A Triumphant Return! (Osu/Masao/Request to join)

[Kawakami Hotaru]

Brushing a stray fleck of hair from her vision Chiquita stood in silence upon the street, adjusting to the bright sun beating down upon her sensitive skin, wondering when the night had transformed to day. The sounds of merriment and violence could be heard from below her as she looked back for a brief moment at the stairway she had just climbed to get back to street level, the smell of smoke and whiskey could be inhaled even from where she stood yards from the door being blocked by a mountain of a man, another night at a not-so-legal casino. She had been back in town now for at least two days, she frankly couldn't remember the specifics, it had been years since she had been given a leave of absence, a rarity in the Shinobi world, but with the services she had granted to her country a deserved rarity.


She looked different than what most would have remembered, more womanly one could say, her komon black with a repeating pattern of her family sigil, the red chrysanthemum, running down both her sides. For the briefest of moments one might say she looked refined, until she of course let loose a heavy sigh a look of disdain setting upon her face as her hand entered the kimono to adjust some of her more, eh, womanly assets. Garnering some odd looks from an elderly gentleman who just happened to be passing by as she made her guffaw, in years past she might have yelled at the man minding him to keep his gaze to himself, but she had precious little fire to do that anymore. Instead she simply shook her head returning to her business, beginning her trek around the city, she had no real plans, and really had little idea why she had come back in the first place, the only particular reason she could think of was that letter from the city magistrate requesting all high ranking Shinobi report back to the city in lieu of Yumers and the three stooges being out of town for some cock-stroking, er martial arts competition leaving the city in mortal danger, or something like that.


Her sandals sloshed against the snow ridden ground, soaking her socks as she wondered why in the name of God anyone would wear a Kimono outside of requirement as she was at the moment, as it turned out you start to run a whore house out in Port Cirrus and all of the sudden you have to look presentable most of the time, I blame it on the patriarchy and the Donald.

What to do, what to do.

 

[Takaki Saeko]

As Acting Raikage of Kumogakure it is my foremost responsibility to make absolutely sure that the good people of this penal colony for dysfunctional witches know that law and order still reign supreme. Even if the "real" raikage and the rest of the village hierarchy is living it up in Tea Country drinking gravy by the bucketful and treating themselves to clotted cream enemas, they've still got everyone's backs. Why? Because they put me in charge of this...this...

"Shithole!" bellows the Chancellor of Lightning Country, Donado of Oranji, in between mouthfuls of butter topped with butter.

"Please, Chancellor, that's like the only thing you've said this evening," I reply, politely fulfilling my duty as good hostess and refilling his wine glass with gravy. "Can I take you to the hospital? Maybe the bacon smoothie you had for breakfast gave you a stroke and that's the only word you can say?"

The chancellor slams the entire super-jumbo glass back in one gulp and gestures at me for more. I force a smile and slosh more of the thick, gray stuff into the proffered vessel.

For those of you not in the know, the duly elected chancellor of Lightning Country spends about ten percent of his time governing the nation and its restive council of nobles in Raiden's Eye, and about ninety percent of it golfing in Kumogakure. The common explanation for this is that he's extremely paranoid about assassination attempts and feels that he's most secure surrounded by human weapons of mass destruction. But I think the real reason is that he just doesn't want to deal with his job and would rather hang out with people like him: kind of shitty and with emotional issues. Theoretically, Ayumu or Yuii should be the ones to deal with hosting the head of state, but since they're away, that job's fallen to...me. Every day I make sure he's got his pureed bacon for breakfast, chicken tenders for lunch, and then for dinner he's supposed to be taken out to one of Kumo's finer eating establishments, where the cost of a single entree runs more than an average shinobi's yearly stipend. On the surface, it sounds like the ideal job, hobnobbing with the most powerful man in the nation and eating fine cooking every night, but...

