Nightshift 41: Women's Bathrooms (by Sun Room)

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[from here]

Junpei eased the door open and peered inside. No movement that he could see, so he lead the way inside. For some reason, he expected the women's bathroom to look different then the men's. Well, aside from the obvious lack of urinals.

"So how much did we need to get?"

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"About as much as last time, maybe a little more." Chidori hefted her axe, turning it over so that the back--which was flatter and didn't need to hold an edge--was facing up. "But it should be easier this time. I can break them apart with this."

[whos-da-man.livejournal.com]

Junpei frowned. "More? Why do we need to get more? I thought you only needed to borrow a little..."

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"I borrowed about the same amount I brought, maybe a little less. But she doesn't get paid." Chidori thought it seemed proper to repay the weapons-maker for her services with extra materials, since really there was nothing else she could give here. Healing, of course, but that was a tricky thing to manage, since she moved around at night and would be harder to find than, say, the clinic.

[whos-da-man.livejournal.com]

"Oh. Ok." That made sense. Why did she get paid, though? It only seemed natural that a person would charge for something as totally awesome as making weapons.

"How'd she do it anyways?" Junpei moved to the nearest sink and looked over the pipes beneath it just to make sure they weren't any different than the ones from the other bathroom.

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Chidori joined Junpei by the sink, looking for the joints in the pipes--it would be best to hit them there, since natural breaks were by definition weaker. "She drew some things on a paper and said some words in a language I didn't recognise. And then a pile of metal turned into this." She lifted the axe again to illustrate her point, then shifted her grip to one best suited for hitting the pipes; the angle sucked, but she thought she could get some decent force behind her blows if she used her body weight.

[whos-da-man.livejournal.com]

"That's a cool ability to have," Junpei replied after blinking his eyes.

He stepped back out of the way for Chidori; the last thing he needed was to get hit by his girlfriend's axe because he did something stupid like not move. "I'll work on this one," he indicated, readying his bat.

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"I guess." Chidori wouldn't want to have an ability like that, everyone wanting her services all the time, doing nothing every night but sitting in her room making weapons for other people. Sure it would be safer, but endlessly dull.

Once Junpei was out of the way, Chidori raised her axe and swung it at the joint between two pipes. There was a very satisfying clang, and the pipes groaned in protest. Two more hits and she'd have it, probably.

[whos-da-man.livejournal.com]

The loud cacophony of the bat hitting the pipes joined the clang of Chidori's axe. Junpei wasn't being as precise as she was, but he was putting some muscle into it.

Hey, he had muscle. Honestly, he did. Totally rocking with killer pecs and washboard abs. In his dreams.

he grinned when one pipe dislodged enough that he could start to work it free instead of just beating the thing into submission.

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Precision was Chidori's only hope, here--she was severely lacking in brute strength, after all. As she'd expected, another two strikes broke the pipe open at the joint, spraying foul water everywhere. Sighing, Chidori put her axe aside for the moment and started pulling at the broken pipes. At least now she had a weak spot, and leverage.

[whos-da-man.livejournal.com]

The water sucked. It smelled and got him wet. The plus side was it got Chidori wet too. Even if it was nasty water, he wasn't against his girlfriend wearing a wet shirt that clung to her.

He grinned at Chidori as he knelt in the pooling water and started wrenching the pipe free. "So, like two more after these ones?"

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For her part, Chidori sincerely hoped that this would be the last time she had to deal with this foul-smelling excuse for water. There shouldn't be any reason she'd need to do so again, but one never knew, and this place seemed to like throwing unpleasant situations at people. Much like everywhere else, that way. "That sounds about right."

[whos-da-man.livejournal.com]

"Cool." Unlike last time, Junpei managed not to fall backwards onto the floor when he pulled the pipe free. Grinning triumphantly, he tossed it to the side and scoped out a second one.

"So what was the weapon maker like?"

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Chidori was having a little more trouble with her pipe--even broken at one end, it was still quite strong, and eventually she decided she was going to have to break it at the other end, too.

Before that, though, she absently answered Junpei's question. "Oh, she was very young. But proud."

[whos-da-man.livejournal.com]

"Very young? Like Ken's age?"

That was totally wacked for a girl that young to be making weapons. It was also really sweet. He idly wondered if she was a cutie pie as he started on another pipe. Unfortunately, the banging would drown out any response Chidori might have given him.

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Chidori thought about that for a minute as she struck the pipe with her axe again, this time at the other end. She had to brace the broken end with one hand and strike with the other, so she wasn't able to get as much strength into it, but it still only took a few shots before the pipe gave way--it had been weakened by her attempts to pry it loose. One down, and all by herself! It was a small thing, but still Chidori felt a bit of pride that she hadn't needed to rely on Junpei.

Waiting for a break in Junpei's hammering on his own pipe, Chidori finally answered, "She might have been. Maybe a little older. It was hard to judge." The weaponsmith had seemed a bit older than Ken, but she'd also had a doll of some sort sitting out on the bed, so that confused matters a bit for Chidori.