THE DIRTY AND VILE HOLES OF POLITICAL STATE

Ritsuko eyed the hologram screen folding her arms, watching as the call carried on going. Personally, she was rather fascinated by this conversation, because she had always wanted to chat to Mana but getting her alone was never possible. Over in Greece, she tended to keep to herself and never stayed at parties.

Mana was clearly a workaholic like her, but it bothered her that this woman half her age had so much wealth. It made her think that maybe she had powerful contacts elsewhere, as she seemed to be smart enough to stay out of corruption from the outside. She sat back in the leather chair which overlooked the large holographic screen behind her was a glowing Nerv sign.

Shigeru was standing opposite her, but it was more for show. She needed this to look as up-market as possible; that was why she had asked for him. It had to look like she was throwing her official weight around; political figures loved that bullshit because they had big egos and she wanted to play on that.

She looked up as the face of the Star of Thessaly appeared on the screen. She looked slightly flushed and was dressed in a thick robe. Ritsuko felt a smirk form; clearly someone had either been self-pleasuring or was being pleasured, as she’d know that look anywhere. She pressed the translator so the younger woman would understand her. “Mana Kirishima, or the Star of Thessaly, I presume.”

Mana blinked as she recomposed herself, clearly looking at the Nerv symbol behind her. Her expression became very relaxed as she typed something in on her own holographic panel. “Ritsuko Ikari from Nerv Japan, I presume?” She raised her hand. “Yes, I remember you from the UN summit. You were there with your husband Gendo Ikari.”

Ritsuko looked up slightly. “Yes, the very same and I recall you, as you were shadowing the Greek Prime Minister as her translator, along with a man called Aleksanteri, who I heard died recently.”

Mana looked her in the eyes, speaking very calmly. “Yes well, reckless driving has consequences.”

Ritsuko eyed her. “But some are putting the blame on you because he was near your estate when it happened.”

Mana pushed her hair back slightly. “Aleksanteri had many enemies. His misdeeds are long and bad and most are now being exposed to Greece herself. Know this though: I didn’t like that man very much, I thought he was vile and unprofessional, but I didn’t kill him and we are all hoping his successor Kristo will do better by the people and not do money laundering.” She paused. “I assume Nerv though is not here to speak to me with regards to this and it’s clearly something far more serious, since you’ve called outside my time zone.”

Ritsuko looked up slightly. Clearly this one was very bright and couldn’t be baited. She breathed in deeply. “I assume you’ve heard that Asuka Langley Soryu and Rei Ayanami are missing?”

Mana put her hands together. “Yes, we have also heard about the deaths. Two celebrities who were ours are also dead, as well as the legend Nicolai Gedda, who is loved in my country and will be deeply missed.” Her eyes lowered. “I also hope that you find Rosetta Martinez, as she’s a friend of mine.”

Ritsuko eyed her. Well, well, that was interesting. “Are you two in a relationship?”

Mana laughed slightly. “No, she’s not my type. I just enjoy buying her clothing; our relationship is strictly professional.” She paused before speaking. “Though I understand why you say that, as Rosetta has a wide history of famous people she has spent personal time with, but I’m not among them. I realize her past relationships did include both pilots who went missing, but I don’t feel she is the type to side with terrorists.”

Ritsuko felt a sly smile form. She was looking forward to seeing how this young woman handled this. “Yes, but are you?” She flipped up the video of her meeting with the older woman. “We believe this older woman had something to do with them being taken, and she was seen talking with you not that long ago. Maybe you can elaborate to us who she is.”

Mana eyed the image before looking at her as she spoke calmly. “Are you positive that you want to know this? It’s like the Pandoran box which Pandora and her brother Pathos in Greek mythology opened together and brought chaos to the world.”

Ritsuko looked at her for a long moment. Clearly this woman had guts and wasn’t easy to play. “Go on.”

Mana raised her hand. “That is the Hyena of Vasai.”

