Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Echoes of a final duel ❯ Chapter 7

Revolutionary Girl Utena: Echoes of a Final Duel

Part Seven

 

"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."

 

To be continued....