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Sadguychet
Just a Sad Guy
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I gently pulled Tammi behind me as I walked into Nana's tattoo parlor. The woman had asked me to meet her for some reason that she refused to explain over the phone and I was taking the opportunity to spend time with my girlfriend while also getting some work done.
Only… the parlor was seemingly empty. Nana was nowhere to be seen or at least, not up here. The smell of cigarette smoke wasn't nearly strong enough, for one.
Even so, my sensitive nose wrinkled at the smell, and I sighed in exasperation as I realized that the shop was completely empty, bereft of even the soft music that Nana liked to listen to as she worked her day job.
Behind me, Tammi seemed to realize the same, looking around at the empty shop in confusion, "I thought she asked you to meet her here. Where is she?"
I pointed towards the back of the shop where a curtain was hung, "She's probably downstairs in the basement. I wish she would have told me that though, I would have put on some less expensive clothes."
"...Why would that be a problem?" Tammi looked worried.
"It might not. But it never hurts to be prepared with Nana." I loved the woman to death, but her 'workstation' was rarely kept clean. Calling it a biohazard would be underselling it quite a bit.
As the two of us made our way towards the back of the parlor Tammi looked around at the walls, taking in the stencils and other art hanging around that displayed Nana's work, "So this is the place where you got your tattoo?"
I gave her an amused look at her disbelieving tone, "It is. What, did you expect me to have Nana come all the way to my home and tattoo me there?"
Tammi grinned, "Well, it wouldn't surprise me. I've been living at your place for long enough to know that you have the money for it."
I sighed "Tammi, the reason I even have that much money is because I don't spend it on things like that."
"Fair enough." Tammi nodded, "Still, I was expecting something more high-class or like, traditional." She scrunched her face, "Or at least cleaner. I've been in smoke shops that smelled nicer.'
I raised an eyebrow at one part of her sentence, "Traditional how, exactly?"
"Y'know, like… with a needle and a pot of ink or something. The ones where you dip it in and then stick it in their skin. That's how I've always heard you guys do it." She said, seemingly suddenly unsure of herself.
I stopped walking, prompting her to do the same. I stared at her for a long moment, utterly baffled by what I just heard, "Tammi… that method is antiquated and takes hours of excruciating pain to do the simplest of designs. Practically nobody uses it anymore and especially not here."
Tammi looked surprised, "Wait really? But everyone in the Empire said-" She paused as I gave her a look, and her face twisted guiltily as she realized what had happened, "Right. Of course they would. Anything to make you guys look bad."
I squeezed her hand, showing her that I wasn't offended as we started walking again, "Tebori, the method you described, is still used by some, but as I said, it is an extremely painful and difficult method of tattooing so it's only really worth doing for ceremonial purposes. "I explained as I opened the curtain at the back of the parlor, "I know of only one parlor in our territory that offers the service and it isn't Nana. She thinks the practice is too archaic and 'boring'."
Despite my soft tone, Tammi's face looked guilty, "Oh. Shit dude, I'm sorry, I didn't know. I always thought-I mean, I was always told-"
"It's okay, Tammi. I interrupted her, squeezing her hand again, "You were misled and were never told otherwise. I'm not going to hold that against you."
"I guess. Still feel shitty about it, though." Tammi said, her frown staying on her face.
"That just means you're serious about changing. If making such an assumption fills you with regret, even subconsciously, then you're on the right path to getting rid of those thoughts altogether." I reassured her softly, "Don't be discouraged. It's not something that's going to happen in a few weeks, Tammi. It'll take time, and I'll be here to help you as much as I possibly can."
My words succeeded in cheering her up, and Tammi smiled gently as she squeezed my hand back, "...Thank you. Like I said, I'm trying, but it's hard."
"You're trying. That's all that matters." I leaned up and gave her a quick peck on the lips, before grabbing the knob of the door to the basement, "Now come on. Let's see what Nana wants."
Opening the door to the basement, the two of us were immediately hit with an almost overwhelming scent. A mix of iron, cigarette smoke and oddly enough, salt wafted up the stairwell and smacked us in the face, making us both cringe.
"What the hell is she doing down here?" Tammi struggled to ask, reeling from the unexpected smell.
