'She knows?' Sylia looked across the table at Tony, mildly stunned. The beautiful woman calmly continued to eat her dinner after dropping that bombshell, and Sylia sighed to herself softly. 'I wonder if the other's night out have been as interesting as mine?' MEANWHILE... Nene sighed softly, wishing that things weren't quite so slow at AD Police headquarters. Not that she really wanted there to be trouble, exactly, but things had been so quiet lately! A little smile, at least the Knight Sabers have been busy. She casually called up the files on Antonia Stark, browsing her history. 'I wonder what she wants with Sylia," Nene thought, then she grinned, 'other than the obvious!' The way the lady had looked at Sylia, it was obvious that they had once been more than friends. 'Why can't I get a boyfriend?' Nene thought mournfully. "Nene-chan!" a happy voice cried. Nene looked up to see a pretty redhead bounding across the office, reaching her desk to throw her arms around Nene's neck. "Nuku Nuku?' Nene squeaked. "Sorry about this," Akiko pushed her short brown hair out of her eyes. It had a bit of gray, but other than that the business woman looked fit and attractive. "Nuku Nuku remembered you were with the AD Police, so she wanted to see you," she explained. Her co-worker was watching this with a great deal of interest, not to mention amusement. "It's a slow night," she pointed out with a smile, "why not leave for an early dinner? You can spend some time with you friends." Nene hesitated, and Nuku Nuku smiled at her cheerfully, "Please?" Nene looked over at Akiko with a smile, "You mind?" "Might be fun," Akiko smiled, adding, "and I wanted to thank you, anyway." Nene grabbed her jacket and the three of them retired to a nearby cafe. "I'm sorry you got mixed up with our little Genom problem," Akiko said quietly. Nene raised her eyebrow, "Quincy isn't still causing you trouble, is he?" "Beating up Boomers is fun," Nuku Nuku said cheerfully. "He's tried a few snatch and grabs," Akiko chuckled. She grinned across the table, "Nuku Nuku's begun to look forward to them." "They're almost as fun as Arisa and Kyouko," Nuku Nuku confided, referring to her former sparing partners. A waiter put dinners in front of Nene and Akiko, and a plate of sardines in front of her. "Fishies," Nuku Nuku exclaimed happily, and began to scarf them down. "Cute," Nene chuckled softly. Akiko watched Nuku Nuku fondly, an almost motherly attitude to her. "It's hard to believe I used to try to destroy her," Akiko smiled. "What?" Nene blurted. Akiko grinned, "Nuku Nuku was caught in the middle of my and my ex's custody battle. I had the resources of a major military arms manufacturer, and my husband had Nuku Nuku." A short pause, "We were pretty evenly matched." "Having seen you fight," Nene smiled at Nuku Nuku, "I believe it." Nene turned back from Nuku Nuku and noticed Akiko looking across the table at her thoughtfully, a little smile on her face. MEANWHILE... Linna paused, looking at the new Angelic Layer gaming center. 'What the hell,' she thought, going inside. She was pleasantly surprised to see a broad range of ages, little kids to adults. She heard cheers, and moved through the crowds to one of the Layer tables. She had been into this as a girl, but had put it behind her as she grew up. 'Wonder if being good at this helped me be a better Knight Saber?' she wondered. A dark haired woman was playing, and it was clear that her opponent was vastly outmatched. The dark haired, kimono garbed Angel moved in a blur, delivering devastating blows. A smooth final strike, and the other Angel was flung from the table in defeat. "Hotoko and Suzuka win!" a young man declared. Another young lady stepped up, "We're having a special contest today! Last a minute against Light Speed Suzuka, win a prize." Linna hesitated, then she smiled as she spoke up, "I'd like to try." A few moment's later she was 'loaned' a lightweight model of Angel, and sat down across from Hotoko. The woman smiled, "Let's both have fun." Linna smiled back, "Thanks." She slid the visor on, popping up the winds to activate the connection to the Angel in front of her. "Angelic..." the young man paused dramatically, "Fight!" Suzuka stood there, then she simply... disappeared. 'Just like the old days,' Linna thought admiringly, remembering some of Suzuka's victories. She waited calmly, then the Angel reappeared in front of her own, struck, and missed! There was a gasp of surprise from the crowd as Linna's Angel dodged, managing to tag Suzuka with her return blow. Hotoko showed no large reaction, but her eyes widened just a bit. "Nice," she murmured softly. Linna grinned back at her, then focused back on the Layer table again. Suzuka chased her relentlessly across the table, clearly demonstrating why she was a Angelic Layer champion. But Linna drew on her memories of their previous encounter, and kept ahead of her. Just barely. But she could stay out of her reach only so long. Suzuka got her into position, coiled her body, and struck, the force of the kick throwing the other angel right off the Layer! "The rolling thunder kick, one of Suzuka's special moves!" The announcer sounded awed, "It's only rarely seen, and massively effective." "Hotoko and Suzuka win!" the official declared. Hotoko stood up and collected her Angel even as she smiled and said, "But she did last well past one minute." There was a collective gazing at the clock, which showed that the match had indeed lasted nearly a minute in a half. "Congratulations," the announcer smiled at Linna while vigorously shaking her hand, "No one's managed that today." "Thank you," Linna smiled. She collected her prize, a deluxe kit for the creation of a Angel, but before she could leave a gentle hand laid on her arm. "Good match," Hotoko smiled. "I enjoyed it," Linna smiled, looking at the dark haired twenty year old. Hotoko looked at her thoughtfully, a little smile on her face, "I could have sworn we've fought before, recently." Linna blinked, not sure what to say. MEANWHILE... Priss toweled herself dry, feeling a bit of relief that the show was over. It had been a bad crowd, her and the band called in as a last minute replacement. The crowd had not been happy, and were quite vocal about letting them know about it. "Hey, Priss," her guitarist said, "there's a lady waiting for you at the stage door." He leered, "You finally going for the groupies?" Priss casually slapped him upside the head. "She say who she is?" she asked. "Owwee!" he whimpered, rubbing the side of his head. "No, she didn't," he sniffled. Priss kicked him out, then changed out of her sweaty clothes. 'Wonder if Linna or Nene came out to see me? No way it's Sylia,' she thought. She grinned, their boss in the Knight Sabers had been a nervous wreck all day, waiting to pick up Antonia. She grabbed her jacket, deciding to keep her guest waiting. The lady had brown hair sprinkled with gray, obviously not Linna or Nene. She turned, and Priss slowed a bit, startled to see eyes the same color of red in her own. "Priss Asagiri?" the lady asked quietly. "Yes?" Priss asked suspiciously. The lady smiled, pushing her short hair back nervously, "My name is Natsumi Tsujimoto, and I think I'm your aunt." A moment of dead silence, then... "What?!" Priss exclaimed. Author's Note: I wanted to take a bit of a break from the ongoing "Iron Man" plotline, so... The first Meanwhile follows up on my Nuku Nuku Episode. The second is Angelic Layer. In the third Meanwhile, Natsumi Tsujimoto is from the anime, You're Under Arrest!
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