A deleted opening to episode 3, following Mei's hiring into the Offices of Creepy and Crawly. Perhaps even a lost episode, this episode was mostly bereft of the other members of the team. Episode 3 as it stands now begins with Henri already in Tokyo, and ends with a much better contract for Mei.~~~~
Asakawa Mei—high school student, amateur folklorist, camera-exorcising junior psychic, and all-around abnormal Japanese girl—adjusted her fuku ribbon in a mirror, twisting a circular piece of cloth with her school’s initials embroidered on it into place. The light blue school uniform was neatly pressed; as it should have been, since it was brand new. “Maa, I’m so lucky this got sent in time,” she muttered to herself, tugging her skirt to unwrinkle a misplaced pleat. The skirt fell to her mid-thigh, and though she often wondered if her school administrators chose the lengths of the skirts solely for lecherous reasons, she couldn’t argue with the color. Light blue seemed so much more hip than dark blue. “I don’t know what I’d do if I had to use the old one.”
Said older uniform was sitting in tatters and shreds on her chair. It had suffered greatly in that incident a few weeks ago, as had her old school, which was currently going under repairs and restoration (and in some places, building from the ground up) due to an unprecedented demonic attack. Officials claimed it was a gas leak.
“It was all their fault I have to go an extra block to school,” she mumbled, grabbing her book bag and trying not to stomp downstairs. “Alestor-san…!” She shook a fist to the thin air, intending it for her new boss. She hoped somewhere he was sneezing. Mei made her way to the kitchen and started toasting a breakfast pastry. She was pouring herself a glass of juice when she heard the familiar “pip pip” noise in tune with Tubular Bells.
“Cell phone,” she said, rummaging through her bag for her phone. Finding it, she hit the answer button. “Moshi moshi.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Mei, were you just leaving for school?” The voice was deep like ocean trenches.
“Alestor-san?” Mei cocked her head. “Ano…no. I’m making breakfast.”
“Ah, I see. Everything come through ok? Your uniform make it?”
Mei glared at her phone. “Errgh, you realize that it’s your fault my uniform and school got demolished!!” Alestor chuckled. She hated it when he chuckled. “Yes, yes. I know. Well, don’t worry about paying for it. We’ll take care of it, seeing as it was our fault.”
“You have to,” she replied. “Its in my contract. Any uniform that gets trashed because of work, you have to pay for it. And I get hazard pay. Ok? Ok??” Mei jabbed her finger at the phone for good measure, despite knowing she was the only one who could see it.
Alestor laughed. “My, but you are a spitfire, aren’t you? I was just calling to check on you. Henri says hi.”
Mei smiled inwardly. “Tell him I said hi too.”
“We’re taking a case closer to home so you don’t have to worry about any more destruction or ruined uniforms.” Alestor seemed to be near a street, since she could hear the sounds of cars driving by. “Closer to home? Where are you anyway?” Mei asked cocking her head to the side.
“The office is in New York City. You didn’t think we operated in Japan, did you?”
Mei wasn’t sure where the group operated, but one theory did involve a loudly painted van that drove cross-country. “Sou da ne.”
She could hear Leo farther away. "Ask her if she found my sunglasses. I think I left them on her table thing."
Alestor didn't bother relaying the message. "In any case, we're not due back in your neck of the woods for about a week. This case's a little more mundane, so we didn't see the need to fly you over."
Mei blinked. "Fly me over??" "Well, of course. We need our spirit medium, if we have cases that need it. This one's more of a legal case. Don't worry your pretty ickle Japanese head over it. We'll be in touch. Good bye!"
Mei didn't have a chance to say goodbye, but she stared at her phone in bewilderment. Apparently, even the supernatural world had "mundane" things in it besides "impossible" things.
"Maa ika," she murmured as she finished her breakfast. At least school would be normal.
~~~~
--ORRRRR WILL IT?? XD
Dio (10/4/13)
(all art, characters and story belong to me, Dio)