So Near, Yet So Far

“Maggie-chan?” a blonde woman stopped and turned to look at the tall, black haired woman who had paused at the entrance to an alley with a frown on her face.

“Nee-san, I thought I heard something down there,” the woman replied in a low voice.  Her other two companions joined her at the entrance to the alley and squinted into the blackness.

“Ma-nee, I don’t see anyth—“ the youngest girl began, but she suddenly paused and turned her head slightly.  “I just heard something, too.  It sounds like a boy talking, but it’s hard to hear.”

Sumiregawa Nenene groaned as she saw the interest on the other women’s faces.  “You get into enough trouble.  Don’t tell me you’re going to looking for it.”

“But sensei, someone might need our help!” Michelle responded, and called out cheerfully “Three sisters meeting!”  As soon as her two sisters turned their attention away from the alley, she continued. “All in favor of exploring the alley?”  She raised her hand into the air.  Seconds later, Maggie lifted her arm.  Anita looked down the alley again, then glanced at Nenene and stuck out her tongue before raising her hand.

“It’s unanimous; we go investigate the noises we heard.”  Michelle clapped her hands excitedly before concluding the meeting seriously.

The three sisters turned to face the entrance to the alley, paper sliding out of their sleeves to form their protective clothing.  Nenene watched from where she had been leaning up against one of the buildings bordering the alley.  “Where the hell do they keep all that paper, anyway?  Mou, I probably don’t want to know.”  She muttered.  Raising her voice, she called out, “I hope you don’t think I’m going to come along to talk your way out of whatever mess you get yourselves into.”

All three looked back at her, but it was Michelle who answered.  “Don’t worry about it, sensei.  We’ll have fun—ow!”  She cut off with a yelp as Anita kicked her in the shin.

“We’re supposed to be finding out where that voice is coming from, not having fun, baka,” Anita growled.  Michelle laughed nervously in response.

“Of course, of course.  Don’t worry about us, sensei!”

“I wasn’t,” Nenene responded flatly to Michelle’s cheery tone.  She looked over at Anita to see the girl glaring at her.  She glared back.  “You got a problem, chibiko?”

Anita scowled at the nickname, but stuck out her tongue at the author.  “You’re just scared.”

“WHAT?”  Nenene lunged into the alley at the girl, and was in the process of wrestling her into a headlock when they all heard the faint voice from the shadows suddenly give a yelp of pain.  She immediately let go of Anita, who sprang back to stand closer to her sisters.

All four women tried again in vain see what was hidden in the dark alley.  Maggie shook her head and murmured, “I still can’t see anything.”

The sisters looked at each other decisively as Michelle summed up their thoughts.  “We did take a vote to go look, and it sounds like someone might need our help.  Let’s go!”  They looked expectantly at their companion.

Nenene sighed.  “Fine, I’m coming, too.”  She ignored Anita’s smirk.  “Someone has to get you out of whatever mess you’ll find yourselves in.”

The three sisters readied their paper, and Nenene lightly pushed her glasses more firmly up on her nose.  Together, they walked forward until they were completely swallowed by the shadows.



You should know these if you watch ROD, but you’re new, here are the basic terms I may be using throughout the story:

Nee-san: sister; what Maggie calls Michelle

Ma-nee: Anita’s abbreviation for Maggie-nee, “Sister Maggie”

Mi-nee: Anita’s abbreviation for Michelle-nee, “Sister Michelle”

Nene-nee: Anita’s abbreviation for Nenene-nee, “Sister Nenene” (because Nenene-nee-sama is too complicated ^_~ )

sensei: Nenene is an author, so here, that's what 'sensei' is referring to

San shimai kaigi: I'm almost positive this is what Michelle is saying in the original Japanese, but since I don't know the language, I can't be totally sure.  Anyway, it means "Three Sisters meeting"

sumimasen: I'm sorry; it just seemed to fit better than the English here

chibiko: shorty; Nenene’s nickname for Anita


Chapter 2: From Bad to Worse