Steve grabbed a bottle of strong Sake and handed it to Kyosuke.
"Right, but I want you to keep close to Naomi. Try to help her through this. I don't want to see her this angry, nor do 'we' want any unnessescary internal conflicts within the sisterhood." He said quietly.
He then returned to the bar and began polishing it and cleaning it.
"Right, and I suppose you just expect me to walk right on over to sword lady and sit down?" Kyo asked.
Steve continued polishing the bar.
"Yep." Kyo answered the question himself, shaking his head.
Kyosuke let out a long, deep sigh as he walked across the Tea House to the Elder Sisters corner, all too aware of the shocked and disgusted glares he was getting. Oh well, if he lost his life, at least Steve would take the blame.
"I, er... my name is Kyosuke Takeda... Steve has asked me to keep an eye on Naomi... I can leave if that's a.... problem or anything, though...." He stammered to the bladed woman, who was now standing in front of him next to the table.
"I don't care what Steve wants. He's a robot slave, his opinion is invalid..." She sat for a while, contemplating.
"Kyosuke, I'm sorry your life has become so horrible... Maybe it WOULD have been better to have let you go to the frontlines in leeds and die. Or blow you out of the airlock on the Matsuda... I don't know. Would have been better then putting you through this..."
Naomi took another sip from the flask Lady Shikyo gave her. And laid her head down on the table for a few minuites.
ALRIGHT Load up the transport, we got another run to make and soon. I want us loaded and gone before those damn Kiretsu show back up again. And Jack, make damn sure this time you leave the right crate for Lady Kurisho!
*The crew of a positively old Train move fast to load up supplies and gear after dropping off normal cargo for Ainu Depot. Its captain an occasional trader stopping here looks as edgy as usual when they are anywhere near this place. As soon as the last crate is offloaded and the bill of ladding turned over, the crew hustles back on and the thrusters roar to life and push the Train out away from Ainu and back for Berlin where they will continue on their way again*
"This one has heard of you as well Little Sister. She has not had the honor of knowing many of this ones Sisters, but perhaps now is that time to change such a thing and know at least one better."
She gives that same slight sad smile for a moment as she watched Naomi take that first drink from the flask, then continues on with her rumbling and complaints. She does not however interupt or comment on how even the best and more honorable must sometimes serve those with less honor or dignity. So she listens and allows Naomi to vent her fustrations to her.
In that same soft quiet voice she again speaks to Naomi "This one believes she does understand. There are many nights when she has questions that go unanswered or certain people who do not understand why we are who we are."
The single reference to anyone attempting to 'rape' Naomi makes Shikyo almost smile for a moment, but that passes just as quickly when the male from earlier walked up to the table she shares with Naomi. He hand immidiately drops to the scabbard of her Wakizashi since the Katana would prove to be too long for such close quarters. Listening to him first, then Naomi's response, she now knows his name and why he was over at their table. A quick glance at Steve, and if he is paying attention, promises a cold death if something happens, then returns her gaze to Kyosuke agagin, once more with a calm expression, though her eyes are anything but.
"Please have a seat Kyosuke-san. This one would appriciate it greatly, cosidering She does not yet know you or why you are truely on this station...yet."
Even as she calmly spoke, her hand remains on the scabbard of the wakizashi, then she leans back just slightly as Naomi took another drink from the flask. Little did Naomi know, the flask contained a powerful yet subtle sleeping draught with the liquor there to mask its presence. It should not be long after Naomi laid her head back down on the table that she should be deeply asleep and that Shikyo could move her some where both safe and quiet so her Sister could sleep in peace.
Naomi guzzled down the contents of the flask and hiccuped slightly, she then lay back in the seat.
"Don't worry about him, Shikyo. He's just my man sl... err... Friend. He works for the sisterhood now." She commented, before yawning slowly succumbing to the sleeping agent.
While normally she would happily berate Kyosuke for being 1: a man, 2: technically a slave, and 3: a man, the effects of the contents of the flask made her too drowsy. She did however think hard about the man. Infact, since she had taken Kyosuke hostage and tortured him, he had not done anything to hurt her or her feelings. She did not want to further violate or undo his trust given the circumstances.
"Kyo... just... *yawns* you can sleep in my quarters here tonight. Just *yawns* don't screw anything up or get Shikyo to disembowel you." She said drowsily.
