Quote:Oh, yes. I'd forgotten about that, since you're pretty much the only exposure I've had to the show.
Well, his first was a military clusterfuck, his second (both versions) resulted existential angst. The third one, being the one directly prior to this, actually _did_ help a little, even if there were some rough spots.
Incidentally, I've completely forgotten where I had meant to take this scene.
"There's no need for threats," she said mildly. "Let's see... start with Rorschach - you know it?"
Mai grinned and waved absently. "Meetings that happen there never happened."
"Precisely. It's only a couple of blocks from the business district, and I had gone to meet Kurita-san" - whom Mai knew to be the Fujino Group's local director - "So, since I knew that she had meant to speak with Yamada-san about-" abruptly, she cut herself off.
The smile in the other girl's eyes had gone out, and her face was slightly pale, but she shook herself and rallied gamely. "Any news, by the way?" She almost - almost - managed to make the question seem casual.
Shizuru realized she was resting her fingertips against her cheek, and lowered that hand back to a neutral position. "SEARRS," she said, in a tone that actually fit into the sudden, oppresive quiet.
Mai closed her eyes and took a slow, quiet cleansing breath. Then she opened them again and smiled the slightly-too-natural actress's smile that the other HiME had quickly learned to recognize as heralding serious distress on the part of the girl that - somehow, and age aside - had managed to become a bit of a mother figure for all of them, as well as a friend. "I see. Well, it's not as though that's really a surprise, is it? We'll have to discuss it this evening - in the meantime, you were dishing the dirt."
The older girl regarded her for a moment, thoughts racing behind the standard placid mask. "If Mai-san needs to talk about..." she started, then trailed off as the offer seemed to vanish tracelessly into some dark voice behind the smiling mask. "Well, I managed to get there at about the right time, so Natsuki's bike was parked outside the alley. I had been waiting a few minutes when she came out, carrying her helmet under her arm in that way that does such wonderful things with her hips..."
In the animated version, of course, Shizuru's recollections would be covered in full detail, with every service shot the animators could come up with for illustration, but I have a couple of paragraphs to write on a paper due this Wednesday and that before the three-four hour drive from home to school, since I've come back here for a slightly belated birthday.
So - new scene next time. Stay tuned! -n
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"Puripuri puripuri... Bang!"