Ritsuko sat up. “No. I know her. She was killed by one of the special ops from Germany years ago. She’s dead.”

Mana breathed in as she picked up a round card image which had a bird on one side in the centre and a cage on the other, with a string attached. She pulled the string taut as she spoke. “Have you ever seen the Thaumatrope Bird illusion?”

Ritsuko leaned forward. “No, can’t say I have.”

Mana began to twist the string, causing the image to flip fast. “The bird and the cage are separate, but twist with enough force and the bird appears within the cage.”

She looked up slightly. “My point is you were played. The Hyena tricked you and played dead and because you never stayed to check, she lives and now she’s as old and cranky as ever, just missing part of her arm.” She lowered the bird illusion. “She was trying to blackmail me during our meeting; she wanted me to join her organisation. I took the meeting, but declined her offer.”

She paused, typing in to panel bringing up a video which showed the older woman talking, which she flipped onto Ritsuko’s screen. “My government is well aware of this conversation. They told me if she ever comes back to tell them so Greece’s special ops can capture her. As you know, she has a long track record for killing unarmed men, women, and children.”

Ritsuko eyed the video seeing that Shigeru looked concerned. “How come this isn’t worldwide news, that perplexes me?”

Mana breathed in deeply. “There is no solid proof. Yes, there have been sightings worldwide, but no one knows where this psychopath makes her home of operations now. It’s like she’s off the grid.” She paused, bringing up more photos from different parts of the world. “History is so sketchy on the Hyena. Always has been. But myself and others within the government believe she’s had five failed marriages and possibly five children, most of whom she ditched on the fathers to look after as maternal instinct was not her thing in her youth.”

She brought up more images. “These children grew up healthy, happy, well-adjusted, except one, and that the one she had in later life with a German man, Heinrich Langley. I have a picture of him and his young son here, and the son as an adult. Word has it she murdered Heinrich, who was a nice guy and a farmer, because of this boy she wanted to keep. She saw him as some sort of prodigy.”

Ritsuko leaned forward, eyeing the picture of the brown-haired man, who she instantly recognised. She eyed Mana. “Well it would appear you’ve just solved a very interesting Nerv puzzle, Mana. Can I keep a copy of this photo and the media feeds?”

Mana looked up slightly “You can have the complete documents from my government on this subject. I have nothing to hide.”

Ritsuko eyed her, knowing that was a lie, but it clearly wasn’t about this. What it was, she had no idea right now. “Yes, I’d like them and I would like to thank you for your personal time, and now I’ll let you go back to your business.”

Mana looked up slightly. “Thank you, and I hope Nerv finds what it’s looking for.”

Ritsuko watched as the younger woman vanished from the screen, she sat in silence for a moment before turning to Shigeru who had remained quite throughout their conversation “She’s lying, but not about this topic. It’s something more, but I guess all political figures love to hide their bullshit.”

She typed, bringing up the photos of both the man and woman image from the briefing, along with Mari’s image and the only photo they had of Asuka’s stepfather and Mari’s real father, putting them side by side along with the colour photo Mana had given her. “Well, well, this just gets more and more interesting.”

She breathed in deeply. “It could be possible that Mari has more to her family tree than we ever thought possible.” She put her hands together. “Considering how she ran out of the briefing, clearly she has something bigger to hide.” She turned in her chair, eyeing Shigeru. “Have all this sent to Misato right now and tell her that one side of this puzzle might have been worked out. The traitor in our midst could well be Langley.” Shigeru turned to her. ”I agree it seems like a real possibility.”

8

Rei looked at her hands which were chained and bolted as she was brought into the huge room. This was what she had agreed to, as they wouldn’t let her see Asuka otherwise. She was being led by both Christopher and Achika, who had hold of the longer chain so she couldn’t escape.

A dim light came on as was brought to a stop. She could see Asuka bolted to the metal chair, though her head was to one side as she was clearly sleeping very deeply, and even from where she was Rei could make out the razor sharp teeth and glowing of her left eye through the closed lid. Strangely, it had not gone into its dimmed state despite the fact that she was sleeping.