A few minuites passed and she was fast asleep, she leaned back into the seat and slid over to rest on Shikyo's shoulder.
"Time to drink myself to death until I forget about the repair costs to my Charon, then..." Kyosuke sighed.
He began pouring the Sake into an ochoko, conveniently preplaced on the table, until he realized how blatantly disrespectful he was being.
Normally he wouldn't care, but he had the feeling he was staring at one of the few people who would gut him in a heartbeat...
She smiled once more for a moment as Naomi finished the flask off a little quicker than she expected, but that would be fine, she has more where that came from. After Kyosuke took a seat and started to pour some sake for himself she looks down at the now sleeping Naomi and eased up just a little.
"Iie, this one should pass. She is still recovering from many injuries when ship crashed here some time ago. She appriciates offer. Please stay, drink and relax yourself Kyosuke-san. She thinks is time to take Naomi-chan to sleep some where better for herself."
With that she eases out from under Naomi's head and stands up slowly, then takes the swords and places them properly in the Obi before she nodded slightly to another sister who until now remained seemingly just another of the Stations techs, but was actualy her Engineer on the Gunboat. She steps back slightly as Jini headed over and helped ease the sleeping Naomi out of the booth and then with the strength of some one who works with heavy machinery often, hefts the sleeping lady over one shoulder easily with a smirk.
Shikyo rolls her eyes slightly at Jini's smirk but says nothing as she turned and heads towards the Entrance of the Tea House. She paused for a moment with Jini and Naomi behind her and looks at Steve pointedly until he looks at her.
"Please put Kyosuke-san's drink on this ones bill for the evening. She will settle accounts come the morning for this evening with Naomi-chan and for Kyosuke-san."
Once more she turned and walks out slowly, and not just because she was being careful with the full length Kimono, but also to her own weakness that she is so much trying to keep hidden least she be seen as too weak to command much less serve the Elders properly. After a walk down several levels to the more private quarters of the Sisters who live here on Ainu she pauses at one door to key open the private lock. Once the door is open, Jini slips past Shikyo with Naomi over her should and directly to the long couch that occupies one entire bulkhead and laid her down upon it.
"Will that be all Aki-sama?" Jini asked as she turned towards Shikyo who was leaning against the doorway for a moment before pushing away and stepping inside fully.
"Iie, that will be all, domo-arigato Jini-san. Please enjoy the rest of your night with crew. One hopes the ship will be repaired enough for a short sortie to Tau-65 in few days, hai?"
"Indeed. It will fly but weapons and other systems we had to salvage from other sources. If we get in trouble we will not fare well against anyone seriously outfitted, but a trip to the home system we should be more than fine for. Well, good night Taii." Jini grinned again in that almost irritating way before ducking out the door and down the corridor before Shikyo could say anything.
She turns and looks at her sleeping guest and shakes her head slightly before crossing over to that side of the room and gently tugging off Naomi's boots and then the flight jacket, leaving them where they can be found should naomi awaken before she does. With one mroe look she smiled and almost caresses the sleeping womans cheek but stops herself before she actualy does. Turning she heads into the other room where she normaly sleeps.
She kneels and removes each blade from her Obi, starting with the Katana. Bowing her head she closed her eyes a moment before kissing the scabbard reverently then places the weapon upon the rose wood weapons stand. She does the same for the Wakizashi before pushing herself to her feet and crossing over to her sleping mat. With a wave towards one bulkhead where a sensor is hidden at, the light dim as she herself removes clothing and slides into her own bed to fall into a restless sleep...
She awakens slowly with a soft groan, her head feels like some one tiny has moved in with a jack hammer and has gone happily to work on pounding her brain into rubble. Rising slowly she casts off the light blanket and then blinks as she relises something, she is wearing absolutely nothing which is not her usual habit. A quick, and regretted look around the room shows several empty bottles of her favorite liquor, but some empty wine bottles which she recalls were not here before.
She looks over at the sword stand to make sure both blades were still here, and they were still there which calms that short panic that was starting to arise. With a slight shrug she moves about the room collecting somehting to wear, then she pauses as she frowned. She puts a finger on her lips, turns slightly side to side then hmphs it seems the spider silk panties she was looking for are not here. Odd, she thinks to herself, just bought those the last time she was on Malta.
