What Was Missing

Title: What Was Missing
Author: Rann Aridorn
Series: Daphne in the Brilliant Blue
Notes: This takes place just a day or two after the end of episode seventeen of the series, and thus contains spoilers for the events of that episode.

Gloria poked her head into the November building cautiously, looking slowly around the room. Maia, good little work-slave that she was, was already in place at a terminal, and staring at her with a bemused expression. The only other person of note in the office was Hanaoka, who wasn't really of note at all.
"Ah, Gloria-san... um... are you alright?"
"Ehhh? I'm fine! Why do you ask?!" Gloria shot back, straightening her back and striding in. She said it much more quietly than she normally would have, however. In fact, she was paying quite a lot of attention to being as stealthy as possible as she opened up her locker and stocked up on extra clips. She was especially keen to avoid-
-the person who was revealed to be standing at her own locker as soon as Gloria closed hers.
Giving a strangled sound of surprise, Gloria scrambled backwards and put her back against the wall as if attempting to push through it. Unfortunately, she'd gotten one of the actual solid pieces of wall, and not one of the poster-covered holes created by the OTHER times Yu Park had expressed her displeasure.
And Gloria hadn't pissed her off nearly as badly then as she had this time.
The tall, tanned blonde gritted her teeth in a grimace, actually shaking a little as she stared at the statuesque blue-haired woman, seemingly as placid as ever, as she opened her own locker and went through a few things, putting away the shoulder bag she'd come in with.
"Y-y-you can't hit me! I've already been in the hospital for it once this week!" Gloria protested preemptively, pointing at the other woman. "Besides, one more hole and the wall might come down! Then you'd answer to Rena! Aha! HAAAHAHAHAHA!"
Yu simply gave her hysterically-laughing coworker a glance, then turned and walked away.
"... Eh?" Gloria blinked, relaxing a little from stark terror into confusion as she watched Yu leave. "That's... not normal."
"At least she didn't hit you again, Gloria-san," Maia offered with forced cheer, smiling in that saccharine way she had.
"That's what's not normal," Gloria murmured, scratching her head, then wincing as she found a bump from the last beating that hadn't quite gone down all the way. Maybe she just shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Maia, two lost pets and a bill collection."
"Hai~," Maia sing-songed in a long-suffering tone, hanging her head.
"Shizuka, the computer at the history reclamation project is having problems, you're on that job until it's fixed."
"Yes! Okay!" The purple-haired girl's eyes lit up behind her glasses, and she nodded happily. Antique technology and computers, it couldn't have been a more perfect assignment.
Rena scrolled through the rest of the assignments, before finishing with, "Gloria, you're doing back-door security for a minor pop singer. Try not to blow anything up."
Gloria scowled at the beautiful redhead, slamming her fist against the tabletop. "It's bad enough that you say things like that to me, and make me take such boring, stupid assignments! But why do you always have to saddle me with that violent ice queen?!"
"Yu will not be on this assignment with you."
The blonde blinked, her rant terminated before it had ever really gotten a chance to breathe free air. "Eh?"
"Yu requested a different assignment specifically, so I gave it to her. That's why she's not here, she had to leave right away."
"What the hell, Rena?! You never give us assignments away from each other when we ask!"
"I did this time." Rena's eyes turned hard, sensuous lips turning from their normal even set to the faintest of downturns. Gloria had gotten used to that expression... it meant any further protests were token at best. "Now get to work. Your shenanigans have already caused a considerable backlog." Gathering her pads, Rena stood up and strode away from the table, Maia and Shizuka giving Gloria rather abashed looks before following suit.
Gloria sat at the table, a vaguely stricken look on her face. Screwing up was nothing new to her, but all of a sudden she was wondering if she'd really, honestly fucked up this time.