Christopher’s voice hit the air as he pushed her gently forward. “You can feed her, but grandmother wants to do something very important first.”

He turned, seeing that the small woman’s red eyes had not stopped glowing since they’d left the prison room, though her teeth had returned to normal. “We are going to give the kitty a bath first, since she stinks and is covered in blood.”

Rei turned only for Achika to pull up her hands, bolting the long chain to the floor. “What do you mean bath her?”

Achika turned eyeing her. “It’s part of her cleansing, and necessary for her as part of her godhood. The scripture reads that the sleeping god must be washed in fresh water and then put into the sea of blood from her former life.” She turned as her grandmother appeared and pressed a device causing two huge water tanks to rise up slowly from the floor. One was filled with fresh blue water, the other from the red sea of Antarctica.

Achika moved closer to Asuka, putting a glowing blue key into the huge, heavy, ridged handcuffs, causing them to separate from each other but not unlock. She watched as two huge chains came down from above, as she pushed each cuff in to them. Clearly, it was better to do this while she was asleep. Awake would be much harder, even if it meant she had to be close to her while she was drooling slightly due to the razor teeth. She moved downwards, unlocking her feet watching as the second part of the rig came down which would lock to her neck and shoulders. She brought it down, locking it and bolting the chained hand cuffs in so she couldn’t fully raise her arms as she undid the chest brace, which snapped open.

She moved to stand in front of the red haired woman “Rise and shine, bastard child!” She paused, getting a mumbled German response which made no sense. She turned, eyeing Rei. “Is this normal?”

Rei looked at Asuka. “You hurt her; she’s probably really tired.”

Christopher moved forward. “Please allow me.” He moved forward, jamming the metal lightning bat’s end straight into the red-haired woman’s stomach, watching as her eyes snapped wide open. The pain showed in her face as he eased it away. “Guess that part still hurts, right?” Asuka breathed in painfully, only to realize that her chest brace was gone and her feet were free. She stood up only to feel the pain as she was suddenly pulled back as she caught sight of the fact that her hands were still in cuffs, but they’d been attached to long chains.

Chains which in turn were attached to a heavy back brace, which was clamped on to her neck, restricting her upper body movement. The back brace itself had a chain going up into the darkness above. She moved forward, causing the chain to go taut above. Every breath hurt, as did every foot step as she spoke in German, realizing that she couldn’t reach either Achika or Christopher, who were out of her reach due to the chain. “Ich werde dich töten und dir das Blut aussaugen!” Rei blinked in surprise. It was so rare to hear Asuka talk in full German, unless it was directly to her family.

Gabriella breathed in, shaking her head. “Just like your grandmother; she was never one to mince her words either.” She watched as Asuka turned, looking in her direction in the dim light. She raised her robotic hand. “How do you think I lost this? Well, it was fighting in some beat-up shack during the Ukrainian civil war, which the French, Germans and English all got tied up in at the time I was around your age.”

She breathed in deeply. “I was so close to slicing that woman’s throat open, but then she fought dirty and threw a grenade at me.” She eyed her hand. “Blew my arm off right down to the elbow; she only lost a finger in the blast. Maybe it was for the better, because she thought I was dead.”

She moved her robotic fingers. “Your grandmother taught me the most important lesson that day, which is that the greatest power you have is in the shadows. Why bother with open warfare, when you can manipulate the dice behind the scenes? Why lose limbs, when you can get others to do it for you, for the right price?”