I shook my head, "You probably don't want to know. Nana's taste in entertainment are… peculiar. Just be glad it's likely over for now."
"Wait, you're telling me she finds torturing people fun?" Tammi's voice was incredulous as she stared at me in shock.
"Fun is an understatement. I believe she gets off on it."
Tammi gave me a horrified look, "Seriously?"
I nodded seriously. I wasn't one hundred percent sure, nor was I exactly in a hurry to prove it, but if it was true, a lot more things would make sense. Nana always seemed to enjoy her work a bit too much.
At my nod, Tammi shuddered, "Well that's the worst thing ever. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at her the same way."
I gave her an amused look as we began to descend, "You're telling me you looked at her normally before?"
"I never said that."
As we drew closer to the basement, the smell only grew stronger, and I began to make out a soft voice seemingly speaking to nobody,
"Can't believe you went and croaked like that. Just when we were starting to have fun too…" The voice belonged to Nana, of course, though the person she was speaking to didn't respond. Or more likely couldn't..
The reason for the foul smell that we had been hit with was quickly made apparent as we did so. The door to Nana's playroom was wide open, allowing all of the horrible smells inside to slip out into the open air.
The woman herself was standing just outside the doorway bent over as she finished zipping up a black body bag, thankfully obscuring the person inside and sparing them the no doubt grisly view.
Though the view of the woman herself was hardly better. It was clear that Nana had been having quite a bit of fun with her latest victim as she was absolutely drenched in blood. It caked her hands, from her fingertips to her forearms and even from behind I could easily see the splatters of red on her coat. She had been indulging more than usual, it seemed. I suppose it was my fault for giving her so much leeway this time.
As she finished closing the bag and stood back up to her full height, the woman placed her hands on her hips with an airy sigh, "Oh, Takao. You were a fun one, that's for sure. I just wish we could have spent more time together…"
The way she spoke about him was eerily reminiscent of someone speaking of a recently lost lover, and I shared an uncomfortable look with Tammi before clearing my throat, wishing to get this over with as quickly as possible.
At the noise, the woman whipped her head towards us, revealing that her face has splatters of blood all over as well. "Ah, Hime! You're finally here!" Nana gave me a wide smile, "Sorry about the mess. I was expecting you here a bit sooner and you caught me in the middle of cleaning up, I'm afraid."
"I understand, Nana." I gave her the best smile I could muster under the circumstances, "I went to collect Tammi beforehand so it took a bit longer to get here. …How did things go?"
"Weeell…" Nana cast a sidelong glance down at the body bag, "As I'm sure you can see, Takao couldn't quite stand up to my more thorough methods of information collecting. I'm afraid his already frail body just couldn't cut it. And just when we were getting to the really good part, too."
"I did say you could do what was necessary." I commented, though I couldn't keep the slight disgust out of my voice as I gazed at the blood soaked woman. "Still, you were able to get him to tell you what he knew before you did the deed, yes?"
Nana makes a mock offended face, "Of course I did, Hime. You know I wouldn't let him die until he figuratively spilled his guts. Well… sometimes figuratively."
I ignored the woman's remark and Tammi's gag, instead focusing my attention on the body bag that I assumed held the former Face. "So what information did you manage to glean from your… session?"
Nana shook her head, "Not down here. Let me wash up really quick." She said, flicking her fingers and causing blood to fly onto the floor, "I'm quite sticky at the moment, and while I might enjoy the smell, I know you don't. There's a shower upstairs in my room, let's meet there."
I nodded, somewhat glad that we wouldn't have to spend any more time down here, "Lead the way."
As Nana passed us by and made her way up the stairs, Tammi turned to look at me, silent horror in her eyes, "She lives here?"
~~~
Despite being a floor above the parlor and two floors above the basement, Nana's home was much cleaner than either of them. It looked like something one would expect from a modern apartment, with dark wooden floors and tasteful wallpaper. Normal, in other words, and not at all a representation of the woman herself.
Said woman gave us a smile as she sat a bowl of fresh fruit on the coffee table in front of us. Her hair was still wet from her shower and she had yet to replace the prosthetic fingers that she had taken off during it, "Here, enjoy. I always make sure to keep fresh fruit in case I get some visitors."
