Shion stood in front of the door and paused for a moment. She quickly adjusted her jacket, straightened her shirt, arranged her jewelry and ran her fingers though her hair to comb it out. Then, taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door that divided her room from Takeda's.
"Yes?" came Takeda's slightly muffled voice.
"May I come in?"
There was a moment of silence and then a faint pulse of energy as Takeda tapped into his power. This was followed by the click of the door unlocking. "It's open."
Takeda turned as the door between their rooms opened, uncertain as what to expect. What he saw made him stop dead, jaw hanging slightly agape. Shion stood in the doorway, dressed not in her cloak and armor, which was what he had been expecting, but in one of the tightest jumpsuits he'd ever seen. She had on knee-high boots, black skin-tight pants, a close-fitting black jacket, and a similarly cut white shirt that was fastened at the neck and sternum, leaving a diamond-shaped opening that revealed a substantial portion of her cleavage.
Shion gave Takeda a hard stare, "Get dressed."
Takeda pulled his gaze from her cleavage to her face. "Huh?"
"Get dressed!"
"For what? Why?" Takeda still seemed somewhat stunned.
"Because, at this time tomorrow, you and I are going to be attempting a datasteal on the largest tower of one of the biggest Megacorps in the world. A little trip that one or both of us might not come back from. So, tonight, we are going to go out and enjoy ourselves."
Takeda seemed stuck between interest and uncertainty. "Do you always do this, the night before?"
Shion shrugged, "Sometimes, it depends on the job." She than gave Takeda an evil smile, "Just be glad I'm not my sister, she thinks sex is the perfect way to prepare for a mission."
"Uh.... yeah. Umm... I hadn't really planned on going out..."
"I don't care. You're coming with me whether you like it or not, so get dressed."
Takeda laughed. "OK, I guess. I'll be ready in a minute."
Shion checked her watch, "I hope so, since Kodo starts their concert in about thirty minutes."
"Kodo?" Takeda stepped to his dresser, pulling out black slacks, a white shirt, black vest, and a grey dress jacket.
"A Japanese drum group they're just the thing to get the blood flowing. Afterwards, I figured dinner, drinks, movie, theater... whatever we find open. Since we'll be in Shinjuku, I could take you to some of the more... 'exotic' entertainment, if you like."
Takeda laughed again. "Sounds like fun! Although I won't be drinking. Screws up my chemistry."
"That's ok, I'll drink for both of us." Shion responded in an off-hand manner.
Shion proved to be an excellent guide to the nightlife of Mega-Tokyo. She was laughing, open, fun to be around. As the night wore on, Takeda was very impressed with her capacity for alcohol as well. She drank like a fish, and the only signs of it were that she seemed to lose some of her body consciousness and walk a little less steadily.
Late in the evening, even her capacity seemed to be reached, and her walk became definitely wobbly. It was very late when they reached their hotel again and weaved their way up to their suite, Shion leaning on Takeda, partly for support and partly because she was amused by how he reacted.
Shion leaned in the doorway that separated their bedrooms and gave Takeda a thorough examination. Apparently coming to some sort of decision, she removed her jacket and tossed it into her room. Closing the door, she began to walk over to Takeda.
"Takeda?" she asked, undoing her shirt and starting to pull it open.
Takeda swallowed, his gaze fixed on her hands.
"Have you ever slept with a woman?"
"Yes." His whole attention was trapped by the motion of her hands.
"Good," she said, removing her shirt and letting it drop, "that means I won't have to teach you everything."
Return to Kazei 5