She paused. “I even met her again years later at your mother’s fake funeral. Granted I had to hide my hands behind leather gloves, but she just didn’t recognise me. But then, she never saw my face to start with. When we fought the first time around, I wore a mask.” She folded her arms. “Also, the Korth combat revolver you own is not even yours. It was mine; she took it from me as a battle trophy. Not that I care, guns are just things, you can just buy a new one, but I find it ironic that it was passed down to you, of all people

She moved closer to Asuka, who looked utterly pissed off now. Her good eye was filled with rage, while her left let off blazing white and blue light. “I’m going off topic though, so let’s get to the point. I have your lover here right now, so you better behave or I will hurt her.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Asuka turned sharply, looking around her trying to ignore how tired she was and that she was having trouble focusing. All she could make out were the typical glowing blue eyes of the masked guards and blurry red light from somewhere. “You’re verfickte lying, she’s not here!”

Gabriella raised her hands, watching as the lights came on revealing Rei, who was chained opposite along with the huge tanks, as she turned to Asuka. “Oh, it would appear that you’re not firing on all cylinders, how amusing.”

Asuka turned, blinking, seeing Rei come into focus. She had to blink twice before realizing that her girlfriend’s eyes were glowing red. She stepped forward, hearing the chain grind as she spoke softly ignoring the others “Are you okay? Are they treating you well?”

Rei breathed in, looking down sadly. “Yes, they’re treating me well, Asuka. They brought me here because you’re not eating. After this is over, they want me to feed you.”

Asuka breathed in painfully, trying to stay focused. “After what’s over?”

Gabriella felt a smile form. “After we give you a little bath. Don’t struggle now, you’ll only make it worse for yourself.”

Asuka turned sharply, her eyes focusing on the tanks. “Bath?”

Gabriella smiled, pointing. “You’re going in the fresh water first.” She signalled her hand. “Take her up!”

Asuka felt the chain pull in the opposite direction all too suddenly. She tried desperately to fight against it, pulling the chain as her words came out and she was unable to hide the terror in them. “No please! I don’t want to!” Bardiel was no longer in her mind; she knew when he had been in her brain, he’d repressed the fear when she’d fallen in to the swimming pool with Mari, but that was no longer there “Don’t make me do this! I’ll do anything.” She tried to force her feet into the ground, only to feel them slide as the chain began to pull upwards.

Gabriella breathed in deeply. “Surprising how you go from rebellious to polite where water is involved.” She watched as Asuka was pulled skywards. Her struggling became more intense, only for her to be stopped as the chain moved over the water, her face turning to utter terror and panic as her left eye suddenly dimmed, going dark. “They say the greatest fear is fear itself, and since you’re a god in human form you still know what fear is.”

Rei’s pained voice suddenly hit the air. “Please don’t do this to her!”

Gabriella turned, eyeing Rei, as she spoke calmly. “Understand it’s for her own good… She must embrace fear to be reborn and remember why she hates clear water.”

Asuka stared into the water, which her feet were now hanging above. Feeling herself shake in fear, she was truly powerless and terrified. She heard Gabriella speak calmly. “Drop her.” She looked up, but it was too late as the chain suddenly went loose and her body was smashed into the blue water. The water was freezing cold and felt like ice as she sunk into it. Her hands were chained, restricting their upward movement, so she couldn’t move her arms to swim upwards. All she could see was blue, and she couldn’t open her mouth as she knew she would let in water and possibly drown. She felt the banging of her own heartbeat in her ears, as a memory came flying back to her in painful crystal clarity.

“It’s okay Asuka, please forgive me, I’m so sorry!”

Asuka felt her older sister’s arms tighten around her as she painfully coughed up water. She was so cold all her body could do was shake violently. The terror was made worse by her fear of ice and cold and chilling waters and being alone in the depths, along with the intense fear of dying. The tears came before she could stop them, despite the fact that she didn’t want them, as she wanted to be grown up. Marian’s arms were pulling her into her lap, holding her tight as if they’d never let go, as a dark voice spoke behind them. It was cold and soft. “Why Marian… I asked you to stay still. Your older brother and sister can do it, why can’t you?”

Her older sister’s head turned as she spoke. “She’s tiny and small and she didn’t do anything to us!”

“You disappoint me, Marian. Yet again you fail in the tests that your older brother and sister accomplish, and to be a great warrior you need to see weaker things die.”