"Does that happen often?" I asked as I reached forward to grab a grape out of the bowl. Tammi followed suit, grabbing what looked like a chunk of melon or maybe pear and biting into it.
"No, but it's also nice to have something to snack on if it's not time for dinner." Nana shrugged as she sat down across from us, "Anyway, I assume you want to know what Takao told me before he kicked the bucket?"
I nodded, "Indeed. I assume it was revealing."
Nana nodded, grinning from ear-to-ear, "Oh yeah it was. Turns out our little buddy there was employed by someone we didn't expect. Hell, even I didn't have him on my list. Coil."
"Do you think he was telling the truth?"
"I don't see why he wouldn't have been, unless he just wanted to spite us with his dying breath or something." As she spoke, Nana reached into her pocket, pulling out her prosthetic fingers and beginning to screw it on, "It honestly might have just been a guess on his end, but Takao wasn't stupid and it makes sense at least. If it was the Empire or a new player, we probably would have learned about it before we did."
Nodding slowly, I leaned back in my chair, a contemplative expression coming to my face, "Coil… I've heard the name before but everything else escapes me. Who is he?"
"He's a small-time villain." Tammi answered before Nana had the chance to. There was an odd expression on her face, like she couldn't believe what she was hearing, "Barely a player in the city, or he's supposed to be. He hires mercenaries to do his dirty work and I don't think anyone's actually seen him himself. He had moles in the ABB?"
"Apparently so." Nana nodded, "You know about him, Tammi?"
"Not much. I don't think anyone does, really. He's not really made any plays as far as anyone can tell. He's just there." Tammi shrugged, popping a strawberry into her mouth, "Before I left the Empire, we were pretty sure he was operating somewhere downtown but couldn't find out exactly where."
"That's oddly close to the Empire's own territory, is it not?" I asked.
Tammi grinned, "Yeah. Kaiser was always keeping lines out to try to figure out where he was hiding but the bastard's too sneaky. Drove him up the wall knowing that a hostile cape was working practically under his nose but he couldn't find him."
"And now he's targeting us for some reason." Nana commented, "Do we have any idea what he'd want with us? We don't have any issues with him, do we?"
I shook my head, "We didn't, no. But if Coil is competent enough to operate so close to the Empire and not be detected, then his information network must be extensive. He likely had moles in the ABB long before I took command."
But did he now, was the question. During my overhaul of the ABB, I had rooted out several individuals that might have been moles and some that definitely were,but there was a possibility I had missed some.
And given these new circumstances that wasn't a possibility I was willing to accept.
"We'll need to do another sweep of our ranks just in case Takao wasn't the only one reporting to him." I said aloud, "When I get back home, I'll call a meeting with the Faces to discuss the matter. I'll also speak to Kon to see if he has noticed anything unusual and perhaps set a date to interrogate some of the more suspicious Officers just in case."
I wasn't looking forward to having to do all of that again, but at the very least it would be much easier than last time now that things had calmed down just a bit.
To my confusion, Tammi and Nana shared a silent look with one another, before Tammi turned towards me with an oddly stern expression on her face.
"Yeah, no. That can wait for a little bit. You need a day off. You've been spending way too much time working here recently and I'm starting to get worried about you."
I raised an eyebrow. Someone had clearly been talking to Hiashi, "Tammi, I'm fine. I don't need a day off right now, what I need is to make sure the ABB is safe."
Tammi sighed, "It's as safe as it's gonna get, right now, Yuko. None of the Faces are having any issues, the heroes aren't knocking on our door and hell, even the Empire is quiet. You can take one day off to rest."
"She's right, Hime." Nana chimed in before I could respond, "And I know Hiashi's been telling you the exact same thing. It doesn't matter if your power lets you fire on all cylinders twenty-four seven, if you don't give your brain time to rest, it's going to make time. Believe me, I'd know."
I sighed, rubbing my face, "You two… I can't just leave the ABB without a leader, even for just a bit. Things are in such a place that a single action could cause disastrous and unexpected change. What if there's an emergency?"