I think I might kill him if this continues for too long. No shit, I'm about to pull an Enishi and shank him, for the love of Shinbatsu. It's not that I disagree with his policies--I'm all for walling off Fire Country, for example--but dealing with him on a personal basis is excruciating. Like trying to remove burnt-on fried egg from a coil rangetop with your fingernails. I've already had to deal with this crap for almost a week straight. I can't even talk to Osuteno about this, because he doesn't want to hear anything about the man. Yeah, The Donado tried to steal his daughters at birth, but that's just standard practice for the aristocracy here!

This is bad. I'm starting to consider putting cyanide in his gravy. The knives are calling my name. Sure, there are those who'd pat me on the back for doing it, but then we'd never get The Wall, and that's a sacrifice I'm not willing to make. I have to get out of here if I ever want my dreams to see the light of day!

I bolt upright from my chair. "Chancellor, I'm sorry, but I really have to take a dump. A...a...yuuuuuge dump! In fact, I'll be in the bathroom so long that it's best if you don't come looking for me for the rest of the night. The guards will escort you back to the Torre and stuff."

The Donado looks at me, looks at his gravy glass, and shakes it at me with a curious expression. I take the gravy glass from his hand and replace it with the pitcher. He gives me a satisfied nod and a dismissive wave, and I'm finally free.

"What the fuck, Hand?" one of the honor guards rasps in my ear as I turn away. "You're seriously leaving us to deal with him? I'm telling the Raikage!"

"Look, man, just trust in Jesus Saito and things will work out," I say with a friendly pat on his shoulder, and then run at full speed out of the restaurant in my formalwear and into the night-day-whatever.

As much as I have to admit it, I'm starting to kind of miss all those powerful ogres above me. Even Yumers, sad to say. I don't know how much longer I can keep this gig up. It's almost like the Acting Raikage has all the responsibilities and none of the perks, except for that I get to wear a tinfoil tiara of my making, so that everyone knows who's boss around here. I pull my compact from my purse and use the mirror, straightening the bent spikes of my crown as best I can. It's gotten pretty well-used in the short time I've been in charge, and most of the costume jewelry and googly eyes I'd glued to it are now gone. The foil's looking a little grimy, too, like it's lost all of the shiny luster it once had. Regardless, it is the symbol of my rightful authority in this town, so I'm obligated to wear it at all times, even when asleep or taking a shower.

Before I flip the compact closed, something catches my eye. There's a woman nearby me who looks kind of like she's just escaped a casino-themed hell herself. Something about her body shape--no, more the way she carries herself--reminds me of an old friend of mine. I haven't seen Wakahisa Chiyoko in a while, not since the debacle with nearly her entire yakuza family dying off due to cyanide and shenanigans. From what I recall after that, she found out that the family will had actually named her as next chairman of the entire organization, but then she freaked out and disappeared. I was a bad friend, of course, and never tried to reach out to her and make sure she was okay.

The woman near me probably isn't Chiyoko--Chiquita, I used to call her--but would be if Chiquita were older, more mature, and more womanly in general. I decide to strike up a conversation with her, for the hell of it. Anything to get the Donado aftertaste out of my soul. "So, who you think is gonna win the Blood Bowl this weekend? The Port Cirrus Ethnic Cleansing Squad or the Kelmura Feathered Velociraptors?"

 

[Osuteno]

Osuteno slowly walked through the snow, getting used to the new boots his wife made for him, she really wasn’t kidding about being able to do anything with black leather, and missing his yukata as he adjusted the hood on his head. Wearing a hood again reminded him of his bunny scrubs from his younger days and the nostalgia that came over him helped Osu ignore the fact he spent the last three days straight working in the hospital. Someone had to care about the rent after all, and it really didn’t hurt for him to over schedule himself hours if he worked hard…

He missed Chiai and the twins though. He saw his wife very little as it was since she worked at night… Osu sighed as he continued walking along drawing a blush from another young man who stopped to watch Osu pass. Osu did his best not to notice. “I suppose my looks taking after my mother is better than the alternative…” he mumbled to himself before trailing off as he thought he saw…

Osu exhaled more heavily this time, the fog of his breath expanding greatly. He recognized that ridiculous… crown of Saeko’s in an instant. He couldn’t tell if she was making a joke of the responsibility she was given or if she genuinely felt the crown was more than the tin foil he had used to wrap Koukou’s dinner up a week before, could never tell when he would be home these days since he never left any sort of note… wait is that really the same tin foil from a week ago he had the roast wrapped in… the stains looked about right… the very thought sent shivers down his spine. He shouldn’t have let Saeko into the twins’ arts and crafts box while she was drunk.