Her sister’s voice came again as she kept a tight hold of her. “They’re not my brother and sister; they have a different mother!”

A dark shadow appeared over them both. “She is not even your blood, Marian. She is a bastard child created in a birthing machine.” Asuka felt her breathing get faster as a robotic hand moved closer but stopped near her older sister’s face.

Her sister spoke again, the anger showing in her face. “I like her! She makes me happy, she’s kind to me, Christopher and Achika just bully me, I hate them!”

The robotic hand moved back its joints creaking as its owner expressed her anger “Your daddy is right, Marian. You are a huge disappointment. You think too much and feel too much and you don’t understand this family’s greater plan the way your older brother and sister do.” Asuka watched as the shadow moved back. “Since you’ve made your feelings known, you get to keep your worthless younger sister, but know that when we see each other again I will punish you for your disobedience.”

Asuka watched saw the looming shadow vanished from sight along with the two others, leaving her alone with Marian, who kept a tight hold of her in her lap, refusing to let go as she spoke through her tears. “You like me? I thought you hated me, like my Mama did.”

Her older sister’s breathing suddenly became pained as she spoke through gritted teeth as her tears started to fall. “No Asuka, I like you; you’re kind to me and don’t want us to be apart because I love you, you’re my little sister.” Asuka blinked in confusion. She loved her? No one ever said that to her, yet now she was hearing those words and it was so confusing, and she didn’t know how to react other than to hold the person she called her big sister tighter as she carried on crying.

Asuka felt her eyes snap open as her mouth opened before she could stop it. She felt water go in and her body freeze from the shock. She was going to die; she could feel her life ebbing away. She turned, looking through the tank, seeing that Rei was screaming something at Gabriella. The chain suddenly went taut as she was yanked out, which caused pain in her back. As she rose high up, everything was shaking, she was freezing, and she found herself coughing painfully, bringing up water. The chain above suddenly moved as she was brought above the red sea tank.

Rei felt her eyes dart as she spoke through gritted razor teeth. “You could have killed her! She was starting to drown.”

Gabriella breathed in deeply. “You need not worry, the second tank will help.” She looked above. “Drop her!”

Rei watched in horror as Asuka was plunged in to the red water tank. “Are you out of your mind? Red water has no oxygen!”

Gabriella watched as Asuka sunk down, though she wasn’t struggling at all. “For normal mortals that is very true, but not for her; she’s special.” Her gaze drifted to Asuka’s whose whole body suddenly relaxed as her eyes looked upwards, and she opened her mouth. Her breathing slowed as her left eye suddenly lit up, along with her right one which turned glowing green as its pupil slowly changed, becoming cat-like.

She felt her smile widen. “I can understand why she may have kept this from you, Rei, but unlike those people who can swim in it using breathing apparatus, she can breathe in it like it’s LCL. That’s why she can’t stand normal water, because she created the red sea in her former life.” She watched as Asuka became fully relaxed. She hung there, her mouth fully open as her chest breathed in and out deeply and slowly. “We’ve tracked you all for years, but we never touched you, and there are photos we took of her jumping off a peer at age sixteen into one of the red waters of Tokyo Three’s bays. Our divers thought she was going to drown, or that it was a suicide attempt.”

She eased up her robotic hand. “As you know, jumpers sometimes use the red water to die in, as it’s quicker than drowning in blue and far less painful. It’s more that you cease to be and you vanish; only your clothes get left behind. It’s believed that these people are returning to human instrumentality once more, and that they might return one day. That’s why they can’t change Antarctica’s red sea back, as it still contains human souls, all waiting for their god to be reborn and for the island of rebirth to rise up from the ocean.” She put her hands behind her back. “The point is, Asuka does not cease to be in red water. It welcomes her home like a mother wanting its child.”

