But something about it just didn't feel ... right to her. "I don't know," she said uneasily. "I'll think about it."
Makoto nodded absently behind her, Sousuke scanning the perimeter. "This place seems like it should be secure," he murmured. "But I am not convinced that it is."
"I'm getting de'ja vu," Makoto sighed, rubbing at his temples. "Did we already look at this apartment?"
"I don't think so," Nanami said slowly. "But I'm not sure...."
"It's tactically sound," Sousuke opined, ignoring the manager. "We will need to install additional security, of course."
"I guess it's settled, then," Nanami said uneasily, before everything blurred.
***
Nanami looked around the apartment complex uneasily. It was after sunset, and she was starting to get an eerie sense of de'ja vu about the place. Almost like she knew what was going to be said without waiting for it.
"This place seems like it should be secure," Sousuke murmured uncomfortably, shifting his shoulders and looking around. "It seems like it should."
"I'm not so sure I like this place," Makoto opined, shaking his head. "Something's creeping me out, Nanami-chan."
"Me too," she admitted. "Sorry, Manager-san, um ... maybe we'll come by tomorrow. It's too late to look for an apartment now." Where had the last three hours gone, anyway?
***
Setsuna sighed. "You don't pick up clues too quickly, do you?" she muttered. After a moment, she scribbled an address on a piece of paper, slowed time, and stuck the scrap into Makoto's pocket. "There," she decided, stepping back to the Time Gate and restoring time again.
***
"Well, I think we should just search in the morning," Makoto said, jaws cracking in a yawn. "Oh, excuse me. We've been so busy today we forgot lunch and dinner."
"A soldier can last--"
"Well, I'm a reporter," Nanami countered, glaring at Sousuke. "Let's get some food."
After a minute, in a quiet voice, Sousuke said, "From experience, I have seen that reporters do not usually last as long as soldiers without food."
"You find a way to make anything sound comforting," Nanami sighed.
"It's a rare talent," Sousuke replied, pulling the van into the parking lot of a small restaurant. "This place has few windows. It should be secure enough to dine in."
After they'd sat down, Sousuke had tackled and interrogated their male waiter on the specials, and then Nanami had released him, Makoto made a surprised noise, and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "Hey, did you drop this, Nanami-chan?" he asked, sliding it to her. "It looks like your handwriting."
"It's not," Nanami answered, taking the paper and looking it over. "You can't tell two girls' handwriting apart. Where did you get this, anyway?"
"I just found it now," Makoto replied, glancing up as their waiter nervously set glasses of water at the table before fleeing. "I must have picked it up somewhere."
"Maybe," Nanami said doubtfully. "Either Minnie-May planted it on you, or you got it when we went out...." She trailed off, and raised an eyebrow speculatively. "This is two blocks away. Let's go check it out."
"It could be a trap," Sousuke opined. "I should infiltrate alone and report back."
"Report what back?" Nanami asked. "That you've blown up whatever it was?" She quickly pocketed the paper before he could see the address. "I don't think so. We're going to look at it without blowing it up."
***
"It is empty," Sousuke reported, lowing his field goggles, and shrugging at Nanami. "No one lives here."
"I could have told you that," Nanami muttered, pointing at the 'Grand opening! Tuesday' sign out front. "They open tomorrow. It's located near the school, and within walking distance of the dojo. I think one of the other girls with Ranma-kun may be moving here. It'll give us a chance to infiltrate and get closer."
"Us?" Makoto asked, pointing at the, 'Girls Only' sign.
"Huh," Nanami mused, turning around. "Ah! Look, there's another apartment across the street. It'll be perfect -- we can set up monitoring equipment there."
"Tactically feasible," Sousuke admitted, turning to look at the other apartment complex. "Very well. Mizuhara, I think we will need to requisition this complex."
"I'm pretty sure that Drake won't sign off on that," Makoto said after a moment, smirking. "Just an apartment, Sagara-san."
Sousuke grimaced. "Very well," he said moodily. "Tomorrow we shall requisition a single apartment for us. Nanami, do you need to go to the requisitions office?"
"No, but unlike you two, I need to pack if I plan on moving," she sighed. "Let's go report to Fujisawa and get ready."
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(Posted Wed, 03 Aug 2005 17:12)
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