"I'm still not quite sure what I'm doing here,"
Hitomi noted, the brown haired young woman standing by
Juri's side as they walked into the hotel together.
Arisugawa Juri smiled slightly, the taller orange
haired woman walking confidently in her woman's
business suit. "I've arranged for an office here where
I can interview a few candidates for positions at the
Locket," she patiently explained, "and Nabiki can't
get away from supervising the construction teams
working on the building."
"Point," Hitomi conceded her simple dress comfortable
if not too stylish.
"And I intend to take shameless advantage of your
talents," Juri added.
"I can't promise how reliable it is," Hitomi noted as
they entered the elevator.
Juri hit the button and smoothly they rose, soon
reaching the right floor. "You've steered me right so
far," she noted as they went down the hall together.
They reached the doors to several boardrooms where an
oddly energetic young blonde stood, restlessly
shifting back and forth. "Are you Arisugawa?" she
asked cheerfully then added, "Of course you are, I'm
Excel, and I’ll be assigned to help you."
"Thank you," Juri said gravely. She blinked, noting a
green faced black haired young woman who had been
leaned up against the wall nearby, "Is she all right?"
"Oh, she's always like that," Excel explained
cheerfully, "meet Hyatt."
Hyatt gave a weak wave, but didn't say anything else.
"Right," Juri decided she didn't want to know. "So, I
booked a room for interviews...."
"Right this way," Excel popped the door open to
reveal a table set up for the interviews, "as your
associate Nabiki requested, as well as juice and
refreshments."
Juri blinked, seeing a pair of ominous looking swords
leaning up against the corner. "What are those doing
there?" she pointed.
"Oh, those are ours," Excel and Hyatt quickly
collected the blades and left.
"What an interesting pair," Juri said once they were
gone, fighting back a little smile.
Hitomi looked after them, her expression thoughtful.
"Ah... Juri? You might want to think about hiring
them," she said hesitantly.
"What?" Juri blurted.
"I had a... flash of vision just then," Hitomi said
to her sheepishly, "they were in the Locket, dressed
in waitress uniforms."
"But they have a job here," Juri protested.
"I'm pretty sure it will happen," Hitomi said
quietly.
There was a soft sound of someone clearing their
throat and they both turned to see a young woman
standing there... oddly dressed in a red and white
maid's uniform. The busty woman had her brown hair
tired back by simple ribbons, and her smile was kind
and gentle. "Is this where the waitress interviews
are?" she asked.
Smoothly Juri took a seat at the table even as she
waved her to one, "Yes it is."
The young woman bowed, "My name is May, and it’s very
nice to meet you."
"May," Juri nodded as Hitomi took a seat nearby. Juri
scanned her resume, noting the glowing recommendations
and the shortness of the employment history: she had
been employed as a maid by only one family. "So why
did you leave your previous position?" she asked.
"He got married," May explained to them gently, "and
afterward, I no longer felt as comfortable being
there, all things considered."
"That's certainly understandable," Juri conceded,
reviewing all of the woman's listed skills. 'Having a
secondary cook around would be useful, too,' she
thought. "What would you think about working with or
around lesbians?" Juri asked bluntly.
With absolute sincerity May answered, "I don't think
that would be a problem."
"I think she's telling the truth," Hitomi murmured to
Juri softly.
"I'm a bit at loose ends," May added, "and I'd look
forward to this opportunity."
"Thank you for your time," Juri nodded to her, "we'll
call you once the interviews are over."
"I look forward to hearing from you," May bowed
formally before leaving.
"I like her," Juri said firmly once she left, "and
she has many of the shills we need."
"I agree," Hitomi smiled.
The next few women, for various reasons were all
clearly unsuitable. A few looked good on the surface
but reacted badly to the lesbian question, while
others had work histories or recommendations that made
Juri feel more than a bit nervous about them.
"Juri-sama?" the nervous voice asked.
Juri looked up from where she and Hitomi were talking
and saw a young woman standing there, looking oddly
familiar. Her brown hair flowed down in her back in
two streams, and twin curls were on each side of her
forehead. It took Juri a moment to recall, and then
tentatively she asked, "Keiko?"
Keiko smiled in honest pleasure, bowing slightly.
"I'm glad you remember," she said with a happy smile
as she set a resume on the table.
"I seem to remember you were in Nanami Kiryuu's crowd
back in Ohtori," Juri noted as the young woman sat
down a bit nervously.
A faint blush colored Keiko's cheeks as she murmured,
"That was a long time ago."
Juri looked over the resume, raising her eyebrows
slightly as she saw how well educated Keiko was. "I'm
impressed," she noted, "but why do you want to work as
a waitress in a lesbian club?"
"In part because I want to take a break," Keiko
admitted, "I feel like I've been in school for years."
Another blush, "And I've been... wondering a bit about
myself lately."
"I can't make any promises," Juri said to her after
they had talked for awhile, "but if we do have a
position available, we'll call."
Keiko bowed again, "Thank you, Juri-sama!"
"Well, that's two people I'd say we should take,"
Hitomi said to Juri quietly after she had left, "along
with Excel and Hyatt."
"Well, let’s keep Excel and Hyatt in reserve," Juri
said with a sigh, "maybe we'll find someone in the
next bunch of interviews."
Sadly, the interviews continued to be a bit
disappointing. Homophobia came up often, or they
simply reacted badly to either Juri or Hitomi. Worse,
questioning from Juri would often discover that the
resumes they dropped off were either exaggerated or
simply false. By the time they decided to pack up that
afternoon they had only found one or two other
possibilities, and neither woman seemed quite right.
"And how many staff do we need for opening?" Hitomi
asked quietly.
"I'd like to have..." Juri started when they were
interrupted by a distant explosion. Looking at each
other in concern they raced out into the hall,
watching various staff racing by in confusion. Finally
they watched in surprise as two sooty figures made
their way down the hall, the manager right behind
them.
"...and do you have any idea how much damage you
did?" the manager finished his rant. Taking a deep
breath he finished with, "You're fired!"
Excel and Hyatt looked sheepish under the black
covering of ash and soot. Hesitantly they looked
around then spotted Juri, Excel clearly brightening.
Making her way over she cheerfully asked, "Are you
still doing the waitress interviews?"
"Told you," Hitomi muttered.
Juri looked at the two ladies and felt herself
smiling back, if reluctantly. Handing one of her newly
minted business cards to Excel she said, "Drop off a
resume here, we'll talk."
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