Third Time's the Charm

a Crossovers fanfiction by Shanejayell

Wakaba paused outside the club, taking a deep breath to try and calm her 
nerves. She puffed it out as she looked up at the neon sign of 
Arisugawa's Locket, her brown hair bouncing as she shook her head. If 
anything signified how long it had been since they attended Ohtori 
academy, it was this place. With a smile she nodded to the bouncer and 
headed inside.

Seeing Juri standing by the bar with her back to her Wakaba felt a 
devilish impulse come over her. Running forward she leapt even as she 
called out to the orange haired woman, "Juri-sama!"

Juri staggered, nearly falling but recovered as she gave her new 
addition a smile. "Wakaba," she helped the girl slide down to the ground 
as she asked her, "how are you doing tonight?"

"Pretty good," Wakaba smiled, pushing her curly hair back. The dress she 
wore was simple but cute, white with some red trim added on.

They walked up towards the bar together as Juri curiously asked the 
smaller woman, "And how's the dating thing going?"

Wakaba signaled Ryouko for two drinks as she felt herself blush faintly. 
She confessed, "I have a blind date, actually, something Keiko and May 
helped set up for me." There was a long silence from Juri and she gave 
her a curious look. "Not a good idea, huh?" Wakaba asked.

"You could get lucky," Juri offered hopefully.

"Isn't getting lucky the idea?" Wakaba chuckled and Juri rolled her 
eyes. Wakaba noticed a figure sitting at the corner table and gulped, 
knowing that she matched the description that May gave, "I think that's 
her!"

"I wouldn't advise going home with her on the first date," Juri said 
dryly, something in her tone urging more than caution.

"You know her?" Wakaba asked curiously.

"By reputation, at least," Juri answered

"Well, wish me luck," Wakaba gulped and headed over to the corner table.

The blue haired woman looked up at her with a welcoming smile, "Good 
evening." She took a drink, "Are you Wakaba?"

"Yes," Wakaba nearly bowed, but controlled herself. "Are you Nagisa?" 
she asked as she sat.

"Yes," Nagisa nodded, giving her a long, measuring gaze. With another 
almost predatory smile she purred, "It's very nice to meet you."

Wakaba gulped, unused to seeing such intensity in another's eyes. The 
conversation was a bit limp, the usual problems with two people who had 
just met, but they managed pretty well. "So what do you do?" Wakaba 
asked as she sipped her drink.

"I'm a professional dominatrix," Nagisa explained to her calmly.

"Urk." Wakaba looked at her in mild disbelief.

"Don't worry," Nagisa smiled at her impishly, "I never bring my work 
home with me." She took a drink, "Well, not usually."

"What do you, well, usually do?" Wakaba asked with a kind of dreadful 
fascination. She wasn't too sure she wanted to know, but with her 
thoughts racing she felt she should find out.

"It actually isn't as bad as many people think," Nagisa looked amused as 
she looked at Wakaba warmly, "a bit of spanking and ordering around and 
the boys are pretty happy."

"Sounds like some places I've worked in," Wakaba admitted dubiously, 
getting a quiet laugh from her companion.

After Nagisa had left Keiko went over to where Wakaba was sitting and 
sat down, the woman with the long brown braid cheerfully asking her old 
classmate, "How did it go?"

"Don't ask," Wakaba sighed.

"Not going on a second date with her?" Keiko asked sympathetically.

"She was already suggesting a date involving.. certain things from her 
day job," Wakaba moaned weakly. "On a first date!"

"I'm sorry," Keiko patted Wakaba on the shoulder. She brightened, "I 
know! There's another lady I know you'd like."

"Oh no," Wakaba started, "not again."

The next evening Wakaba puffed out a resigned sigh as she headed to the 
corner table, wondering if this blind date was going to be as bad as 
yesterday. She should have been firm but Keiko had managed to talk her 
into it despite her best intentions. She approached the table, seeing 
the woman with purple hair sitting with her back to her, then came 
around to see her face.