"Then I assume we'll be able to reach you via your phone." Nana answered dryly, "You're one of the fastest capes in the city, Hime. You could be on the other side of downtown and be here in less than five minutes if we have an issue. Nothing's gonna happen that you couldn't react to like you were already here."
That… was a good point. One I was having trouble finding any flaw in.
"And besides, you still owe me a date, remember?" Tammi chimed in as I mulled over the woman's words, "I might enjoy just hanging out with you while we work, but a girl had needs you know? Even one like me."
That was also true, I had promised her that I'd try to find some time for her sometime soon. I looked over at her, finding her staring at me with a soft expression, and looked away as I thought about their words.
Though the worry tingled in the back of my mind, I had to admit that things were at least relatively stable at the moment.
Spook's warehouse was well on the way to being properly furnished and he had already been introduced to the Faces as was proper. It was decided that he would remain in that edge of our territory as a deterrent to anyone who might try anything over there alongside a contingent of loyal soldiers just in case my trust in him turned out to be misled
On top of that, all of the Faces had managed to get a handle on their operations. I was getting fewer reports on things that required my direct interference and I hadn't had to actually visit one of them in at least a few days…
Perhaps Hiashi and these two were right. Perhaps I could spare just a bit of time to myself. To unwind from all this stress and deal with the emotions of been bottling up.
"...Very well." I said finally, sighing in silent defeat, "I'll take a day off. Just one, though. No more."
"That's all we want." Tammi gave me a bright grin, one that I hesitantly returned, before leaning over to peck me on the cheek.
"I'm sure things will run just fine without you, Hime." Nana reassured, as Tammi settled back into her chair, "You've got some pretty competent people holding the reins in your absence. Everything will be fine."
I gave her a nod, feeling a bit better about the situation, "You're right, I was being paranoid. I suppose all the stress made me forget that I'm not the only one capable of keeping things together around here. I'll contact Hiashi and request that he takes care of things while I am away."
Nana grinned, "'Atta girl, Hime. You're learning one of the best parts of being a leader. Delegating your problems to someone else is always better than dealing with them yourself."
I snorted lightly, leaning forward to grab another piece of fruit, "Well I wouldn't go that far. I still fully expect you to contact me if an issue comes up."
She was right about one thing though, it's just a day. What was the worst that could happen?
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Only… the parlor was seemingly empty. Nana was nowhere to be seen or at least, not up here. The smell of cigarette smoke wasn't nearly strong enough, for one.
Even so, my sensitive nose wrinkled at the smell, and I sighed in exasperation as I realized that the shop was completely empty, bereft of even the soft music that Nana liked to listen to as she worked her day job.
Behind me, Tammi seemed to realize the same, looking around at the empty shop in confusion, "I thought she asked you to meet her here. Where is she?"
I pointed towards the back of the shop where a curtain was hung, "She's probably downstairs in the basement. I wish she would have told me that though, I would have put on some less expensive clothes."
"...Why would that be a problem?" Tammi looked worried.
"It might not. But it never hurts to be prepared with Nana." I loved the woman to death, but her 'workstation' was rarely kept clean. Calling it a biohazard would be underselling it quite a bit.
As the two of us made our way towards the back of the parlor Tammi looked around at the walls, taking in the stencils and other art hanging around that displayed Nana's work, "So this is the place where you got your tattoo?"
I gave her an amused look at her disbelieving tone, "It is. What, did you expect me to have Nana come all the way to my home and tattoo me there?"
Tammi grinned, "Well, it wouldn't surprise me. I've been living at your place for long enough to know that you have the money for it."
I sighed "Tammi, the reason I even have that much money is because I don't spend it on things like that."
"Fair enough." Tammi nodded, "Still, I was expecting something more high-class or like, traditional." She scrunched her face, "Or at least cleaner. I've been in smoke shops that smelled nicer.'
I raised an eyebrow at one part of her sentence, "Traditional how, exactly?"
"Y'know, like… with a needle and a pot of ink or something. The ones where you dip it in and then stick it in their skin. That's how I've always heard you guys do it." She said, seemingly suddenly unsure of herself.
I stopped walking, prompting her to do the same. I stared at her for a long moment, utterly baffled by what I just heard, "Tammi… that method is antiquated and takes hours of excruciating pain to do the simplest of designs. Practically nobody uses it anymore and especially not here."
