Rei Hino scowled as she finished up her set, sweat plastering her freshly cut short black hair to her head. She and her band mates left the stage, the singer practically simmering with nervous energy, and with a determined stride Rei ducked into her changing room to dress. 'I can't believe she's still following me,' Rei thought with annoyance as she stripped off her skimpy stage clothes and climbed into the slightly moldy old shower. She thought of the pretty blonde police officer and fought back a scowl as she turned on the water taps, nearly howling in surprise as it gushed ice cold. "That didn't sound good," the drummer noted from the next room as he casually uncapped a beer and chugged it down. The rest of her bandmates were sprawled around the room, having nearly collapsed from keeping up with their driven leader. "Boy has she been bitchy," the guitarist agreed with that glumly, his messy hair falling in his eyes. He reached out and caught a casually tossed beer as he added, "Wonder if it's 'cause she hasn't been getting laid lately?" The keyboardist nearly choked on his drink, the lanky man looking amused. "Don't let her hear you say that," he noted, "or she'll kill you." "You can say that again," the drummer agreed. "Wish I could get the sort of action she's getting," the keyboardist noted with a sigh, "how many girls have we seen around her lately?" "Other than the usual groupies? Let's see..." "There's the blue haired office lady," one noted. "That hot blonde police officer," he sighed, "too bad she's so butch." "And that pair of girls too," the third man mused, "do you think they're interested in recruiting Rei for a threesome?" "If they could bottle whatever the hell it is that Rei has," the drummer groaned, "I'd buy it by the case full, I swear." Thankfully unaware that her sex life and potential girlfriends were being speculated on next door Rei stumbled out of the icy shower, shivering a bit as she grabbed a towel and wiped herself off, trying to warm her chilled bones. Once she was dry she pulled on her riding leathers, the black synthetic leather clinging to every curve as she zipped it up with a hiss. Matching boots thumping on the floor as Rei left her dressing room and hammered on the door beside it as she yelled, "You decent?" "No," her keyboardist called back, "but come in anyway." Rei pushed the door open with a slight smile, feeling faintly surprised when she noted all three men were blushing. 'What the hell?' she thought, wondering what they might have been talking about. Dismissing that thought Rei said briskly, "I'm taking off, so don't get into shit. I'm not bailing you all out of jail again." "Hey, it only happened the one time," the drummer protested, "and the bartender lied about us starting the fight." "Yeah right," Rei scoffed. She turned as she said calmly, "Catch you later." Heading out into the night Rei pulled her coat on around her, climbing on her cycle and starting it up, the rumble soft as she hurried off into the darkness. The next morning Setsuna Meiou strode into the Silky Doll, the tall black haired woman scanning the shop a moment as she searched for a single person. A smile teased her lips as she saw Ami talking to a lovely young woman, assisting her sort through panties, eventually helping the lady find a daring thong that she carried to a change room. Ami looked up as she saw Setsuna walking up, the blue haired young woman smiling slightly. "Good morning," she nodded. "I'm surprised how calmly you do all this," Setsuna looked around the store as Ami's employees Catsy and Birdy helped other customers pick out lingerie and other items, "considering your usually shy nature." "It took some getting used to," Ami conceded. She kept her expression neutral as she said, "Thank you for coming so soon." "After you forwarded me a copy of Tomoe's files I almost had to," Setsuna said. A smile, "Should I meet you in the upper office?" Ami noticed a customer waving and put on her professional smile. "I hope I'll only be a few minutes," she promised as she headed off. Setsuna watched Ami skillfully pull the slightly chunky woman away from a outfit that would have looked horrid and towards a much more suitable item, then she moved on. Nodding a greeting to Birdy Setsuna opened the back door, revealing the stairs that lead to the offices upstairs. There was an elevator available, too, but she preferred the stairs. "Good morning Miss Meiou," Mercury said, the computer's feminine voice matching the soothing personality she had. "Morning," Setsuna agreed as she walked over to a waiting coffee pot on the counter nearby, cookies and other snacks waiting too. "Would you like me to update you on information obtained from the Bio-boomer development files?" Mercury asked politely. "Just the high points," Setsuna stirred her coffee then took a sip, "I'm sure Ami will want to go over them with me, too." "Prof. Tomoe confessed in his files to killing Doctor Mizuno," Mercury's voice was flat, "as well as stealing her project data on the Outers." Setsuna sat on the couch with a thump. "I just wish we had been able to get this data years ago," she sighed, "we could have nailed Tomoe to the wall." "I cannot compute the probability of a conviction," Mercury agreed, "but Tomoe would certainly be charged if the police knew." Taking a long drink of her coffee Setsuna asked, "Do we know for certain that Tomoe knew about Uranus and Neptune?" "Confirmed," Mercury said, "but he did not have the data on their final appearance or full combat capabilities. It may be because of that, that Infinity couldn't find them." "Very probably," Setsuna got a cookie, being careful not to get any crumbs on the couch. A few moments later two very familiar voices were heard talking and Setsuna sat up in surprise. 'What are they doing here?' Ami Mizuno came in first, the blue haired young woman's expression frankly murderous. Behind her came Haruka and Michiru, the two ladies trying to look as innocent as possible. "Fancy meeting you here," Haruka grinned endearingly, her sandy brown hair falling into her eyes. "What do you think you're doing?" Setsuna got up, long black hair swinging, "I expressly forbid you to stay away from Ami or the Senshi Sabers!" "I assume you told them where I was based?" Ami asked, putting her hands in the pockets of her stylish business suit. "Yes," Setsuna conceded, "and clearly it was a mistake on my part." "Setsuna-san," Michiru was quietly respectful, "you can't protect us forever." A light seemed to go on for Ami and she smiled slightly. 'Of course,' she realized, 'Setsuna's mind is mostly patterned after my mother... and in a way the mother of these two, too. No wonder she's protective of them.' "Besides," Haruka said, "we've already made contact with one of the other Senshi." "What?" both Ami and Setsuna blurted. "Rei Hino," Michiru supplied, "we went to one of her concerts and got to talking..." Ami sighed, feeling a headache coming on. "There's a reason I've discouraged you from meeting the Senshi, and it's for your and our security," Ami sighed, "I may not be so concerned about Infinity but there are quite a few people interested in you." "But..." Haruka started when they heard another set of footsteps. "Hey Ami, I was in the neighborhood and I wanted to..." Rei Hino started before blinking in surprise at the two young ladies. "You!" "Rei, hello," Michiru bowed slightly, smiling. "I understand you already know each other," Ami carefully masked her irritation at this development as she lied, "but Haruka and Michiru are Setsuna's roommates. Apparently they followed her down here." "Really," Rei said coldly, getting the strong impression that Ami was lying to her. With a flare of irritation she said, "I came down to talk to you, but I can see you're busy." Turning she stomped from the room, "Good bye!" "Well that could have gone better," Setsuna sighed after the sound of the door slamming faded, feeling a headache coming on. "Sorry," Haruka sighed, running a hand through her hair. Ami locked the door this time then sat down with a sigh, studying both young women. "Are you certain you want to help?" she asked. "Ami," Setsuna sat up in surprise, looking with dismay at Ami. "They're right that we can't easily protect them," Ami told her, "and with the way things are escalating I'll need to call them in soon anyway." "Point," Setsuna admitted after a moment's thought, but also clearly reluctant from the look on her face "We'll do everything we can to help," Michiru vowed as Haruka nodded her agreement. "Then sit down and grab a coffee," Ami waved them over to a seat, "and let me tell you what we know about Mistress Nine..."
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