"You!" both Shiori and Wakaba blurted as they saw each other.

Nearly a hour and many drinks later Shiori waved a hand drunkenly, "An' 
then I found out she h'd my picture in her locket! What's up wi' that?"

Wakaba hiccuped as she sipped her Shirley Temple. "Tha's nothing," she 
waved, "just tryin' to keep up with Utena w's exhausting!" She sniffled 
softly, "All those girl's liked her but she never noticed me..."

"I hear ya," Shiori patted her on the back clumsily.

"W's up with that creepy Ruka?" Wakaba looked at her blearily.

"He just wanted me 'cause he couldn't ha' Juri," Shiori grumbled. She 
looked into her glass and confessed quietly, "Guess that's w'y I had 
him, too..."

Wakaba squeezed her shoulder soundlessly in comfort, then she burped 
softly. "'Scuse me," she blushed.

"Y'know," Shiori looked at her drunkenly, "you are kind of cute."

"Really?" Wakaba asked, feeling the bar sway around her.

"Yeah, I..." Shiori started then her face went a alarming shade of 
green. She gave a choked off 'Pardon me' and bolted for the bathroom.

"Story of my life," Wakaba sighed as she let her head hit the table with 
a soft thump, unconsciousness sweeping in like a blessing.

"No I'm not doing it again," Wakaba said later that week as May gently 
tugged her forward. The tall maid smiled at her, her full breasts oddly 
distracting to the other girl.

"But you have so much in common," May smiled, "it'll be fine, trust me."

"That's what you said about the last two dates," Wakaba pointed out.

"Third try's the charm," May gave her a warm look, "please?"

Wakaba groaned and gave up, letting May lead her to her fate.

For a moment Wakaba actually thought a man had snuck into the locket, 
the black haired woman in the suit was that boyish. Black hair fell into 
beautiful eyes, her slim body dressed in a tailored suit that fit her 
like a glove.

"Hi," Wakaba smiled as May discretely left, feeling her traitorous heart 
skip a beat.

Like a gentleman the young woman bounced to her feet, holding out a 
chair, "Nice to meet you." She gently pushed it in as Wakaba sat, 
"You're Wakaba, right?"

'I didn't even introduce myself,' the mildly shaken Wakaba realized as 
she answered the charming woman, "Yes, I am."

As she sat she smiled, "Haruhi, it's nice to meet you." They ordered 
drinks then Haruhi asked pleasantly, "What do you do for a living?"

"Secretary," Wakaba admitted, "and you?"

"I work in a host club," Haruhi smiled slightly as she sipped her drink, 
"where most of the customers think I'm a guy."

"It mustn't be easy," Wakaba said, smiling at the other woman's 
unconscious charm.

"I can't really be open with them, no," Haruhi agreed. She flashed a 
smile, "I think Keiko or May overheard me bemoaning my fate, since 
they've been setting me up on blind dates."

Wakaba stifled a laugh, "Me too!"

"They're real meddlers, huh?" Haruhi chuckled and soon they were 
exchanging bad date stories, laughing at their own misadventures. The 
conversation flowed like the wine they drank, and only Ryouko's last 
call for booze early in the morning interrupted them.

"I've really enjoyed tonight," Wakaba admitted quietly.

"Me too," Haruhi smiled. She hesitated, looking away shyly, "I was 
wondering... would you like to do this again?"

"I'd love to," Wakaba smiled.

End

Notes: This is based off a episode of Arisugawa's Locket where Wakaba is 
set up on a blind date, and my wondering how it could go wrong. The 
drunken Shiori/Wakaba scene is an idea I had from another fic, but it 
works pretty well here, too. The characters featured are: Arisugawa 
Juri, Keiko, Shiori and Wakaba are all from Utena, Ryouko is from Tenchi 
Muyo, May is from Hand Maid May, Nagisa is from Here is Greenwood and 
finally Haruhi is from Ouran High School Host Club.

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