She folded her arms, seeing the utter shock in Rei’s eyes. “But would you care for the truly interesting part? She breathes because these souls give her life. They’re drawn to her like a magnet, willing her to live and letting the rest die, because as their former god they must protect her; they are bound to it.” She moved, putting her hands on both sides of Rei’s face and pulling her towards her, even though it made the younger woman’s chains go taut. “Now do you see what we are trying to achieve here, and who your lover truly is? Blessed and lucky you are to be the lover of the destroyer of worlds.”

She turned, hearing a crackle. It was very hard to hear, but it got louder only for the room to suddenly light up as a huge Lance of Longinus hanging high above the huge room blasted up with red lightning which lit up light veins for a moment, lighting everything in red for an instant, only to suddenly go out. Gabriella’s smile faded as she eyed Achika and Christopher. “What just happened… it’s meant to stay alight, I presume?”

Christopher turned, watching as a hologram of the document appeared from the hidden desk close by. “The scripture is not clear, only that it awakens the death god, but no more.”

Gabriella felt a sneer form as she raised her hand. “Pull her out!”

She watched as Asuka was pulled out from the red water only for the chain to go loose as she was brought down to the floor. It seemed to take her a moment to snap out of the haze as she started coughing up red water as she lay on the floor, clearly in utter exhaustion. She watched as Rei moved over to Asuka the concern in her eyes as she sat next to her, stroking her hair, as her face and hair were the only things she could reach.

Gabriella felt a sneer form on her lips.” That was utterly disappointing. This should have started it off.” She turned, raising her robotic hand. “Maybe we need to scrape off the top layer, like paint so to speak, using Sekhmet’s eye.”

Achika felt her eyes dart. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, we tested it on our enemies with mixed results. Most committed suicide in their cells after it was used on them, or went plain insane and we had to kill them as they became extremely violent.”

Gabriella eyed her granddaughter. “My precious grandchild, have faith in me. I don’t want to kill her or send her insane, I just want to open a crack in the souls surface between her old soul and the new fresh one that’s keeping the old one subdued.” She turned, eyeing Asuka, whose eyes slowly returned to normal before closing as she passed out. “Though let’s let Rei feed her, then have her taken back to the hanging prison guest room. Her being here when we use Sekhmet’s eye is just too dangerous; it affects people around it and can hospitalize them.”

8

Misato breathed in deeply as she brought up the old television reporter footage from Mexico City and the temple of Quetzalcoatl. The temple had long since been restored, but in the film it was a burning outwards with fire and smoke. She breathed in deeply, watching some of the very old mobile phone footage play out from inside the temple. The men and women ran in dressed in their red and white clothing, bearing machete weapons and hand guns, screaming their Latin words inside the temple before throwing a bomb into hundreds of innocent people.

She looked up slightly, knowing she was going to be here all night again tonight. Ritsuko had had a load of stuff sent to her that she needed to go through, although she was going to go through it with Kaji once he got off from the pilots’ training.

She eyed the footage from the press cameras of them loading people into the hospital vans. There were horrific wounds all around. She paused, finally coming to an interesting piece of footage of a mother holding a young eleven-year-old boy who had a bloody face and arms and was covered in dirt. She turned, eyeing Maya, who was clearly waiting for Kaji to come back so she could go home, as she had said she would meet Mari outside of work. “Maya… you know I’m not getting anything here on Sumire. I have someone here though called Huitzilin in the records. He’s the right age, is he her twin brother or something?”

Maya looked at her screen. “Maybe you should look harder at that boy’s neck.”

Misato blinked in confusion. She breathed in, pausing the video, looking closer, seeing the pendant, which she recognised as the one around Sumire’s neck, around the boy’s neck. “Wait a second, I fully understand now.” She leaned on her elbow. “Clearly she really filled out.”

Maya looked up slightly. “Yes, and could you please get her to visit me via order or something? She’s ignored my phone requests and it’s important as I believe she has a medication conflict in that her anti-depressants are messing with her other medication. That’s why she blew up in the briefing, as I read her back history and she’s normally very level headed.”

