Tokyo, mid day, while the girls were meeting on the school's roof for their customary lunch, a meeting of another sort was about to take place across town. Ryoga had been discharged only moments ago and was on his way out of the hospital. To his surprise, he found someone waiting for him in the lobby; an attractive young woman, seemingly in her early to mid twenties.
She was clad in smart looking attire, consisting of a matching grey blazer and a form fitting skirt, sheer stockings, and a pair of black high heeled pumps. Completing the ensemble, was a white carnation on her lapel and a dark brooch choker. Her hair was dark and neatly trim with two locks of it being shoulder length, sort of like sideburns. In all, a very business like appearance. The woman sat with her legs crossed, at the knees, her hands atop them with her fingers interlocked. She rose when she saw him and smiled, "Hi. I see I'm just in time."
Ryoga looked over his shoulder to be sure she wasn't addressing someone else. Seeing no one there, except for some of the hospital staff, he turned toward her again, pointing to himself as if to say, "me?" The woman smirked at this and slowly nodded, pointing for emphasis. Ryoga blinked, wondering who she was and what she could possibly want with him. He was sure he hadn't seen her before. Maybe she was confused.
As if reading the uncertainty in his eyes, she said, "Ryoga Hibiki. Am I right?"
"Uh... yeah."
"Then you're definitely the one I'm here to see." she assured him.
The Lost Boy blinked, not sure what to make of this. "Ano..."
"Sorry if I seemed a bit forward." she chuckled, "My name is Minamo Kurosawa, I'm the Pokegirl League representative for our area." Reaching into her breast pocket, she produced one of her cards and handed it to him. "I asked the doctor to let me know when they were releasing you." she explained.
"Oh. I see." he replied absently while looking it over. Suddenly realizing what she'd said, his head snapped up in alarm. "You're WHAT?!"
"I said, I'm the Pokegirl League representative for our area." Minamo repeated for him.
"And you're here to see me?"
"That's right."
Ryoga blinked, "How come?"
"Tell you what" she began, "how about I tell you on the way?"
"On the way?" he repeated. This was getting weird. A gorgeous woman waits for him, then offers to take him somewhere so they can talk? Was this for real? I mean, he wasn't so naive as to think she'd try anything, certainly nothing like that. Still, he couldn't help wondering what she wanted with him. Shrugging inwardly, he supposed there was only one way to find out.
"Okay. Where to?"
Minamo started toward the glass double doors leading outside. She paused, looking back as she smiled and replied, "Follow me."
Minutes later, they were in Minamo's car and on their way to the school. It seemed Ryoga wasn't the only one she was meeting with that day. In fact, the one they were going to see had very much to do with him, which is why they were on their way over. She wanted to speak with both of them together. That was the plan anyway. But things had changed, especially if what she'd read last night was correct.
After she'd gone home, Minamo decided to search the Pokegirl database for information on Skit Tits. If she was going to help Sakaki, she figured the best way to start would be to learn about her species. The problem was, Skit Tits were fairly uncommon, so information was scarce. It took some doing, but she managed to find a file on them. Based on what she read and what little Yomi had been able to tell her of yesterday's events, she was running out of time... and fast. So she decided to do what she knew she should have done in the first place. That brought her back to today.
"I need to ask you some questions" she was saying, "about the girl you met yesterday."
Ryoga thought for a moment. "Yesterday? You mean, Yomi?"
"What?" Minamo asked, glancing over at the passenger seat where he was riding shotgun. Meeting her incredulous stare, he arched an eyebrow in return and made a light "what?" gesture with his hands. Seeing that he didn't get her meaning, she clarified, "No. I meant Sakaki, the Pokegirl you met yesterday. Remember?"
"Is that her name?" he asked, though it was more to himself than Minamo. He stared out his window, letting it play in his mind for awhile, before he commented, "It's pretty." Minamo rolled her eyes.
"Yes, it is. Now focus. I need you to tell me what happened." she wanted to know.
"Not much to tell." he admitted. "I was on my way to Professor Tofu's lab, but I got lost. That's how I met Yomi and the other two girls. Uh... Yomi said something about having a friend she wanted me to meet, so-" At this point, Minamo cut in.