Come to think of it… wasn’t she supposed to be working right now? Instead she seemed to be harassing a woman about something ridiculous again… hmm? There was something... remarkably familiar about the two of them together? Osu tilted his head a bit as he saw the woman next to Saeko. Odd… she looks an awful lot like…

Osu picked up his pace to catch up to the two, covered Saeko’s mouth with his hand so he could focus and bent down a bit and tilting his head up to look at the woman’s face from a more familiar angle. “Onee-Chan?” Osu asked with question and surprise in his tone as he pulled back his hood and took out the colored contacts that hid the red, liquid-like orbs that marked his mastery of his particular bloodline. Still it could be forgiven if she didn’t quite recognize him, since she saw him last he had grown more than a foot to stand at 5’8” and was 19 year old now, his womanly charms… err manliness was starting to really show these days.

He found himself breaking out into a warm smile as he continued to look up at Chiyoko from his partly bowed stance and brushed his bangs behind his ear, causing a nearby teenager to walk straight into a street lamp. It had to be Onee-Chan, he could tell from that tired of the world look. He couldn’t help himself as he straightened up and hugged her like he had when he was much younger… well he wasn’t anywhere near as low as he used to be.

“It’s been too long! Are you eating well? Taking good care of your health? You haven’t been doing anything too dangerous have you? How long have you been back?”

 

[Kawakami Hotaru]

How was that even a question to begin with? The Ethnic Cleansing Squad were Gods amongst men and had more of a proclivity for cheating than Belichick-Sama, God I learned so much from that man.... That said she didn't fancy a conversation with some street harlot at the moment, the voice seemed familiar but so did a lot of them, keeping her eyes forward Chiquita's hand once again dove into her kimono withdrawing a keepsake from Roenesia, a small silver container removing and sparking a cigarette, "Don't want company." she retorted a bitter tinge escaping from the tip of her tongue and moving to a plume of smoke escaping from her lips. Still she couldn't help but find herself curious as to who this random woman was, her eye darting toward her for but a fraction of a second, years of pain and love hit her cerebellum like a car battery to the nipple, "Especially from some two-bit government hussy like you, Senpai." frankly she wasn't sure whether to strike the woman directly in her tiara or to give her some massive bear-hug that would no doubt end up in a massive cloud of flatulence. Eh, fuck it. Swiveling back to face her Chiquita's face turned a bright red, a mixture of odd feelings hitting her at one time that almost felt like attraction, Raiden damn it if only she had a dingle dongle Chiyoko's life would be complete. Alas the Gods were cruel and Saeko-san did not, she knew this for fact after several impromptu and unwarranted anatomy lessons over the years. With the strength of a lifetime of pent up sexual aggression Chiquita picked up her old friend, shaking her about like a ragdoll in hopes that she might give her shaking baby syndrome.

Putting her dear friend back to the ground after accidentally copping a feel to the booty just to check and make sure she hadn't fallen victim to the fad of ass-implants, she hadn't, it seemed someone else was joining their merry troupe, Onee-Chan another somewhat familiar voice rung in her ears as she looked over to one of the most beautiful women she had ever lain eye(s) upon; however, there were very few people allowed to call her big sis, and one was a 4 foot something trap...Wait...

Embraced in a warm hug she knew that this was not some ordinary fan-girl, no this was something much different, this was a hug from the Lord of Bunnies himself, and a pretty good personal friend. She couldn't help but wrap her hand around the Chigokai, admiring how much he had grown in the years of her absence, "Nee-Chan! I leave for a couple years and you grow a foot, shit I only grew a cup size." life was cruel. Anyway it seemed like a good idea to answer his question, she was sure Saeko-San was probably wondering about the same thing, or probably not, she was probably still trying to figure out why her Kouhai had been groping her bung a few seconds earlier.

