Seeing Red (Again)
[working title]
"HA-CHOOOOO!"
Noa Izumi was not at all feeling well.
"Damn cold," she sniffed as she got out of bed. She got to the sink
to brush her teeth and encountered Isao Ohta in the midst of his morning
shave.
"What's the matter with you, Izumi?" Ohta huffed as he heard Noa's
sinuses stuff up.
"I have a real nasty cold, if you hadn't noticed."
"Gonna let a cold keep you in bed?" he sneered as Noa looked him in
the eye.
"No way! I have a job to do and a little cold isn't going to...
HACHOO!"
Crack. Ohta managed to break the mirror with his head as he jerked
at the sound of Noa's sneeze. He checked to see if it was bleeding; it
wasn't.
"Seven years bad luck, Ohta," Kanuka Clancy remarked as she viewed
the damage.
"Who cares about some stupid American superstition?" Ohta grumbled
as he felt a bump swell from the area of impact.
"Believe what you like then," Kanuka said as she turned to leave.
"Nobody asked for your opinion, Kanuka," Noa managed to say as she
recovered from the sudden fit.
"Go back where you came from," growled Ohta, glad to see that she
was on her way back to the States.
The captains' office was completely silent save for the sound of a
cup of coffee being filled. It wasn't much, but it was about the only
luxury to be enjoyed by SV2's commanding officers.
"Good coffee, Gotoh," Shinobu Nagumo complimented her sometime
partner in crime.
"Thanks. If those odd hours we keep getting have taught me
anything, it's that there's nothing more essential to good policework than
coffee," a jovial Kiichi Gotoh replied.
"Speaking of good policework, have you got a replacement for Noa
Izumi yet?"
"Oh, that? Headquarters hasn't gotten back to me on that just yet."
"It's too bad she caught the flu on your unit's shift. Kanuka only
came for your special assignment at the Ark, so we very well can't expect
her to stay any longer."
"Well, things will start to look up from here on," came a somewhat
laidback response from Gotoh.
"How can you say that? You don't have a pilot for Ingram 1. What
if an emergency comes up?" shot back Captain Nagumo.
"I'm sure headquarters will have sent us a temp to fill in for Izumi
before that happens."
"Excuse me, Captain Gotoh," requested a voice outside the office
accompanied by a steady knock.
"What is it, Shinohara?"
"We just got a package from HQ. About the new pilot for Alphonse."
"See, Shinobu? It was just a matter of time," Gotoh said as he
opened the door.
Asuma Shinohara stood at attention as he handed the package over to
his captain. "Begging the captain's pardon, but would it be too much to ask
to know who the new pilot is?"
"Oh, you mean you haven't looked at it yourself?" Gotoh asked as he
fingered the file folder.
"Captain, you know I wouldn't do anything of the sort," Asuma said
with slight indignation at the accusation.
"Hmm. Well, Shinohara, I hope you're up to handling some training
for your new partner."
"What do you mean by that?" inquired Captain Nagumo.
"Yeah, captain. I mean, didn't HQ send us someone experienced with
operating an Ingram?"
"Not exactly."
"You mean to tell me headquarters is sending over someone from the
K-9 corps?"
"That's what it says in her file," Gotoh answered Shinobu as he
sipped his morning coffee.
"Hikaru Shidou. Age 20. Currently assigned to canine division..."
Asuma read out loud.
"This isn't happening," Shinobu cried out in disbelief.
"...will be temporarily reassigned to SV2, Second Unit, to substitute
for Noa Izumi, currently on sick leave," continued Asuma.
"Well it isn't as if there's an awful lot of available officers to
assign to our division."
"But captain, she works with _dogs_," Shinohara couldn't help but
point out.
"I'm well aware of that. Besides, she has a labor pilot's license."
"So, you don't have any problems with what headquarters is doing?"
Captain Nagumo inquired.
"Not at all."
"_I've_ got a problem! I'm the one who has to work with this Shidou
kid," Asuma huffed as he stared Gotoh in the face.
"She's coming in this afternoon."
Hikaru Shidou found herself staring at the isolated structure that
housed SV2. It seemed awfully out of the way, unlike the canine division
nestled in suburban Tokyo. As she stepped off the bus, it seemed like a
new chapter of her life was being written.
"Well, here I am."
It did seem strange to her that she would be reassigned to a labor
division, when her training specialization was with police dogs. She had
packed her clothes, as she understood the necessity of living here while on
duty, rather than commuting back home. Her brothers weren't exactly
thrilled at the thought of her leaving home, even for just a little while.
"Do you like it here, Hikari?" she asked her dog, who, through some
bureacratic oversight or fit of generosity, was allowed to stay with her.
He let out a contented bark that she understood perfectly.
Just then, she noticed the seemingly annoyed officer walking towards
her.
"Are you Hikaru Shidou?"
"Yes I am," she nodded in reply.
"Follow me."
"Are you my back-up?"
"I'm designated back-up for Ingram 1," he replied without turning to
face her.
"You can call me Hikaru."
Her escort didn't bother to answer this time and kept going until he
brought her up to the captains' office.
"So you're Officer Shidou? I'm Captain Gotoh. You'll be working
with Shinohara here," pointing to her dour-faced escort.
"Nice to meet you all." Asuma noted the child-like cheerfulness in
her greeting.
"You'll also be working with Officers Ohta, Shinshi, and Yamazaki.
Since you're not familiar with the Ingram's controls, you'll have a little
training session tomorrow morning. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
*******
I have some idea of where to go with this, namely how Umi and Fuu fit in, but
other than that I haven't got much of a coherent plot. Suggestions,
questions, and comments are all welcome..
Johann Chua -- HP: http://www.geocities.com/fuuma_1999/
CLAMP Fan Fiction: http://members.xoom.com/fuuma_monou/clampfix5.0/
"As a rule, men are liars. They were born to be. They make good lawyers,
poets, copywriters, politicians--and lovers. Without the art of lying,
where would these professions be?" --Jullie Yap Daza