Once more she goes to gether up something to wear, starting with a slick ship suit and ending with a jacket she just grabbed off the back of a chair in teh front room without really looking at it. She turns and heads towards the tea House, feeling the need to get somehting soothing to drink and maybe a light bite to eat before getting to her duties, limited as they are until Medical determines she is ready for full flight status.
She breezes into the Tea House a few minutes later and flags down Steve as soon as she spots him seemingly polishing the bar yet again, a rather unusual smile blossoms on her face as she leans over the counter.
"Bonsowa-ru* Steve-san! Whats good for drink today?"
Are you sure you want one? Do you not remember last night? Steve looked at Shikyo from across the bar. Her being this nice towards him and without her usual swords in completely unusual for her.
"Ummm, no. Now this one thinks about it, she does not remember much at all. Somehting happen this one should remember?" She asked him and sat back on a bar stool as Steve starts to describe some of the events last night...
One Hour Later
...and the last was heard was Enya took her gunboat to Kyushu shortly followed by a Consortium Ship that was called to assist. Of course Naomi was quite drunk and no one really knows where she spent her night. Steve paused, took another look at the jacket Shikyo is wearing But I can guess where now since your wearing Naomi's Kiretsu Flight Jacket.
Shikyo eyes, which she had spent the entire hour listening without a single word of interuption, were wide with panic, her skin another shade paler than usual and she was holding the bar tightly with one hand to remain steady. A quick look at the jacket proves it is indeed not hers with Naomi's name inscribed upon it. She looks back up at Steve again, knowing he would not lie but hoping against hope that some of what she was told was not entirely true, espeicaly the part where some one had mentioned threats and counter threats against both sides of the Sisterhood.
"N...no...NO! Oh no no no. I have to, umm, I dont know. Oh damn." SHe looks around quickly to see if there is anyone else, espcialy her own crew to see her in such a state of alarm, then rises, stumbles slightly and forgetting to apologise to Steve for his help and politieness, she hurries out of the Tea House to find some one that might be able to help her smooth things over with the Kiretsu, much less lessen the displeasure she is sure the Elders will show her for such dangerous and harmfull actions to the Sisterhood.
In the 3 days since her last visit to the tea house, she had been apoligised too, rejoined Kiretsu, been shot at by farmers, and become agitated and began drowning her sorrows in Wine and Cardamine.
So she had no idea where she was when she awoke that <strike>morning</strike> afternoon. The first thing she felt was the effects of a massive hangover. And sluggishly made her way to the bathroom of wherever she was, grabbing a cup and filling it with water. It was at about this time she realised she wasn't in her own quarters.
The fact that she was naked and there were bottles of alchahol and various articles of clothing scattered about made her yet more suspicious.
"Wat the f(explative)!?!?" She yelled, looking around to see where she was. And trying to find out what had happened... and with whom?
Looking around the room, she noticed what appeared to be burned-out incense, portraits of Yuyu Matsuda, and a sword stand. Indicating she was atleast in a Chrysanthemum's room. She rummaged around through the clothing, finding what appeared to be a uniform, and a name inscribed indicating Taii Shiyko was responsible.
She came to full realisation, and blushed heavily. After a few seconds, she went and grabbed a small kimoni-like robe and went out into the hallway, looking for where Shikyo had gotten too.
***
Elsewhere, \CS\-Steve was continuing his tasks of maintaining the Tea House and ensuring security. He checked the cork bulliten board used by people to leave messages to the bartender. Among them was what seemed like a delivery invoice, with the words 'TO STEVE' written in large, red marker. He initally paid no attention, and went out to dump the contents of the bars' trash cans into the station's reactor exhaust.
He accomplished this quickly and walked back to the tea house. When he got there, he noticed amongst several objects propped up against the wall on the outside of the doorway was a large cardboard box with the words 'TO STEVE' written again in bold marker. The box bore a Renzu corperation logo heart shaped symbols.
"Hmm... must be the new virtual reality thingy for the Holovision?" he asked to no-one in particular. He tried to move the very heavy box, initally underestimating it's weight. Eventually however, he managed to man-handle it into the tea house and sit it next to the holovision.