"Uh, been out in Roenesia, over at the Yuugatou club. Obaa-San decided it was time to step down what with all her children murdering each other, so I've kind of been running the joint. I might be a madame, so yeah. That's what I've been doing for a few years, running a brothel. Some Anbu came and beat down my door about a week ago, I was kind of assuming he wanted some free nookie, but nooo as it turns out I get a letter saying that Yumers and the idiot brigade are all out of town at some competition and they need all high ranking Shinobi back in the village, for protection or some shit." the aggravation was obvious in her voice, years after committing to a leave of absence and they call her back for something as stupid as this, protecting the village in all likelihood if something happened and the village needed protection she would no doubt be back on the first boat out of town.

Blowing another fleck of hair from her face she pushed those thoughts from her mind as she stared back at her formerly tiny friend far more interesting in how he had been doing, and of course what Senpai had been up to, "But enough about me running a whore house, look at you! All grown up, you've definitely aged a bit better than Senpai, that bitch is aging like vinegar. I can practically see the crow's feet from here." as caustic as ever.

 

[Takaki Saeko]

"Help! Help! I'm being oppressed!" is what I want to shout, but with the combination of Chiquita--and now I know it's Chiquita, despite the changes she's undergone--giving me shaken baby syndrome and Osuteno--I know that perfume and hand lotion combo--trying to stifle me, the only thing that actually comes out audible is something akin to "Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! Ph'nglui mglw'nafh..."

That kinda thing. Fortunately, Osu abandons shushing me and I fall on my ass while he hugs the shit out of Chiquita. Speaking of ass, "Hey! You can't just cop a feel like that! I'll have you know that I'm the Acting Raikage of Cloud, as evidenced by this noble crown made of Raiden-blessed mithril, and totally not just tinfoil that I stole off the top of my deadbeat roomie's dinner. Hmph!" As I pick myself up and dust off my rear end, Chiquita explains just why the hell and how the hell it is that this is the first time I've seen her since, well, that whole stabbing-her-brother thing. I let out a sigh at the last jab, though.

"I see that gobbling an endless number of roosters hasn't dulled your tongue at all," I say with an eyeroll. It's a little-known fact that due to local prion-based illnesses, cows and pigs aren't usually raised in Roenesia, making chicken the default source of protein on the island. "So...looks like you haven't had any interest in doing the kumicho's job, eh? And after all that looting I did for you... Anyway, I'm glad you at least ended up as a madam, instead of becoming a politician or a lawyer or something scummy like that."

Before Chiquita can reply, my ears perk up to the sound of something ominous and familiar. "I want gravy!" echoes in the distance, and it's getting closer. For Saito's sake, why can't the Raikage's Guard do their damned jobs for a change and just escort the chancellor back to the Torre like I asked? Also, I guess The Donado didn't actually have a stroke. That's good, I guess?

"Oh! You know, let's not just stand here in public looking like we're up to crimes. Why don't we...why don't we...get...r-r-" I have to suppress a wave of nausea to say it, while making a horrible face, "...ramen..."

Yes, it's the most cliche bullshit ever, but it's better than having to refill an orange man's gravy glass all night.

 

[Osuteno]

Osu’s smile took mildly noticeable hit at the mention of the brothel in question but he recovered quickly and was mostly happy that Onee-San was doing well, as evidenced by her jabs at Saeko.

Of course Osu’s expression took several more hits as talks of her… family’s organization popped up… and apparently a story between Saeko and Onee involving looting… Osu shook his head. It was best for him not to know. Plausible deniability is very important.

