Mamoru checked her watch, sending out her ring to see if she was alone. Sensing noone else nearby, she stepped out of her car and locked the doors. She walked up to what looked like just another abandoned warehouse, tugging her tie to loosen the knot.
Soon, I get out of this ugly ass monkey suit and into that super-cute new dress Ravey bought me. The thought made Mama smile as she walked up to the door. Pressing a few buttons on her cell, she watched in awe, just as she always did, as the bricks mechanically lifted, and the scanners were brought outside the panel. The bricks slid back into place, and the scanners blinked to life. She placed her hand on the palm scan, her chin on the rest that would take the picture for facial recognition. Once that picture was taken, and while the machine analyzed both it and her fingerprints, a smaller camera came in close to her eye for the iris scan.
Yes, getting into Obsidian was a lot of work. Yes, some people would call her and Ravey paranoid, but really, with the type of clients they catered to, the extra security was most definitely worth it. Mama waited until the machine blinked a green light in her eye, the signal that she'd been cleared, and the alarm had been deactivated. Standing back up straight, she pressed another set of buttons on her cell, and the bricks lifted up again to allow the scanner panel to retract. In under a minute, the wall looked no different from the rest of the building, and she turned her attention to the door itself.
Ravey, I don't know if I love you or hate you for all this tech... Sighing, she typed the passcode into the number panel on the door, opening the first lock. The small mic's light turned red, cuing her for vocal recognition.
"Open lock two." The light blinked green. Finally, she slid her key into the manual lock and opened the door. Stepping inside, she closed the door and pressed the code to turn the alarm back on, keeping the locks open.
"God, I hate working real estate." She wandered down the hall to the main dance room. The club was dead silent, and dark. Thankfully, she knew her way around this place. Walking to her office, she opened the small panel beside the door and flicked the switches to turn all the lights on. They wouldn't open for another hour, so she had time to make sure everything was as it should be before the first partiers showed up. Looking out at the club, Mama smiled contentedly. She might hate her day job, but this place was pure bliss for her.
Turning to the bar, she turned the register and card reader on, cuing them to run last night's transaction records as she started counting the money in the till. When the numbers cleared, she took out the extra money, leaving a few thousand yen in the till and placing the rest in the safe in Morrigan's office. They would take the week's earnings to the bank tomorrow, do payroll the day after, and payday the day after that. Money matters taken care of, she checked to make sure all the electronics were working properly. A club couldn't function without music and lights that responded to the beat. None of the lights needed to be replaced, which was good. Took too long to get someone to fix those, and clients tended to complain if certain ones died. Next on her to-do list was to make sure Janatorial had cleaned all the lounges and that none of the fruits used in the drinks had gone bad.
Once she was done with the maintainence checklist, she went back into her office to check the List. Sitting at her desk, she opened her laptop and checked her email.
"Hmn...Matsumoto Emiko...alias Miko Inoue...picture..." She printed out the new entry, punching holes in the sheet and adding it to the bouncer's copy of the list. She then took the list of names that went on top of the photograph list and shredded it before opening the document and scrolling down to the Ms. She typed in the name Matsumoto Emiko/Miko Inoue and printed a new copy of the list, saving the document before she closed out of her computer. Punching holes in the List, she placed it on the top of the bouncer's copy and went to the staff lounge to set the binder in his mailbox.
Finished with her work, Mama went back to her office and stripped out of her street clothes. Opening the box on her desk, she held up the pink sari-style dress and twirled it around before putting it on.
A perfect fit, as always... Her smile was radiant as she looked at herself in her mirror.
"Shoes...makeup...and something to hide the Adams apple..." She pouted at her reflection as she applied her makeup. Subtle enough not to be obvious, but more than enough to emphasize the more feminine aspects of her face. Smacking her lips, she smirked at her reflection and opened her shoe drawer, where all her favorite shoes were neatly organized. Putting on a pair of flats, she considered her options regarding her neck. Closing her shoe drawer, she next opened the accessories drawer and opened her jewelry box and removed her set of pink bangles and a necklace to match the dress, pushing them far enough up her arm that they stayed while she fussed with her hair, pulling it up into an elegant updo.