Tammi looked surprised, "Wait really? But everyone in the Empire said-" She paused as I gave her a look, and her face twisted guiltily as she realized what had happened, "Right. Of course they would. Anything to make you guys look bad."
I squeezed her hand, showing her that I wasn't offended as we started walking again, "Tebori, the method you described, is still used by some, but as I said, it is an extremely painful and difficult method of tattooing so it's only really worth doing for ceremonial purposes. "I explained as I opened the curtain at the back of the parlor, "I know of only one parlor in our territory that offers the service and it isn't Nana. She thinks the practice is too archaic and 'boring'."
Despite my soft tone, Tammi's face looked guilty, "Oh. Shit dude, I'm sorry, I didn't know. I always thought-I mean, I was always told-"
"It's okay, Tammi. I interrupted her, squeezing her hand again, "You were misled and were never told otherwise. I'm not going to hold that against you."
"I guess. Still feel shitty about it, though." Tammi said, her frown staying on her face.
"That just means you're serious about changing. If making such an assumption fills you with regret, even subconsciously, then you're on the right path to getting rid of those thoughts altogether." I reassured her softly, "Don't be discouraged. It's not something that's going to happen in a few weeks, Tammi. It'll take time, and I'll be here to help you as much as I possibly can."
My words succeeded in cheering her up, and Tammi smiled gently as she squeezed my hand back, "...Thank you. Like I said, I'm trying, but it's hard."
"You're trying. That's all that matters." I leaned up and gave her a quick peck on the lips, before grabbing the knob of the door to the basement, "Now come on. Let's see what Nana wants."
Opening the door to the basement, the two of us were immediately hit with an almost overwhelming scent. A mix of iron, cigarette smoke and oddly enough, salt wafted up the stairwell and smacked us in the face, making us both cringe.
"What the hell is she doing down here?" Tammi struggled to ask, reeling from the unexpected smell.
I shook my head, "You probably don't want to know. Nana's taste in entertainment are… peculiar. Just be glad it's likely over for now."
"Wait, you're telling me she finds torturing people fun?" Tammi's voice was incredulous as she stared at me in shock.
"Fun is an understatement. I believe she gets off on it."
Tammi gave me a horrified look, "Seriously?"
I nodded seriously. I wasn't one hundred percent sure, nor was I exactly in a hurry to prove it, but if it was true, a lot more things would make sense. Nana always seemed to enjoy her work a bit too much.
At my nod, Tammi shuddered, "Well that's the worst thing ever. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at her the same way."
I gave her an amused look as we began to descend, "You're telling me you looked at her normally before?"
"I never said that."
As we drew closer to the basement, the smell only grew stronger, and I began to make out a soft voice seemingly speaking to nobody,
"Can't believe you went and croaked like that. Just when we were starting to have fun too…" The voice belonged to Nana, of course, though the person she was speaking to didn't respond. Or more likely couldn't..
The reason for the foul smell that we had been hit with was quickly made apparent as we did so. The door to Nana's playroom was wide open, allowing all of the horrible smells inside to slip out into the open air.
The woman herself was standing just outside the doorway bent over as she finished zipping up a black body bag, thankfully obscuring the person inside and sparing them the no doubt grisly view.
Though the view of the woman herself was hardly better. It was clear that Nana had been having quite a bit of fun with her latest victim as she was absolutely drenched in blood. It caked her hands, from her fingertips to her forearms and even from behind I could easily see the splatters of red on her coat. She had been indulging more than usual, it seemed. I suppose it was my fault for giving her so much leeway this time.
As she finished closing the bag and stood back up to her full height, the woman placed her hands on her hips with an airy sigh, "Oh, Takao. You were a fun one, that's for sure. I just wish we could have spent more time together…"
The way she spoke about him was eerily reminiscent of someone speaking of a recently lost lover, and I shared an uncomfortable look with Tammi before clearing my throat, wishing to get this over with as quickly as possible.
At the noise, the woman whipped her head towards us, revealing that her face has splatters of blood all over as well. "Ah, Hime! You're finally here!" Nana gave me a wide smile, "Sorry about the mess. I was expecting you here a bit sooner and you caught me in the middle of cleaning up, I'm afraid."
