Prelude: First meeting. Chihiro Fujimi looked up in curiosity from where she was sitting at a table in the Whirlwind bike shop sharing lunch with friends as she heard a bike pull up outside. "Was that..?" the older woman started to ask Keiichi and Belldandy. "Kei-chan!" the black haired young woman yelled as she burst in a moment later, leather jacket open and boots gleaming. "Eh?" Chihiro looked between her and Keiichi, aware of her heart beating a bit faster on seeing this new arrival. "Oops," the young woman looked remarkably sheepish all of a sudden, it was remarkably cute. "Sorry, I'm so rude," she bowed to them all then she looked up with a blush as she introduced herself, "I'm Megumi... Keiichi's sister." Chihiro felt her lips curl up into a smile of greeting as she studied the striking young lady. "Awww," she purred out, "I just adore polite young women." She gestured gracefully to another chair, "Please, do sit down." Of course in all the chaos caused by the arrival of Megumi and Keiichi's father Keima Chihiro and Megumi's dramatic meeting was overshadowed, but it still lingered in both of their minds. A seed, once planted, must bear it's fruit.. and in this case that fruit would be most unusual indeed. One: Whirlwind "Keiichi," Chihiro asked him some weeks later as she calmly sorted out the paperwork, moving all of the paid bills into one pile and unpaid ones in the other, "what's this I hear about your sister being the Queen?" "Of the campus racers, yeah," Keiichi agreed distractedly, the young man tuning the bike carefully. He had been working with Chihiro a while and knew his friend was a touch taskmaster... but it was because of that he wanted to give her his best. "And she beat the best on the Inokuradai circuit," Chihiro murmured thoughtfully, referring to the winding road out to the satellite campus of Nekomi Tech. The bikers on campus raced there informally, even as they hurried to and from campus, and the bikers there were very, very good. She herself had been the Queen once, so she knew what it took... "Yeah, but why the curiosity?" Keiichi asked her, not even looking away from his work, his hands smeared with grease. Chihiro smiled back slightly, her expression thoughtful. "Because," she finally answered him, "I think she's interesting." She twisted the golden rings that she wore on one finger without thinking about it, "Is she seeing anyone?" Clunk! This time Keiichi dropped his wrench in surprise, banging the hand resting on the engine in the process. "Oww," he sucked at the reddish scrape even as he finally looked at his boss, "not that I know of." Chihiro raised her eyebrows, "That's surprising." Keiichi pulled his injured hand away from his mouth, looking at the scrape mournfully. "She's never been much for dating," he noted, "just concentrates her sports teams and clubs." He smiled fondly in memory, "Baseball is her favorite." Chihiro's face lit up, "Do you think that she's...?" "I don't know," Keiichi said a bit wryly, well aware of his boss' interest in shonen-ai and apparently now shoujo-ai, too, "it's not like I've ever asked her." Chihiro smirked, "And you wouldn't... you're too polite." A smile, "Why, you're not even asking me the obvious question." "I couldn't," Keiichi muttered, blushing. "Sorry, Keii-chan," Chihiro softened her voice, "I shouldn't tease." She sat back, "In case you were wondering.. yes, I am." Keiichi dropped the wrench again with a thump. "Most people," he said dryly, "don't talk about things like that so openly." This time Chihiro gave him a full grin as she answered, "I'm not most people." She finished her paperwork, setting up from her seat and stretching as she added, "Don't worry.. my intentions so far are completely honorable." Keiichi managed a smile, "They'd better be... you've met our dad after all." Chihiro laughed as she nodded, "I'll keep that in mind." She picked up her jacket from where it hung from the wall, "Close up when you're done, I'm going out for a while." Two: Nekomi Tech Megumi Morisato jogged over to where her bike was, her school bag slung over her shoulder as she looked her older cycle over carefully. It was all stock, with no special modifications and improvements added and she always felt a bit of pride knowing she had won against the best equipped races on it. She climbed aboard and started the engine, then she was off. As Megumi left the satellite campus the leather and jean clad woman was aware of the respectful distance the other bikers gave her and smiled wryly. She had refused accepting the title of Queen but the other's still treated her as it, no matter how she protested. She was getting used to it, sort of, but she still didn't like it. The unfamiliar bike waited by the side of the road until Megumi rode by, then she fell into place beside her, her full helmet and leather riding gear making her unidentifiable. The gesture was unmistakable, however, a challenge for a race. 'Well, well,' Megumi thought with a grin, 'this could be fun.' The word raced up the route as they accelerated, drivers pulling aside as the two swept down the road. They stuck close, neither seemingly able to break away, and both used all tricks a long time racer on this route could do. Both women seemed to know the track with a intimate knowledge, taking it's curves and bends like a lover... 'Damn she's good,' Megumi thought as she gazed at the unfamiliar rider. It wasn't one of her usual challengers for the Queen title, either, she rode with far more experience than that. Holding her off as they raced was the most fun Megumi had in weeks, and part of her wanted the race to continue forever, but they were running out of road. Her opponent must have realized it too, for she reluctantly backed off. In silent agreement they both coasted to a stop at the bottom of the hill, Megumi putting her kickstand down and standing by her bike. She could almost feel herself holding her breath as the other rider pushed her bike to join Megumi's then unclipped her racing jacket to undo the helmet strap. "Miss Fujimi!" Megumi blurted in surprise as she saw the older woman take her bike helmet off, shaking out her short hair. "Chihiro, please," she rolled her eyes, laughing softly. She offered her hand to Megumi and warmly said, "Good race." Megumi took it, shaking it firmly as she said, "Thanks." "I may have been behind someone all the way down, at least I had a nice view," Chihiro murmured with a wry grin. "Eh?" Megumi blinked in confusion, feeling almost certain she hadn't heard what she thought she just heard. Chihiro grinned impishly, glad to see the racer off balance about something. "Never mind," Chihiro waved that off as she said cheerfully, "as a former Queen I thought I'd check out the current holder of the title." Megumi's own lips pulled up in a smile, "So what did you think?" "Good as I heard," Chihiro said. "If you aren't busy with classes," Chihiro's voice took on the same sort of purr it had the first time they met, "would you care to join me for lunch?" Megumi hesitated, getting the sense there was something more going on. "Well," she shrugged, "why not?" "Good, I'll lead this time," Chihiro said as she smoothly mounted her bike, well aware of how good she looked in the tight racing gear. Megumi gulped, surprised at a sudden tightness in her throat. "Only if you can keep the lead," Megumi tried to summon some bravado as she climbed on her bike and strapped her helmet on. Chihiro just laughed. To be continued... Notes: The "First Meeting" bit is based off a sequence on the Oh My Goddess GN #23, with some added bits by me.
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