It's the return of the Princess, Danuja Takeda

After I just finished describing what an industrious, bold, and capable woman I knew my old friend Charlee to be, you're probably wondering: what could stop her in her tracks, if she was dead set and determined upon leaving me here and returning to her work? The answer: the one **** capable of halting and commanding whoever she pleases. The tall, muscular-but-lean figure of the one and only Princess had suddenly appeared in the doorway, directly halting Charlee's escape.

Yesterday, I hadn't felt so bad about the prospect of the Princess being my senior agent and confidant here in ODD. She was grating, rough, demanding, and pushy, but... what were her positives again? Oh, right! She was quite sexy. Plus, in this strange new world, she was the closest thing I had to a friend in the agency, at least since I ran into Charlee. Then again, Charlee seemed bound, set, and determined not to rekindle our old friendship, much to my dismay. Therefore, I must admit, when Princess appeared to menace Charlee, there was a dark part of me hoping that she would grab my old friend in a deep, wrestler's bear-hug to hold her in place.

The Princess did no such thing, because she didn't have to. Just appearing in the doorway with her arms crossed and exuding a sense of command was enough. Today, she was dressed more modestly in a long, white exercise hoodie, with black yoga pants underneath. The hem of the hoodie was just long enough to hide the bodacious bulge down below, which I'm quite certain would have been eye-candy, standing out against those tight pants. Her black wristbands and sneakers made it look like she was preparing to go for a run. All-in-all, I thought it was a good look for her, compared to the strange sailor-suit getup she'd been wearing when I first met her. Her face was the same as ever though: the severity of a legendary samurai, mixed with the dignity and beauty of a princess.

"Princess," Charlee greeted her, smiling nervously. It seemed that even my friend was beholden to Danuja Takeda's chosen naming convention. "I was just on my way out for today's case."

"So I see, Ms. Hawthorne. I applaud your expediency, but are you in such a rush that you would neglect your junior?" the Princess sighed, staring past the blonde for a moment to focus her eyes on me. I jumped and tried to shrink into the background, hoping not to get in the middle of whatever spat was going on between my two seniors. "I came to fetch Ms. Hojo to assist us in that very case. She proved yesterday that she is quite capable, despite her fledgling status; I believe she would be a great boon for today's mission. I won't tolerate you acting so rudely towards someone I consider to be in my care."

"You're the rude one," I wanted to shout! Still, as I thought about it some more, she did have a point. Charlee's a nice person and an old friend! Why is she ducking me so hard? If she has a mission today and we're both working together, shouldn't I be invited on that same mission? Feeling a little miffed, I stepped up and voiced the same concern: "why shouldn't I shadow you on today's mission, Charlee?"

The girl looked over her shoulder with a look of fear briefly flashing in her eyes, before fixing on her easy smile. "This is... an advanced level mission, Katsumi. If you're a rookie here at ODD, I don't think you want to take on something like this yet-"

"On the contrary! Katsumi should be thrown straight into the deep end. Sink or swim!" the Princess countered, swiping one arm in a dramatic chop through the air, like she was cutting a professional wrestling promo.

I didn't exactly want to drown, but I agreed with her. What better way to learn than to join two of my senior agents together in the field, right? Besides, the way she was trying so hard to hide the details from me made it feel like a mystery, which just made me want to go even more. I can't leave a mystery unsolved, even if that mystery is the tentatively titled "Katsumi Hojo and the Case of Why is My Friend Kind of Being a Bitch to Me?"

The Princess and I formed a tag-team, embroiling the unfortunate Charlee in a 2 vs. 1 handicap match she had no chance of winning! In the end, my old friend was **** to concede, slumping her shoulders and nearly dropping her coffee, but heading out with the two of us all the same. Princess walked alongside her on the right while I struggled to keep up with my shorter gait on the left. I was feeling good about this outcome, until the Princess soured my mood. She raised one eyebrow and pointed towards the briefcase I was carrying. "Leave that thing. You won't need papers or files for this," she demanded. "Don't worry about your clothes. I'll simply let you borrow some of Desperado's again, since you're the same size."

I grumbled and set it down behind the phone-desk, seeing as nobody had given me an office yet. In a small act of defiance, I grabbed my case notepad as well. At the top, I jotted down my earlier stated case title. I was going to get to the bottom of this, one way or another!

Of course, my detective brain must have been at least a little on the fritz. Otherwise, I would have thought to question why this gym case required changing out of my pant-suit.

The walk over to the gym began with painful awkwardness, as the Princess tilted her chin up and remained silent to the point of being standoffish. Charlee, ordinarily a good conversationalist, kept stealing small glances in my direction, but kept her mouth shut. You may be judging me for being silent myself, but look, I'm the nerd here! I'm supposed to get a pass for being a wall-flower. Why am I the one who's being expected to start a conversation?!

Unable to stand the silence, I finally spoke up: "Where are we going? Who are we working for?" The fact that they hadn't already told me was kind of asinine, in my opinion.

Charlee seemed to find her on-switch and finally returned to her helpful persona. "We're headed for a gym called Labors of Love," she began with a slightly sympathetic tilt to her eyebrows; she must have anticipated how I'd react to that name. "It's a gym owned by Genkei's brother, who's also named Genkei." The two pieces of information together were like something out of a nightmare and I struggled to hide the terror on my face.

"We call him Genkei Big Body, to distinguish him," the Princess added, not turning to face my direction as we crossed the street together.

I supposed the familial relation explained why the place was in such convenient walking distance, but I wasn't thinking about that. The idea of a muscular, gym-going Genkei had shaken me to my very core and a cold sweat broke out over my forehead. I reminded the girls that the only thing that made Genkei even halfway tolerable was that he was so weak, basically a scrawny Japanese salaryman who happened to have a lot of cash. Wouldn't being around a bodybuilder Genkei-- and presumably a room full of other sweaty men with similar interests to his-- be extremely dangerous?

"Not at all. Genkei Big Body is a voyeur, just like his brother," my black-haired former tag-team partner pointed out, keeping her arms crossed beneath her breasts. "Besides, he and everyone in that gym knows that if they step out of line, I'll bring my sword down upon them."

Remembering what the Princess's "sword" entailed, I wondered how many of the guys tended to act up in order to get that kind of punishment. Maybe she meant a metaphorical, punishing sword in this case, rather than the one inside her pants? I chose to believe that, just to escape the imagery of the Princess using her futa parts against a room full of over-eager, flexing muscle-men. Eager to move the topic, I asked: what kind of case are we working on today?

Charlee opened her mouth to answer, but the Princess jumped in again. "Ms. Hawthorne called it a case, but it's really more of a service. She and I assist a special workout routine at the gym on a weekly basis as hired representatives of ODD; you could call it an old tradition or a recurring payment for very little work on our part, whichever you prefer. It is harmless, but does involve a fair bit of sweating. That is why you'll need to change out of that ridiculous business suit you insist on wearing all the time."

As I pouted over having my serious working lady fashion insulted, Charlee patted my head and gave me a genial smile. "I think it looks very becoming! Very Katsumi. Don't worry about all of this. When we arrive, you should just watch for today and leave the heavy lifting to the Princess and me-" she encouraged me, tussling my hair in a way that some might see as harassment but I instead viewed as the endearing treatment of an old friend. Just as I was fighting off an indiscreet friend-boner, the Princess butted in yet again.

"Nonsense. I intend to take on a more supervisory role this time. You and Katsumi will be handling the main work. Like I said: sink or swim."

Charlee and I both clammed up, frowning and glaring at the Princess while thinking how unfair this established monarchy of our three woman group was.