Osu noticed a weird chill coming over him despite there not being a breeze at that particular moment before Saeko suddenly began seeming nervous. It was that stutter she got when she was trying to avoid something like the grannies in charge of the apartment building’s neighbors’ association or when a letter without a sender listed appears in the mail. Still, “Ramen?” Osu asked with some confusion. Think of the sodium… Wait no, that isn’t the point right now. For some reason this doesn’t feel right. Unfortunately he couldn’t place his finger on exactly what didn’t seem right.

Osu stared at Saeko for a moment before he looked over at Chiyoko, “I can’t say I think I have actually eaten ramen before? Does ramen sound alright with you Onee?” Osu was rather secretly hoping for a different suggestion, but didn’t want to be a spoilsport if Chiyoko really wanted to eat ramen… Why was he getting this weird sense of irritation as the seconds passed? He even found he was gripping his hand into a fist without intentionally doing so, creating more confusion for him. Odd?

 

[Kawakami Hotaru]

"Fairly sure I haven't devoured nearly as much poultry as you, Senpai." Her reply was to the point, but I mean who didn't love a nice chicken dinner? Hopefully the impromptu Raikage wouldn't bring up her fondling again as she, in all honesty, wasn't terribly sure why she had been groping her in the first place, urgh, the young woman could feel an aneurysm coming on already and she had only been back in town and off the boat for a couple of days now. Ramen in all honesty sounded pretty terrible, but with the looming tension building around the group, a tension she didn't quite understand at that moment, it seemed as good an idea as any. "I guess, haven't had ramen in a while, I mean other than that Maru-Chan shit. Honestly I don't even cook it most times, just crush up the noodles, pour the sodium, and end up in a coma for a bit. So, ramen it is." If anything it was better than standing in the middle of the street like a bunch of idiots, little did she know that the essence of patriotism was looming behind them and they had precious little time to escape from it.


Traipsing through the street for a few minutes the trio finally found a suitable stall, sitting she had two of her favorite little government stooges on either side of her, bringing back memories of a different and terrible time in her life. Yet there was a certain comfort in those brief moments of memory, of those terrible times where only they had kept her sane, a heavy breath escaped her lungs unaware of the pudgy bastard staring back at her yelling something about taking her order, why couldn't he go to one of them first? "What?", She remarked returning to reality from her daze as the man once again asked what she would be having, "Oh sorry, Tonkotsu with extra egg and pork. Shochu too." she watched in silence as the man wrote her order down only to interject that they didn't carry shochu, eliciting another heavy breath from the woman, "Warm Sake then?" and once again she was disappointed as the man explained they didn't carry a liquor permit. Why were the Gods so cruel? Her eyes darted back looking toward the small corner store sitting across the street, seemed she would have to purchase her own liquor. Slapping down a few thousand yen she absentmindedly stood from her seat, "One bill, please." with a quick scratch on her chin she looked back toward both of her friends stating rather plainly, "Be back."


It had only been a few months since the doctors had told her that she had the liver of a 60-something alcoholic, and yet she still drowned her sorrow at any chance she could. A small bell rang as the woman walked into the store, the trip was quick and soon she returned to the group with a brown bag containing a pint of Suntory, whiskey went with everything right?


"So..." It had been years since she had spoken with her friends, and yet she could think of no topics of conversation, what was there to talk about, really? A plethora of emotion ran throughout her stomach as she unscrewed the cap of her drinking catching the ire of the pudgy man behind the counter as he pointed to a sign that clearly marked 'no outside food or drink', not that she particularly cared drawing a careful and measured sip before passing it toward Saeko-San, doubting Osu would partake in the demon drink, he had always been so health conscious. "Take it not much has changed over here, Yumer's is as big of a dumb ass as ever, I mean he did put you in charge." Chiyoko remarked looking over toward her Senpai drawing in a swig from the bottle as an odd tingle hit her cheeks, was the impeccable Chiyoko blushing? Another odd feeling hit her stomach as her gaze immediately broke away instead staring at Osu with slightly wide eyes, unsure of where her blush had originated from.

