The novelty of being bound by mechanical latches to the wall and having a gun pointed straight at her head was beginning to wear off for Hanae. “I’m afraid I don’t know anything ab-”
“Liarrrr!” Hanae’s tormentor snarled as she pulled the trigger, spraying water directly in the Kuwabara Detective Agency secretary’s face once more. “Feeling frrrrustrated yet human? This is fun forrrr me, I can do this All.” *spritz* “Night.” *spritz* “Long.”
“Just tell Korrrrva what she wants to know and it will all be over,” said her second captor in a voice positively dripping in concern. Hanae had to admit it was more than a little amusing to discover that the Good Cop/Bad Cop routine was a universe-wide phenomenon.
She had already come to the conclusion that aliens were the least impossible explanation for the two women currently interrogating her. At first glance they appeared human enough, and their cat ears and tails would not have looked out of place on a pair of enthusiastic cosplayers from afar. Unlike their client Miss Toshimaru however, their ears twitched and their tails flicked just like a feline’s. That combined with their cat-like mannerisms and science-fictiony, form-fitting latex uniforms (unzipped at the top to display just a hint of cleavage) led her to the Visitors from Another Planet conclusion... well, that and giant technological display hovering in the air behind them showing the solar system and several other local star systems.
Another squirt from the water pistol brought Hanae back to reality. “Silence Urrrriva! Merrrrcy is too good for this one. She will brrrreak soon enough, and then she will tell us everything we wish to know. Just look at herrrr now... you’rrrre just dying to speak now, aren’t you?”
“Actually, I was wondering how long it would be before one of you asked the old ‘Cat got your tongue?’ cliche.”
Korva’s slitted pupils flashed and she grabbed the collar of Hanae’s blouse with both hands. “What is this ‘cliche’ you speak of? Is it powerful? What kind of defenses does it command?”
“Oh, therrrre is no need for tongue-taking here,” Uriva interjected. “That would be crrruel. And besides, if we took yourrrr tongue, well then you wouldn’t be able to tell us what we want to know. And then we’d just look rrrridiculous asking you things and waiting for answers you would neverrrr be able to give. Although I guess you could wrrrrite your answers down. Oh, but that wouldn’t work because we’d have to rrrrelease your hands, and then you could get away, and warn everyone about our plans to-”
“Enough!” hissed Korva. Her hair was the color of soot, but despite her ashen locks the smooth, unblemished skin and the firm, gravity-defying bosom she shared in common with her ginger-haired partner proved both were young women, or at least appeared to be. The grey furred catgirl stormed over to a compartment on the wall and withdrew a large box-shaped object covered by a cloth “You think you are brrrrave? I will show you how weak you rrrreally are... with... this!” With a flourish the cloth came off the object revealing... a metal-framed birdcage housing one very scared-looking parakeet.
“It’s... frightening. Truly.” Hanae deadpanned, unable to feign even a hint of fear at the sight of the cute little bird.
“Such delightful little lifeforrrrms your planet has. So colorful, so lively, so... tasty,” she grinned, holding the cage aloft so that the bird was directly at Hanae’s eye level.
“It does look rrrreally yummy,” Uriva concurred. Her yellow gaze was now riveted to the terrified parakeet while her partner watched the human prisoner closely for signs that she was breaking.
Hanae rolled her eyes. “I appreciate the offer... but I’m trying to cut back on the calories.”
“Therrrre’s no need to act tough. We all know you want it. Look at the crrrreature... completely defenseless, waiting to be gobbled up. And it’s rrrright there, juuuuuuuust within reach. But then, you can’t rrrreach for it can you? Not with your arrrrms bound like that. It must be so torrrrturous for you...”
“C-Can I hold the cage for a bit Korrrrva?” Uriva asked nervously as her tail twitched back and forth. “I only want to get a betterrrr look, just for a moment or two.”
“Yes, it’s so... tempting,” the secretary replied. It took a herculean effort not to have the last sentence drown in an ocean of sarcasm. “Still, I think I’ll manage just fine.”
“You can’t fool me!” Korva growled, shoving the cage in Hanae’s face and causing the parakeet inside to panic even more. “You might act calm, but deep the thought of this morrrrsel so close is driving you mad! Beg now, human filth! Beg for the birrrrd!”
“Oh please, let me have that birrrrd Korva!” Uriva pleaded. “I prrromise I’ll be your best friend in the whole wide universe! Oh please! Oh pleeeease!”
“WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT THE FUCKING BIRD!”
“She can have it,” Hanae said nonchalantly. “I don’t mind.”
The grey catgirl’s face turned deep red and her entire body began to shake. Without saying a word she grabbed the neckline of Uriva’s suit with her free hand and physically dragged her protesting partner into a nearby room. The undecorated metal door to the room slid closed. Immediately the door and the wall around it began shaking violently while the shrieking, hissing sounds of a literal catfight caused even the room Hanae was shackled in to vibrate.
