“Welcome to Ucchans, grab a seat at the counter and let me know when you’re ready to order.”
Briskly pouring batter and preparing Okonomiyaki Ukyo Kounji was in her element. School had been uneventful with just the usual rigmarole of classes and gossip, interrupted only by an all too brief lunch with Akane and her Ranchan. But now with school over and the dinner crowd coming in Ukyo could once again loose herself in the Zen of her craft.
“Hey there kids, the menu’s posted to the left. Let me know what you decide, OK?”
Yes, life had fallen into a comfortable routine, school, almost daily lunches with Ranchan (as well as Akane and others sometimes), getting the restaurant ready, business, and then some time to herself. Not they type of life she had first envisioned for herself when she had first come to Nerima but something she had grown to love over time.
“I’ll have a nuhmber 11!” “Give me the #3 pork special.” “Number 32 garlic shrimp!”
Grinning happily Ukyo quickly began preparing the new orders coming in. Looking over the latest group to come in, some grade schoolers, she saw four eager faces staring right back at her. Giving a small wave the official cute fiancée turned back to preparing their order when something began to tick in the back of her mind. Looking back towards the group and then to the order Ukyo soon realized what was bothering her.
“Sorry kids, looks like I only got three orders, one of you guys still deciding?”
The other three turned towards their last member sitting at the end of the counter while Ukyo looked on in curiosity. “Sorry sugar but I don’t think I caught what you wanted.”
Polishing her nails on her school uniform a young girl seemed to take her time deciding. “Hmm, yes, what will I have? So many choices but you know, but there’s only one thing I really want, I want a number 794!”
Checking her menu to see that someone wasn’t pulling another prank Ukyo gazed questioningly at the young girl. “I’m sorry but the menu only goes up to forty …” Eyes’ widening in shock it was only with reflexes honed by years of training that allowed her to duck beneath the blue and crimson beams that streaked overhead. Twisting around Ukyo let loose a fan of throwing spatulas before diving for the door leading to the upper floor. Jerking back as a giant wad of gum impacted the door handle Ukyo whirled towards her diminutive attackers, battle spatula ready.
“How did you find me?! There’s no way you could have tracked me through all the different schools I went though. Damn it, why can’t you just leave me alone, I’m not hurting anyone!”
“Tsk tsk tsk, number 794 you should know that all agents need to undergo decommissioning upon their thirteenth birthday,” said the apparent leader of the group. “If we were to just let you go then everyone would try to bail out like you did. Now come on, it’s necessary for the survival of the KND that no adult remember their time as an operative. If they did then we’d be wiped out and there would be no stopping adult tyranny everywhere.”
Backing away from her attacker Ukyo checked her situation. She was backed up against the wall behind her counter while the other three children were already armed and surrounding her. Their leader was advancing slowly towards her unarmed but confident in Ukyo’s confinement. The other patrons of her restaurant were long time regulars and were already calmly packing their meals in takeout boxes from a dispenser next to their tables and depositing their payment in slots cut into the table. Soon the restaurant was empty of everyone but Ukyo and her assailants.
“Please, don’t do this. I promise I will never tell anyone just let me keep my memories. Each and every one of them are so precious to me, please, don’t take them from me.”
Coming to a stop the young girl condescendingly clapped her hands at Ukyo’s plea, “How touching, any other last words before we take you in for decommissioning?”
Nodding her head Ukyo lowered her spatula standing it on its end as she slumped over, “Just two … FLOUR BOMB!” Reaching into her shirt Ukyo hurled a pressurized bag of flour into the air impacting the ceiling and filling the room in a blizzard of white dust.
*cough* “Everyone fire! Don’t let her get away!” Random shots streaked through out the restaurant as the squad fired blindly in every direction in a vain hope to tag their fleeing prey. But as the dust cleared the only the empty flour covered interior of the restaurant greeted the four.
“Ma’am! The prisoner has escaped, if she goes underground again we may never find her again.” Patting off the flour from her uniform the leader of the group reigned in her irritation at the situation and glared in the direction of the front door. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her the same way we found her last time. No matter how dangerous, no matter how stupid it may be whenever number 794’s in trouble she always runs straight to number ½.”
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(Posted Tue, 10 Oct 2006 00:57)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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