"Uh, so you the head honcho of the medical field yet, Nee-Chan?" Once again she bumbled trying to force her thoughts away from the woman's lips, wait, what in the name of Jesus Saito? Why was she thinking of that putrid hag's lips to begin with? The feeling of another aneurysm hit her full force as she racked her brains for another topic of conversation and failing miserably, the arrival of their meal seemed to save her as she immediately shoved her face into the bowl seeking solace.

Her leg brushed against the older woman and another flush hit her face just as a feeling of nausea hit her stomach, what in the name of God was going on right now? Unsure if anyone else had noticed she once again focused her doe-eyed expression upon her Nee-Chan as if requesting help from a situation no one else knew was going on. Ugh, she needed to express her heterosexuality here and now! "Nee-Chan!" She blurted out, unsure of where she was going in the conversation, seemed she needed to proffer her falsely-undying love to the young boy, or at least something like that. "You're looking damn fine these days..." .... Annnd with that charming statement she once again buried her face in the food before her, God this was getting more awkward by the second.

 

[Takaki Saeko]

And so it came to pass that we, The Three Dumbassketeers, finally violated a compact that we'd all sworn to the gods of originality, and had a shinobi ramen thread. I remember swearing never to do this--to only have unique topics with unique settings--but when every other promise in life has been broken, even the most sacred of compacts loses its luster. In plain Kaminarijin, it was bound to happen anyway.

While Chiquita absconds to get her booze, I quickly sidle over next to Osu and fix him with my best puppy dog stare. "Did you feel it? The weird electricity in the air a few minutes ago? No, you're not going crazy. It's him, dude. The Donado! I couldn't take it anymore and left midway through dinner, but my idiot guardsmen didn't do their jobs and take him back to the Torre! He's on the loose now, and he's searching for me! I think he thinks that I'm the only one capable of refilling his gravy glass, and if he doesn't get enough turkey drippings and pan juice, he might die! Anyway, I don't want Chiquita to know about this, because it's so shameful. And I definitely don't want to drag the Donado around with us, because goddammit, he's like the definition of a fifth wheel! So if your like, bloody dong-tentacles feel anything getting close, we'll all have to move somewhere else!"

With that, Chiquita arrives, takes a swig, and passes it to me. The vendor gives me a stinkeye. "Citizen, can you make an exception for the Acting Raikage? Pretty please?"

His brows furrow. "You're the acting Raikage? You expect me to believe that, what with your tinfoil helmet and such?"

"It's not tinfoil! It's finely-drawn and hammered mithril taken from Sarunishi's hoard, and it protects my thoughts from interference from the outside world! Or was it the opposite?"

He shrugs, rolls his eyes, and relents. "I'll just add a bottle charge to the bill, I guess."

"Thank you, fine citizen. My priority is your well-being." I wink at Chiquita and Osu, and take a celebratory swig. I think my CHA score just went up by +1!

Of course, Chiquita can't ever just let a jibe go to waste--she must be jealous of my newly granted power and elegance. I make sure to leave plenty of slobber on the bottle before handing it back to her, because there's nothing grosser than cooties from your buddy. "Ah, Chiquita, you're still a master of the old backhanded compliment. How have you not run your brothel into the ground yet? Anyway, Yumers is a dumbass, yeah. I know he's been a huge burden of mine. But lately something's changed that ain't hard to define, Yumers got himself a wife and I want to make her mine. And Kahako's watching him with those eyes, and she's loving him with that body, I just know it. Yeah, and he's holding her in his arms late at night..."

I wish that I had Yumers' girl,
Where can I find a woman like that...

I reach over and take another swig from Chiquita's bottle to clear my melancholy away. "Anyway, he did one smart thing, and that was precisely to put me in charge. You know," I grin evilly at her, "technically I'm your boss now. Doesn't matter if you're a jonin. I can make you get down and gimme fifty. Same thing with Osu! Even though Osu won't let me into my own place anymore since a certain Chancellor might show up in the middle of the night demanding a refill. Osu! Osu, lemme in, I'm beggin you..."

Just how strong is Chiquita's drink, anyway?