"Did she happen to mention her friend was a Pokegirl?"
"Yeah. She said she thought it might be good for us to meet. At least, I think that's what she meant." Ryoga said honestly.
Minamo took a breath before asking her next question. "I know this may seem asinine of me to ask, but I need you to tell me" the tone of her voice made it clear she was serious and left no room for argument, "had the two of you met before then?"
Ryoga's answer confirmed her suspicion, "No."
"Shit." he heard her hiss, making him blink in alarm. She hit a button on the dashboard, opening a thin sliding drawer. On it was a manilla folder bound with a thin red cord. She removed it, sitting it beside her, then closed the tray. "Before I give you this, there's one more thing I'd like to ask."
By now, Ryoga was all ears. "Okay. Shoot."
"How serious are you about getting to know that girl?" Just as he'd opened his mouth, she cut him off again, her expression stern. "Because I want you to know she's like a daughter to me. All of them, in fact." Minamo let the statement hang in the air, waiting for his response. Little did she know she had hit home. In a way, it was the same question Kagura had asked him.
What do you mean, "sort of"? Are you or aren't ya?
Her voice echoed in his mind, tapering off as he was also reminded of the debate he'd had with himself earlier that day. Now it seemed he was faced with the question again. The same one, he realized, he'd been asking himself: was he serious about being a Tamer? Of course, he recognized what Minamo was getting at too. She wanted to know what his intentions were... if he would he be good to her. When Ryoga spoke, it was with conviction and without guile.
"I'd never do anything to hurt any of those girls, especially not her. Why would I want to?" he said making a shrug. "To be honest, lately, she's all I can think about. I mean, I..." Here, he trailed off not knowing what else to say or how to say it since he barely understood what he was feeling himself. He just wished there was some way to make her understand how important she was to him. Not for just starting a harem, but... come to think of it... he hadn't thought about a harem at all. His only thought had been about Sakaki.
When he met her eyes this time, Minamo smiled at him. Seems Yomi was right after all. she thought to herself. Minamo believed herself to a fairly good judge of character as well. So she decided to trust it and placed the folder (and Sakaki's future) in Ryoga's hands. Then she went on.
"Now listen closely...."
Back at school, the girls had just met on the roof. Tomo was busy stuffing her face, seeing who could eat the fastest; a challenge which Kagura accepted. Osaka had fallen asleep from watching the clouds, something was that was fast becoming a habit for her. As for Chiyo and Yomi, they passed the time by chatting about how they'd done and what they thought their grades were going to be. The mention of grades killed what was left of Kagura's appetite, making her her chopsticks fall from lifeless fingers.
Sakaki hadn't opened hers yet. It sat on her lap, her chopsticks neatly on top. Her head drooped, the thought of Yomi being in her room tormenting her. She'd seen it, she must have. All the plushies, posters, and other cute things she had collected over the years. She knew no one would understand if they found out. Cute toys and animals were for girls like Chiyo, not her. She was expected to be cool and tough. It's what everyone kept saying about her. What would they say if Yomi told them the truth? Would they laugh and make fun? Would her friends distance themselves from her?
Her lower lip began to tremble, the thought of it was too much.
Sakaki glanced in Yomi's direction, finding her still talking with Chiyo. If only she could get her alone, but how was she supposed to do that without arousing suspicion? Would he have to wait all day? Her eyes narrowed as she seemed to reach an unspoken conclusion. Sitting her lunch aside, she stood and approached Yomi with determined steps.
The bispectacled girl looked up when Sakaki's shadow fell over her. For a moment, everything seemed to stop. Chiyo was stunned by the unusual look in the taller girl's eye. It wasn't threatening, but it wasn't her usual emotionless stare or the dreamy faraway one. It was a determined one, like there was something important on her mind. Sakaki took hold of Yomi's wrist, pulling her to her feet.
Before she could open her mouth to protest, Sakaki simply said, "Come with me."
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(Posted Thu, 06 Dec 2007 03:41)
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