Rain was sheeting down as Gloria knocked on the door to Yu's apartment. The stairway balcony was lit only by a rather distant streetlamp, but then, Yu didn't exactly live in the best part of town. (Though Gloria thought that was probably how she afforded such a neat studio.)
She waited for almost two full minutes before the door finally opened, to reveal Yu's usual flat expression.
"Uh, hey. I came by to..." Gloria paused and winced, expecting the door to be slammed in her face, at the very least. After a moment, she peeked an eye open, seeing that Yu was still just standing there, looking at her. "... Okay. Um, could I come in?"
"... Nn." Yu turned around and went back into the room, leaving the door open behind her.
Gloria stepped inside and nudged the door closed after herself, hugging her arms a bit. It was times like this that she was glad she didn't really wear much more than what was effectively a two-piece swimsuit. She was soaked all over, true, but at least she didn't have a lot of wet clothing to be miserable in.
She glanced around the wide, open space of the apartment. Any hint of the baby paraphernalia that had occupied the apartment for a bit over a week was gone as if it had never been there. Yu's tan-furred mutt was laying in one corner, and Gloria tried to convince herself it wasn't glaring at her. It wasn't growling or anything, but she kept getting the sense it was displeased with her.
If she'd been more willing to admit to things, she'd realize how guilty that meant she really felt.
"I, uh... well, it's..." Gloria started twice, feeling all the more foolish for the fact that she was standing there looking a bit like a wet cat, her usually perky bangs sopping and hanging in her eyes.
Yu sat down on the couch and leaned back, just staring at her with those cool, penetrating green eyes.
"... Y'see, I... it's..."
"Don't bother."
Gloria winced at the sheer ice in Yu's voice. The deadly fighter always spoke with low, deliberate flatness, but now it was so pronounced that it was like being thumped in the stomach with a large chunk of packed snow.
"You took your own baby nephew and left him on my doorstep so I'd take care of him and you wouldn't have to. You told lie after lie to keep it up, and wound up putting him in danger. ... You made me put him in danger. If that's not enough to make you give a sincere apology, I don't want to even hear it."
Gloria hung her head, wet bangs casting her eyes into shadow. It was long moments before she spoke again, and when she did, her voice was a soft whisper.
"I'm sorry."
Yu gave a soft hmph and looked off to the side. Not looking up, Gloria continued.
"I really am sorry. Don't make it out like it's easy for me to say, even if I mean it. What I did was... wrong. Totally. I know that now."
"..." Yu slowly turned her head to look back at Gloria, who was hugging herself a bit tighter.
"I'm not just sorry because it was stupid and the wrong thing to do. I'm sorry I..." Gloria swallowed, voice rasping a bit as she finished. "I'm sorry I hurt you."
"... I don't believe you," Yu murmured, frowning a little.
"Well then it's you who's an idiot!" Gloria snapped back, shaking her head. "That's not what I meant to do at all! Any of it! ... Yeah, at first, I was just trying to keep from having to do that stuff. I got roped into doing it for my younger sisters and some of my older sisters' kids, more than once, and I was tired of it. But..."
Gloria turned to face a wall, walking away a few steps and letting her shoulders slump.
"It was... okay... when I was helping you out. It was almost fun." She slowly shook her head again. "No, that's bullshit. It -was- fun. Knowing you cared so much and that I could just help you out took so much of the worry out of it that I could actually enjoy watching a kid. And I liked seeing you act like something other than a violent ice queen for once."
"..." Yu scratched one cheek, her cheeks and the bridge of her nose coloring pink lightly.
"You really did seem like you liked little things, so I thought you'd be happy, I'd be rid of the kid until my stupid sister came back, it'd all be good. But I actually found myself looking forward to coming over here and seeing you both." Gloria quickly rubbed her palm under her eyes, then whirled to face the couch, slapping her hands to her hips and glaring. "So stop it already! I get that I was completely wrong and stupid! Smack me around, you stupid stray dog! Break my nose, punch me in the stomach until I puke, whatever! Just... stop this stupid emotional crap!"
Yu's gaze lowered a little, and she was silent for a bit. She didn't look up, didn't acknowledge the tears still gathered at the corners of Gloria's eyes.
"It... hurts now."
Gloria drew back a little, blinking in surprise, the motion dislodging the small tears to slide down her cheeks.
"I knew something was missing from my life. But now it's like I know just what that is. And it hurts." Yu frowned ever-so-slightly, still looking at the long, low table in front of the couch. "You... hurt me. I didn't know you could actually do that."
"I said I was sorry, dammit! How many times do I have to say it?!" Gloria snapped, waving a fist belligerently.
"I believe you. Now."
Yu stood, finally looking at Gloria again. Then she started forward, moving with smooth, animal grace. Gloria was suddenly reminded that Yu wasn't Rena's stray dog... she was Rena's highly-trained, highly dangerous attack dog. She'd opened up too much, left herself too vulnerable, she'd let herself realize just how truly threatening Yu was, rather than blunting it with her own self-image.
Yu drew up to face the blonde, looking her in the eye. Then she slowly raised a hand, her slim, strong fingers finding the curve of Gloria's jaw, thumb sliding across the tiny, damp line on her cheek.
"I didn't know you had any of these. Even fake ones. Are they real?"
"Uh... yeah," Gloria murmured, shocked into utter stillness.
Yu was silent again for a moment, before nodding. "... I believe you."
"Um. Yu... listen..."
"Are you going to bluster again?"
Stymied, the blonde shifted her eyes to the side, trying to avoid that piercing green gaze. "Was thinking about it."
"Would you say one thing again, instead?"
"Eh? One thing?" Gloria blinked, surprised enough to actually look at Yu full-on again.
"Would you say that you looked forward to visiting me?"
"Oh." Gloria mulled that one over for a minute, actually biting her lower lip and rolling her eyes heavenward. Finally, she nodded. "Yeah. I really did look forward to coming to visit you."
Yu stared at her. And stared. She stared until Gloria had a full-on blush going. Only then did she bring her other hand up to cup the blonde's face as well and lean forward, eyes closing as her lips pressed gently to Gloria's.
Gloria stiffened, hands curling into fists at her sides. A billion things to shout, insults to fling, attacks to launch blurred across her mind, an infinite number of protests to make to such an action.
But the thing she finally chose to do was relax her hands and bring them up to rest on Yu's back, sliding just under the back of her jacket to rest on bare skin, pressing the blue-haired woman a bit closer to her, her own eyes sinking closed.
When Yu finally pulled back, though just barely, enough that they could still feel each other's breath touching one another's lips, Gloria murmured, "I wouldn't have expected you to kiss so gently."
"I can be gentle," Yu insisted evenly, though her voice was quiet, just a little husky. "Or rough."
"Is that so?" Gloria's lips quirked in a little grin. "You're just full of surprises."
"Mm."
Gloria snickered softly, actually breaking into a brief, full-on laugh as Yu turned her and guided her in stepping back, until her legs bumped the couch and she fell back onto it. It was overstuffed and worn, and extremely comfy under her, even with Yu on top of her.
"Well be gentle, okay?" Gloria said with a light leer. "It's my first time."
"I don't believe you."
Gloria huffed and rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. It's my first time with a woman!"
"I still don't believe you," Yu insisted, reaching up to press the lightswitch above the back of the couch, the room plunging into darkness.
"Bitch."