Her leg bumps against mine and I move mine away, thinking nothing of it. But Chiquita seems to get hell of flustered, and suddenly turns all of her attention to Osu. In fact, her face is beet red, and I know it's not from the alcohol (ingesting fact: most shinobi are given gene therapy to make sure we don't get the dreaded 'Kaminarijin Flush' when drinking). I chuckle. "But Chiquita, he's a married man!"

 

[Osuteno]

Osu wasn’t quite sure what to order as Chiyoko went to buy alcohol when Saeko started talking about one of the last individuals in the world Osu would want to interact with. His expression shifted to one of disgust like some vulgar spectacle had appeared before him, causing a nearby patron to awaken to something.

Osu leaned towards Saeko so those nearby could not hear him. “I will only say this once, so listen carefully. I do not care who he is, if that man comes near my family again, I will turn him into an invalid. If he drops dead in the streets from his lack of grease, which I can only assume would be because his true form is that of a disease on humanity itself, I will personally celebrate with a bottle of the finest Lightning Wine. I do not care if our misguided leadership gave you other tasks while they are away, your only job while that filth is in our village is to make damn sure he stays on that golf course or else safely quarantined, and YOU WILL make sure that happens Takaki Saeko, or I will be a firm reminder for you that fade to blacks, aside from scenes of extreme violence or those of sexual nature, are also used when scenes develop in a way that is excessively unsettling or disturbing beyond the ratings of a site. I hope to make this reunion with our friend pleasant but tomorrow onwards you will not slack again.” With that said a couple chibi figures hopped down from Osu’s sleeve and ran off into the shadows and rooftops to keep an eye out.

As Chiyoko returned Osu’s face was back to the pleased look he had before as if nothing had occurred at all and he had simply ordered whatever the “house-special” could possibly be since he simply had no idea what made ‘good’ ramen.

A nostalgic embarrassment came over Osu as he witnessed the exchange around the outside drink issue… he had always known he was the odd one out when it came to the trio when situations like this occurred, between Chiyoko’s lack of care and Saeko’s… Saeko-ness. It really wasn’t his place to question the chain of command but… what in the world were they thinking leaving Saeko in charge?

“Err no. Actually I haven’t had a promotion since we last saw each other. They couldn’t exactly put someone who couldn’t see over the top of a desk while sitting in charge of a sub branch and I was… out of the country for a couple years which has further delayed my chances at promotion. Who knows, I may get one the next time someone does a permanent transfer to the morgue or a plague hits. I honestly just want a raise, but people keep destroying lab equipment and mahogany tables… and my one student keeps causing international incidents and threatening peace treaties…Are we going to be able to pay what we owe on the rent from last month?” Osu’s initially cheery tone became a distressed mumble by the end of his explanation.

He was starting to feel himself drift into a worried daze as he remembered that he had just stayed awake three days to work technically over regulation overtime he had manipulated the schedule to get and exactly why, and just barely aware enough to reply, “You can come back home when you have your part of the rent caught up.”

Of course when Chiyoko suddenly exclaimed Nee-Chan Osu was shocked back into his surroundings and look at Her with an apology for zoning out on his tongue when she suddenly told him he was looking “damn fine.” Odd, Osu suddenly had a mental image of one of the dishes back home breaking in a violent manner.

“Uhmm thank you? Your looks have matured as well and it is refreshing to see you in such a suiting kimono.” A mental image of one of the cast iron pan crumbling to pieces this time?

Osu nodded at Saeko calling him a married man. “Almost four years now. Still need to figure out what to do about a babysitter for the anniversary since we can never get the same sitter to come twice… and the fact cultists still try to visit every week... Saeko.” He was still sure that the whole cultist fiasco and the aftermath was in no small part Saeko’s fault.

“I am still sure it had to be you who taught the girls that ‘Such a petty tribute will do this time mortal’ was another way of saying thank you.” What made things more unsettling for Osu was how the cultists only seemed to become more enthusiastic hearing such things. He had to keep such perverts away from his children.