"I understand, Nana." I gave her the best smile I could muster under the circumstances, "I went to collect Tammi beforehand so it took a bit longer to get here. …How did things go?"
"Weeell…" Nana cast a sidelong glance down at the body bag, "As I'm sure you can see, Takao couldn't quite stand up to my more thorough methods of information collecting. I'm afraid his already frail body just couldn't cut it. And just when we were getting to the really good part, too."
"I did say you could do what was necessary." I commented, though I couldn't keep the slight disgust out of my voice as I gazed at the blood soaked woman. "Still, you were able to get him to tell you what he knew before you did the deed, yes?"
Nana makes a mock offended face, "Of course I did, Hime. You know I wouldn't let him die until he figuratively spilled his guts. Well… sometimes figuratively."
I ignored the woman's remark and Tammi's gag, instead focusing my attention on the body bag that I assumed held the former Face. "So what information did you manage to glean from your… session?"
Nana shook her head, "Not down here. Let me wash up really quick." She said, flicking her fingers and causing blood to fly onto the floor, "I'm quite sticky at the moment, and while I might enjoy the smell, I know you don't. There's a shower upstairs in my room, let's meet there."
I nodded, somewhat glad that we wouldn't have to spend any more time down here, "Lead the way."
As Nana passed us by and made her way up the stairs, Tammi turned to look at me, silent horror in her eyes, "She lives here?"
~~~
Despite being a floor above the parlor and two floors above the basement, Nana's home was much cleaner than either of them. It looked like something one would expect from a modern apartment, with dark wooden floors and tasteful wallpaper. Normal, in other words, and not at all a representation of the woman herself.
Said woman gave us a smile as she sat a bowl of fresh fruit on the coffee table in front of us. Her hair was still wet from her shower and she had yet to replace the prosthetic fingers that she had taken off during it, "Here, enjoy. I always make sure to keep fresh fruit in case I get some visitors."
"Does that happen often?" I asked as I reached forward to grab a grape out of the bowl. Tammi followed suit, grabbing what looked like a chunk of melon or maybe pear and biting into it.
"No, but it's also nice to have something to snack on if it's not time for dinner." Nana shrugged as she sat down across from us, "Anyway, I assume you want to know what Takao told me before he kicked the bucket?"
I nodded, "Indeed. I assume it was revealing."
Nana nodded, grinning from ear-to-ear, "Oh yeah it was. Turns out our little buddy there was employed by someone we didn't expect. Hell, even I didn't have him on my list. Coil."
"Do you think he was telling the truth?"
"I don't see why he wouldn't have been, unless he just wanted to spite us with his dying breath or something." As she spoke, Nana reached into her pocket, pulling out her prosthetic fingers and beginning to screw it on, "It honestly might have just been a guess on his end, but Takao wasn't stupid and it makes sense at least. If it was the Empire or a new player, we probably would have learned about it before we did."
Nodding slowly, I leaned back in my chair, a contemplative expression coming to my face, "Coil… I've heard the name before but everything else escapes me. Who is he?"
"He's a small-time villain." Tammi answered before Nana had the chance to. There was an odd expression on her face, like she couldn't believe what she was hearing, "Barely a player in the city, or he's supposed to be. He hires mercenaries to do his dirty work and I don't think anyone's actually seen him himself. He had moles in the ABB?"
"Apparently so." Nana nodded, "You know about him, Tammi?"
"Not much. I don't think anyone does, really. He's not really made any plays as far as anyone can tell. He's just there." Tammi shrugged, popping a strawberry into her mouth, "Before I left the Empire, we were pretty sure he was operating somewhere downtown but couldn't find out exactly where."
"That's oddly close to the Empire's own territory, is it not?" I asked.
Tammi grinned, "Yeah. Kaiser was always keeping lines out to try to figure out where he was hiding but the bastard's too sneaky. Drove him up the wall knowing that a hostile cape was working practically under his nose but he couldn't find him."
"And now he's targeting us for some reason." Nana commented, "Do we have any idea what he'd want with us? We don't have any issues with him, do we?"
