A shady goth doctor

"... It's late. Visiting hours are over."

Kawakami's attempts to hide had been pointless; the stranger noticed her pressed against the wall as soon as she stuck her head out. The suspicious looking doctor continued further into the alleyway, revealing the rest of her appearance. She was dressed in a long, white doctor's coat, but the rest of her outfit didn't inspire a lot of confidence in her medical acumen; her black tube dress and red leather belt, along with black platform sandals and a spiked, leather choker, made her look more like a girl trying to dress in the latest goth fashions than a medical professional. Other than that, the doctor was quite a beauty, with pale skin, dark hair, and sharp, brown eyes.

The teacher narrowed her own eyes, noting with annoyance that something about the doctor's cool manner of dress made her seem significantly younger... even though she suspected they were probably close to the same age. "I'm not here for a visit... Look at me!" She thought the better of that statement as soon as it left her mouth and clutched the apron tighter around herself, trying to hide the generous view of sideboob it provided. "On second thought, don't look at me..."

"You can't set up for prostitution in this alley, you know." The doctor spoke those words like she'd had to warn others about this before. "I'm running a clinic here. Well, I was earlier, anyway. I was just about to close."

"I'm not a prostitute, darn it!" Kawakami defended, now turning to face her new tormentor.

The woman looked Kawakami over once more, raising one eyebrow quizzically and then stepping aside to allow the apron-clad girl into her establishment. Despite her gruff demeanor, it seemed the doctor wasn't the type to turn her back on a person in need. Thankful for that and regretting her rude behavior so far, the teacher eagerly slipped in past the door and allowed it to close behind her.

... It really was dark inside the clinic. In fact, the only light in here was from the other woman's cell phone. "My name's Tae Takemi; I run a clinic here in Yongen-Jaya. When I said I was about to close, though, I meant it. They shut the power off..."

"Why'd they do that?!" Kawakami asked, unable to hide the frustration in her voice. She'd really been hoping she could hide out here until the morning when she had a chance to ask Ren for help... Although she didn't have a phone to do that with. At least it was a weekend; if this had happened on a week-day, she'd be unable to make it into work the next morning...

Takemi scratched the back of her hair and frowned irritably. "If you really have to know, I'm behind on a bill payment. I've got a lot to keep up with these days..."

Kawakami heard rustling in the darkness, then felt something pressed to her chest. Knowing she was naked beneath the apron, the teacher quickly removed the other woman's hands from that area and grabbed the gift: Takemi had handed over her coat. "I can have this...?"

"You can use it for now. I don't have anything for you to wear under it, but it'll be better to get wherever you're going than that apron. Just return it to me later... I'll be at this clinic."

"Oh God... Thanks. That's the first nice thing to happen to me tonight," Kawakami sighed, bowing in appreciation despite the darkness. She untied the apron, threw it off, then quickly shrugged her way into the doctor's coat.

"... I like that choker, by the way. That's a good look."

Takemi said her goodbyes and left Kawakami to it; Kawakami wasn't exactly forthcoming with details, given the embarrassing nature of the real reason she was outside in a maid's apron. She couldn't just tell the doctor she was actually a maid call-girl, here to take care of one of her students' laundry. With the full labcoat on, the only part that would stick out about the woman's appearance was a bit of cleavage at the upper lapels and her bare feet. She thought she could make it back to the cafe like this.

"The kindness of strangers, huh? That's an important theme these days," she muttered to herself, crossing her arms as she walked through the chilly night air. At this rate, she really thought she might just spend the night at Ren's place and figure out a way to explain it off in the morning... She felt too tired to go home.

Of course, once she actually reached the house in question, she found it locked. "Great. Great! The one time I think to lock up!" she complained, clutching her fists at her side and beating her forehead against the Leblanc Cafe's "Closed" sign. She hadn't actually remembered to lock it; that had been Ryuji's doing. Still, she remembered that the only key she had was inside the pockets of that maid uniform she'd had stolen from her. There had to be some option still open to her...