Misato breathed in deeply. “Well, Ritsuko claims different, and this isn’t the first time she’s insulted her. It was insulting her that got her tossed in the Magi maintenance system to start with.” She felt a smirk form. “Did find out what she said though in Spanish, kind of funny.”

Maya raised her hand. “It’s fine, I’ll talk to her. Once I get her medication sorted, she’ll be fine, believe me, so there’ll be no reason to discipline her.”

Misato leaned back in her chair. “I feel she’s always going to be a fiery one regardless of us, but the reality is she is right; this isn’t Gryphon and it proves it without any doubt. We are dealing with someone bigger, smarter, and if I’m right they’re being led by the Hyena of Vasai.”

Maya turned sharply in her seat. “I thought she was dead? Geraldina was meant to be the one that killed her decades ago.”

Misato carried on typing, eyeing all the stuff next to her, which was Ritsuko’s findings. “Yeah well, apparently the murderous bitch might have lived, it’s just no one in any government can prove it, or so it seems. Woman’s a shadow.”

Maya turned as her phone went off. She eyed the message, which was from Mari asking where she was. She had already ensured that Shinji was looking after Asuka’s home and cat tonight, and that Kaworu would drop by Pen Pen and feed him again on the way up there. “I need to go home.”

Misato looked up sharply. “Since when do you go home early?”

Maya breathed in deeply “I’m meeting someone.”

Misato leaned forward, a smug smile spreading across her lips. “That person wouldn’t happen to be Mari would it?”

Maya eyed her. “It’s a personal meeting, not a date.”

Misato felt her smile turn to a wide sly grin, as it was rarely if ever she got to rib Maya and since she’d been getting too much into her sex life, she now felt it was time to return the favour. “Oh personal, I see, will it involve Twister, scissors, or lesbian sexual bingo?”

Maya turned sharply. “It’s official business!”

Misato nodded, eyeing her. “Yeah, sure it is. Why can’t you just admit you like her and you want to have sex with her, then all will be right with the world?” She paused. “I mean you even followed her into the arcade, which none of us were expecting, as we thought you’d call her up to your office after she was done playing.”

Maya turned slightly, “Look, the issue is more complex than you realize and I’ll give you a full report tomorrow on it!”

Misato sat back in her chair, putting her feet on the table. “Is it regarding that woman who looks like Mari and could be part of her family, I already have a hunch about that and though you’ll fill in the gaps tomorrow, I know you don’t bring people to your house; you make house calls.”

Maya eyed her in annoyance. “It’s not the way you think; she is just my friend.”

Misato folded her arms. “A thousand yen says you sleep with her.”

Maya eyed her. “I’m not making bets with you. I heard how that worked out with Ritsuko.”

Misato raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, because I was always right and she hated paying up.”

Maya turned, seeing Kaji coming down the corridor. “I’m going, good night both of you.” She walked past Kaji, giving him a smile as she waved goodbye.

Kaji turned, watching as Maya vanished from sight. “Were you two just arguing?”

Misato looked up slightly. “Yes and no. Let’s just say Mari is visiting her house tonight and she’s in denial about it being platonic.”

Kaji slowly sat himself down in the chair opposite “That’s not what I heard regarding the arcade, and that’s got a lot of people talking as she very rarely throws around her authority card in that manner.”

Misato looked at him as she pulled her feet off the desk. “Yeah, I know, so I think there’s more to it than the friend’s line she spins.”

Kaji leaned over, typing into the holographic desk and creating a second screen as he eyed over the data. “I agree, she clearly thinks more of Mari then she wants to let on.” He eyed the huge section of information. “Is this from Ritsuko?”

Misato looked at him. “Yes, are you okay to go through this with me? I’ve been putting this off since she made a choice to write it like some twenty-page essay.”

Kaji stroked his beard. “Yeah sure, clearly she went to town with this, but the both of us will get through it faster.”

End of part 28

Silvermoonlight