I shook my head, "We didn't, no. But if Coil is competent enough to operate so close to the Empire and not be detected, then his information network must be extensive. He likely had moles in the ABB long before I took command."
But did he now, was the question. During my overhaul of the ABB, I had rooted out several individuals that might have been moles and some that definitely were,but there was a possibility I had missed some.
And given these new circumstances that wasn't a possibility I was willing to accept.
"We'll need to do another sweep of our ranks just in case Takao wasn't the only one reporting to him." I said aloud, "When I get back home, I'll call a meeting with the Faces to discuss the matter. I'll also speak to Kon to see if he has noticed anything unusual and perhaps set a date to interrogate some of the more suspicious Officers just in case."
I wasn't looking forward to having to do all of that again, but at the very least it would be much easier than last time now that things had calmed down just a bit.
To my confusion, Tammi and Nana shared a silent look with one another, before Tammi turned towards me with an oddly stern expression on her face.
"Yeah, no. That can wait for a little bit. You need a day off. You've been spending way too much time working here recently and I'm starting to get worried about you."
I raised an eyebrow. Someone had clearly been talking to Hiashi, "Tammi, I'm fine. I don't need a day off right now, what I need is to make sure the ABB is safe."
Tammi sighed, "It's as safe as it's gonna get, right now, Yuko. None of the Faces are having any issues, the heroes aren't knocking on our door and hell, even the Empire is quiet. You can take one day off to rest."
"She's right, Hime." Nana chimed in before I could respond, "And I know Hiashi's been telling you the exact same thing. It doesn't matter if your power lets you fire on all cylinders twenty-four seven, if you don't give your brain time to rest, it's going to make time. Believe me, I'd know."
I sighed, rubbing my face, "You two… I can't just leave the ABB without a leader, even for just a bit. Things are in such a place that a single action could cause disastrous and unexpected change. What if there's an emergency?"
"Then I assume we'll be able to reach you via your phone." Nana answered dryly, "You're one of the fastest capes in the city, Hime. You could be on the other side of downtown and be here in less than five minutes if we have an issue. Nothing's gonna happen that you couldn't react to like you were already here."
That… was a good point. One I was having trouble finding any flaw in.
"And besides, you still owe me a date, remember?" Tammi chimed in as I mulled over the woman's words, "I might enjoy just hanging out with you while we work, but a girl had needs you know? Even one like me."
That was also true, I had promised her that I'd try to find some time for her sometime soon. I looked over at her, finding her staring at me with a soft expression, and looked away as I thought about their words.
Though the worry tingled in the back of my mind, I had to admit that things were at least relatively stable at the moment.
Spook's warehouse was well on the way to being properly furnished and he had already been introduced to the Faces as was proper. It was decided that he would remain in that edge of our territory as a deterrent to anyone who might try anything over there alongside a contingent of loyal soldiers just in case my trust in him turned out to be misled
On top of that, all of the Faces had managed to get a handle on their operations. I was getting fewer reports on things that required my direct interference and I hadn't had to actually visit one of them in at least a few days…
Perhaps Hiashi and these two were right. Perhaps I could spare just a bit of time to myself. To unwind from all this stress and deal with the emotions of been bottling up.
"...Very well." I said finally, sighing in silent defeat, "I'll take a day off. Just one, though. No more."
"That's all we want." Tammi gave me a bright grin, one that I hesitantly returned, before leaning over to peck me on the cheek.
"I'm sure things will run just fine without you, Hime." Nana reassured, as Tammi settled back into her chair, "You've got some pretty competent people holding the reins in your absence. Everything will be fine."
I gave her a nod, feeling a bit better about the situation, "You're right, I was being paranoid. I suppose all the stress made me forget that I'm not the only one capable of keeping things together around here. I'll contact Hiashi and request that he takes care of things while I am away."
Nana grinned, "'Atta girl, Hime. You're learning one of the best parts of being a leader. Delegating your problems to someone else is always better than dealing with them yourself."
I snorted lightly, leaning forward to grab another piece of fruit, "Well I wouldn't go that far. I still fully expect you to contact me if an issue comes up."
She was right about one thing though, it's just a day. What was the worst that could happen?
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