"Mama mia~" Kara laughed, standing framed in the doorway to Mama's office looking like something out of Mamoru's wet dreams...only in those, Mama would be the one with the smokingly hot female body wearing equally gorgeous boots.
"Looks like I still know how to dress my sweet cuz." Mama laughed as well, looking her cousin over, and shook her head.
"I want those boots, Ravey. They're amazing." The two of them chatted for a while, catching each other up with what had happened earlier that day. They stopped suddenly as the alarm went off, then stopped a moment later.
"...Sounds like someone's in a hurry..."They went into the main room, nearly running into the shorter woman who rushed in.
"Ah! Kara-sama, Mama-chan!" She bowed to them, her corset making her chest heave as she panted.
"I'm sorry about the alarm. I didn't make sure the light was green. I just really wanted to show you. Look!" She turned and showed them her left thigh.
"My name! It finally showed up!" Reaching up to brush her cyan lock out of her eye, Kiko beamed at her cousins.
"Isn't it great? Now I can start looking for my Fighter! Oh, I hope she likes me..." By the time she finished speaking, she was out of breath again from talking so fast. Her jumping up and down probably didn't help any.
"Slow down, Kiko-chan." Mama giggled as Kara bent down to examine the mark.
"Bloodlust? Damn, girl...that name doesn't fit you at all. You're more like a hyperactive bunny than a bloodthirsty monster..." Mama pursed her lips, thinking.
"Maybe it has more to do with the Fighter than with her..." She winked at Kiko.
"Looks like your partner's going to be a sadist, after all."Kiko pretended to swoon into Kara's arms, then laughed and hugged them both.
"Oh, let's hope so~ Sadistic and domineering. Mmn...I can hardly wait" Kara blushed and shook her head.
"Okay, you'd better hope you're compatible with your Fighter outside the bedroom. I mean, what if it's a guy?" "Ew! Don't even think it! Fate can not be that much of a sadistic bitch." The three cousins laughed and chatted a little while longer until Yoshie and the rest of the staff started to show up.
"Okay, I'm gonna head on home and get some sleep. Wish me luck finding my Fighter!" Kiko bolted back out the door, leaving Mama and Kara to their work.
{Kiko has left and is headed to the Kobayashi Estate.}
{Mama's outfit:
Hair,
bangles,
necklace,
shoes and
dress.}
{Kara's outfit:
Shirt,
pants and
boots.}
{Kiko's outfit:
Shoes,
shorts and
corset.}
Time skip to 4:05am
Mama yawned, locking the register as Kara chatted with Yoshie.
"I'm going to be so dead at work today...I have an open house starting at nine, and the last prospective renter won't show until seven tonight." She didn't bother hiding the whining tone in her voice.
Ugh! You should fire your boss for making you work a ten hour shift on less than five hours sleep." Kara winked and kissed Mama's cheek.
"Seriously, Mama-chan, why do you push yourself so hard? You know Ichigo-san won't like you any better if you work yourself to death."Yoshie shook her head and gave Mama a light shove in the direction of the door.
"Go home and get what sleep you can, Mama-sama. Sounds like you need it. I'll help Morrigan-sama lock up tonight." Mama smiled gratefully and hugged her former secretary.
"I have to change into my monkey suit before I go..." Sighing, she turned and went into her office to change.
Kara watched Mama walk off, a concerned frown gracing her features.
"I really wish she'd stop pushing herself like this. It's not helping her emotional state at all..." Yoshie sighed and placed a gentle hand on her boss' shoulder.
"I think she's trying not to give herself time to think about her situation too closely. It's not as though Kobayashi-san is ever going to understand what his daughter's going through when he thinks she's his son. She tries so hard to be what he wants her to be, and ever since Miyamoto-san left her..."Kara shrugged off Yoshie's hand and backhanded her.
"Don't you ever bring that bastard up, Yoshie! He left without any fucking warning. He knew how fragile she is, and he just left!" The Trusted Sacrifice shuddered, trying to reign in her anger as Yoshie pressed a cold rag to the red mark Kara had left on her cheek.