Approximately one minute later the door slid open again. Out stepped a much calmer Korva without a birdcage, followed by an Uriva who looked just tried to hug a weed-wacker. The redhead was uninjured, but her hair was completely disheveled, her latex uniform was ripped in half a dozen revealing places, and the zipper down the front was pulled considerably further down, revealing a canyon of flesh worthy of being named ‘Grand’ were the moniker not already been claimed by some trivial rock formation.
Smiling as though she had gotten her creme, Korva pointed at Hanae. “Urrrriva! Strrrrip her.”
Uriva’s cat ears drooped. “Y-You’rrrre going to...”
“You’rrrre damn right I am,” Korva snapped.
Uriva flinched, then gave a heavy sigh and walked over to the prisoner. “You rrrreally should have listened to her. I’m sorry,” she whispered. She held up her right hand, and Hanae could see that the end of each finger was tipped by a very long, very sharp fingernail. With lightning-fast efficiency the catgirl unleashed a flurry of slashes, and the secretary braced for the inevitable pain. Yet somehow, the pain never came. Hanae looked down to see neither a single scratch nor a single stitch of clothing left on her naked body.
“Now then, wherrrre were we?” Korva asked
Hanae shrugged her shoulders as best as she could given her bondage. “Honestly? I have no idea.” This entire situation had been so absurd to this point, but it seemed like the fun was over.
“I didn’t want it to come to this,” the alien lied, as she pressed a few buttons on a panel in the wall across from her. “But you leave me with no choice.” As she spoke a door that hadn’t existed a moment prior slid open in the wall, revealing a small chamber with a large, man-sized porcelain basin filled with a steamy, bubble-topped liquid. Hanae could even smell a hint of lavender wafting from the room.
Safely assuming her prisoner was shaken to her core, Korva permitted herself a victorious laugh. “Now, arrrre you going to answer my questions? Or is it time for a bath?” she asked viciously.
“Is... Is Mr. Satoaki going to be alright?” Zoe asked, watching her elderly employer as he sat on the floor and swayed from side to side.
“That’s a good question,” Kumitada admitted. He walked over and waved his hand directly in front of the man’s yellow, extremely dilated eyes and got no reaction whatsoever. “I think he’s checked out for awhile. He doesn’t seem injured at least.”
Zoe sighed in relief as her fingers idly began undoing the buttons on her blouse. “That’s a relief, but who would do such a thing to Mr. Satoaki? He’s such a kind man.”
“The mystery deepens,” Yukiko mused. “Kumitada, when I examined Mr. Satoaki I saw the outline of something in his left front pocket.”
The detective’s assistant knelt down and liberated a twice-folded flyer from the pants of the unresisting florist. “Looks like an advertisement,” he said as he unfolded the sheet of paper. “Ms. Khatoran, does your boss like to sing as w-w-what the heck are you doing?” he then asked as he looked up from the ad at Zoe.
Zoe blinked. “What do you...” There was no need to finish the question, because at that moment she looked down to see that she was currently standing in front of the two strangers in just her underwear, with her hands behind her caught in the act of undoing the latch of her bra. Her clothes were in a pile at her feet, while lying on the floor right next to them was the leopard print leotard Mr. Satoaki had tried to convince her to wear. The one that probably would look really, really good on her.
Still, the attractive boy’s words had shattered the spell, or whatever it was that had taken hold of her. With a shriek she grabbed her blouse and turned around, covering herself up as best as she could. Like the gentleman he was, Kumitada turned to face away from the lady, while Yukiko retrieved the box that Mr. Satoaki had carried with him into the store.
“Let’s just put this away for now,” Yukiko said, grasping the offending spandex with the tips of her fingers and shutting it away in the box as quickly as possible. “Now then, don’t keep us in suspense, Kumitada. What does the flyer say?”
“It looks like it’s a promotion for a girls only singing competition at the karaoke bar down the street. Judges... prizes... even contracts for a few lucky singers. Listen to this: ‘Come for the music and fun. Refreshments served by our staff of Kitty Maids.’ The cafe our client worked at was a maid cafe, which was conveniently closed when we visited a few minutes ago.”
Once again Yukiko began pacing, turning around and around in the small circle afforded her by the many rows of plants for sale. “Fact: Ms. Toshimaru and Ms. Khatoran both love music. Fact: A contest is being run where they are looking for good singers.”
“You think whoever is behind the cat surveillance will be involved with the karaoke as well?” asked Kumitada.
“The fact that the flyer was in Mr. Satoaki’s pocket, combined with the maid cafe wait staff’s disappearance... we’re just one step away from breaking this case wide open!” she announced, stopping and holding a finger in the air triumphantly.
“A-And what is that one step?” Zoe asked. She was still blushing, but at least her clothes were back on.
“We borrow our new friend’s musical talent to expose their plot by winning the karaoke contest! Follow me!”
“Wait, what?” Zoe asked, but such was the magnetism of Yukiko Kuwabara that both she and the sweet young man followed her out the door without any hesitation.
Sun Jun 02 21:54:54 2013
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