"Maia. Two collections, a lost pet, and someone lost their favorite pendant in a liquid refuse reclamation tank."
"Hai~." Maia's head tilted to the side, actual tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Shizuka, you're still on yesterday's assignment. ... Don't drag it out too long, no matter how much fun you're having. They'll get suspicious."
"Eheh. Yes, Rena," Shizuka answered, grinning sheepishly and rubbing the back of her head.
Rena glanced to the other side of the table, where Gloria was leaned back in her chair with arms folded and eyes closed, a contemptuous look on her face. In the chair beside her, Yu had her feet up on the table and hands behind her head, eyes closed as well. In other words, business as usual.
"Gloria, Yu. You two are going to break up the Northeast Side Gang by apprehending their leader. If you have time today, you're also to collect a large debt owed by the television personality Kori Evans."
"Enh." Gloria waved a hand a little. "Fine, whatever. More stupid grunt work."
"..." Yu was silent, not so much as batting an eyelash. Again, business as usual.
"Alright, then. Let's get to work, everyone."
As people began standing up and leaving, Rena circled around behind Yu's chair and leaned down, smiling as she whispered in the younger woman's ear. "Don't let yourselves get too distracted out there. Understood?"
A muscle in Yu's jaw twitched, and her cheeks colored. But after a moment, she gave a single nod. "Mm."
"Good. And good luck... you'll need all you can get." Rena straightened up and looked toward Gloria, who was staring at her suspiciously. She returned the look with her best aristocratic leer, before turning and heading for her desk.
"... That canny bitch," Gloria grumbled, then erked quietly as Yu strode past her without pause. "Hey! Wait up, you violent ice queen!"
"Mm."

-End