"That was my point, Morrigan-sama." The woman sighed and looked at Mama's office door.
"All the good that he'd done for her, the confidence she'd gained from being with him...he destroyed all that and more, when he left. She's trying so hard...I think it's because she wants to prove to herself that she doesn't need someone like him in her life."Playing with the end of her braid, Kara frowned at Yoshie.
"She doesn't need someone like him. She needs someone who keeps his promises. He wasn't good enough to keep her the way she needs to be kept." Yoshie turned knowing eyes to the sullen Sacrifice.
"And how long do you think Mama-sama will be satisfied, when her life is nothing but family and work--more work than family, even? You can't satisfy her needs, and she can only do so much baking and shopping when Kobayashi-san keeps checking on her..."Kara flinched and tilted her head back to stare at the ceiling, leaning her back against the bar.
"You think I don't know this, Yo-chan? But she can't exactly go on nomal dates, either, for the same reason her retail therapy doesn't happen often. Just the idea of Ichigo-san catching her dressed comfortably scares her. It's all I can do to convince her to dress up to meet me for a movie...and even then, I have to wear contacts so we can switch voices if he catches us at it...""Good night, Mama-sama!" Yoshie called to the woman as she stepped out of her office in the suit she'd worn the day before. Mama smiled sadly, her hair hanging in limp waves around her shoulders, which were hunched slightly. Her face and lips were red from removing her make-up. Her eyes dropped to the floor as she tugged the sleeve of her blazer to make sure the cuff covered that of the white dress shirt underneath. Her whole demeanor made her seem smaller than her five foot, six inch height.
"Do I look...presentable?" Mama's voice was soft, tentative, and she bit her bottom lip.
Kara's eyes narrowed, and she lowered her head to level Mama with a displeased frown.
"Presentable? Hell, no. You look like a man. You make a much more beautiful woman." Mama blushed and giggled, her shoulders straightening. She smiled at Kara, shaking her head.
"I should have known you wouldn't approve of the monkey suit, Ravey." She hugged her cousin and Yoshie.
"Good night, my darlings. I'll see you tonight."Kara caught Mama by the shoulders and looked her in the eye.
"No. You are going to spend your evening at home, sleeping. Promise me, Mama-chan. Promise." Mama flinched at the order and sighed.
"Fine. I'll stay home tonight...I promise." Kara's stance relaxed, relief and concern chasing each other across her face. She hugged her cousin tightly.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. I just can't let you go so long without a real night's sleep. I love you too much." Mama smiled shyly at her cousin.
"I love you, too, Ravey. I'm sorry I keep worrying you so much. I'll try to do better, promise."The American ran her fingers through her cousin's hair and leaned up to kiss her forehead in an almost maternal gesture.
"Now, go try to get some sleep before work. Hopefully, today'll be bearable, at least." The comment brought a wry smile to Mama's lips as she pulled away to leave, conscious of the two women's eyes on her back. She felt like she was back on suicide watch. Honestly, she didn't need them hovering like this. She was fine. She was...
[Mama has left and gone to her
loft.]
Kara closed her eyes and leaned back against the bar again.
"I'm running out of ideas, Yo-chan...Think I should ask Valshe-kun for advice on this?" Yoshie arched an eyebrow and shrugged, even though the other woman couldn't see the gesture.
"I don't know Jeniou-san, so I really couldn't say how good an idea that would be. If he knows about the situation, it shouldn't be too horrible a thing to do...?"The Trusted Sacrifice smiled and shook her head.
Who knows, he might just schedule her for a spa day. Which would be amazing...except for her...kinks." Yoshie chuckled, remembering the last time Mama hand come into work after a day at the spa, how embarrassed she'd been.
"True...she needs to get laid, then have a spa day." The two women laughed about that before turning to the task of closing up shop. Ten minutes later, they were leaving. Kara waved as she pulled her motorcycle out from behind a nearby dumpster and donned her helmet, watching Yoshie open on of the loading bays on another building to get to her sedan.
[Kara has left and gone
home. Obsidian has closed for the day.]