I'll try," Mana sighed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"URGH!" Mana puked up the ichor that had splattered her and got into her mouth.
"Sorry, kid," Kiddy noted, the AMP officer having assisted them.
"Don't get the ooze into your mouth," Victoria added, her sword soaked in the stuff. The Youma was laying nearby, gutted.
"Why, is it poisonous?" Mana spat the goop up.
"That and it tastes awful," Victoria added.
"Monster slain," Lum also from the AMP was reporting in, "no injuries. Assessing the area."
"Here, rinse your mouth," Kiddy offered a flask.
Victoria nodded to Kiddy, "Thanks. Uhm... how is Katsumi recovering?"
Kiddy gave her a LOOK. "Probably about as well as Mari," she said dryly.
"Point," Victoria conceded.
"Sorry, all," Mana shook herself, then asked, "Next is a area search, right? In case there's more or any victims."
In theory, cops should be doing these searches, but the hazard level was felt to be too high. So it fell to them...
"Yup," Lum agreed. "Let's go!"
"The AMP are being weirdly friendly," Victoria mused as she and Mana moved off.
"Probably feeling sorry for me," Mana made a face. "Sorry if I embarrassed you."
"I think Mayumi puked on her first mission too..."
To be continued...
Notes: Still in a bit of a writing slump.