The Case of the Missing Gym Rats (Open)

Watching as Riko thought about the pieces, the clues, brought a smile to Etain's face. 'So they all go to the same gym, and fit almost the same profile,' she said. 'Another question is, what separates them? What differences are there?'

When Riko sat back and rubbed her chin, it was all Etain could do not to giggle at how cute Riko looked. Mainly because she was sure Riko wouldn't have appreciated being called cute while she was being serious. 'The gym is the place they all have in common, so we start there,' she said with a nod. 'It's about time I went to the gym again.' She leant back so Riko could get a clear view of her lithe, but toned figure. 'I might need to buy some new gym clothes, as I didn't bring mine with me.' She smiled mischievously at Riko. 'Though I guess we could pop to mine and I pick my gym clothes up.' She winked at the girl, before continuing. 'You did want to see where I live, didn't you?'

'But the gym does seem to be the focal point of everything,' she said, shifting back to the topic at hand. 'Though it might be a wee bit before we get answers there. Especially if they're all on edge.' She picked up her knife and fork and started to mix the beans and cheese into the soft insides of the potato, before she took a bite. She put her fork down, picked up her coffee cup and took a sip. As she ate, Etain tried to think of anything else that she might have missed.

When she was working, Riko certainly was not trying to come off as "cute". "Cool" was always the look she was going far. Although that rarely seemed to work out in her favor. The matter at hand, however, was far more important. There was bound to be some other detail. As Etain mentioned, they had plenty of similarities. But, where were they different?

When her attention went back towards Etain, her blush returned in full force. "O-oh..." she stuttered out, "Ah, I didn't bring any, either..."

She couldn't quite continue as Etain mentioned heading back to her home. With Riko. And that was when the nosebleed started. Luckily, she had a napkin handy and buried her face in in the paper cloth. She wasn't all that certain she could look back up at Etain. Even IF she was looking particularly attractive as she sat on the other side of the table.

The fact that she was right about getting answers? Well, that was almost a moot point. Besides, Riko didn't hold out much hope for that, either. Getting to know the location, however, certainly couldn't hurt.

Seeing the light in Riko's eye as she thought about what she had said made Etain want to squee again. But she didn't, so she just watched the girl and smiled, while using her food as a cover for the smile.

The blush on Riko's cheeks, and the way she stuttered made Etain smile all the more as a tint of red came to her own cheeks. She arched an eyebrow as Riko trailed off what she had been saying. But when the nosebleed started, Etain gasped.

She dropped her fork and was instantly besides Riko, one arm draped over the girls shoulder, holding her to her, the other holding the tissue to her nose, lightly pinching the top of it to stem the flow of blood.

Etain just held on to Riko, worried about what had caused the girl to have a nosebleed. 'Are you okay?' she asked, the worry obvious in her voice. 'Keep the tissue there, and the pressure on until the bleeding stops.' She leant closer to Riko's face as she continued to hold onto her. 'Are you okay?' Etain asked, looking into the girls eyes.

Her mortification knew no bounds. Oh, how embarrassing this was! Riko, while not exactly opposed to have Etain this close, certainly didn't want to look this foolish as she did so. She looked back and winced a bit, as she asked if she was OK. The pain was mostly felt in her pride, than any actualy physical discomfort.

"Yeah...yeah I'm good." she said. The scarlet hue still tinged her cheeks as she tried to think of a way to get out of this. If only she could drop a smoke bomb and vanish into thin air, leaving a log behind as she went to try and reclaim a little bit of dignity. But, Riko was not a ninja. Much to her chagrin.

Instead, she sat there, face to face with Etain and gave a nervous chuckle as she tried to wave it all off. "Er, a-anyways...you were saying? Uh, you know...about the gym?"

Staying close to Riko, Etain continued to hold the tissue to the girls nose, even after she'd said she was okay. Etain continued to look into Riko's eyes, as though searching for something. After a moment, she smiled. She moved the tissue, checked to see if the bleeding had stopped, and replaced the now red tissue with a fresh white one.

Seeing the blush on the young girls cheeks brought a smile to Etain's lips. If blood was going to her cheeks, she would be fine. So the red head sat back slightly, releasing Riko's nose. But she didn't move back to her side of the table, and she didn't remove her arm from around the girls shoulder. Just in case she needed to help Riko again. And it had nothing to do with her liking having her arm around such a cute girl. Nothing at all.

When Riko mentioned a gym, Etain blinked at her, confused. Jim? she thought. But then it dawned on her. Gym! The case! She cleared her throat as a slight blush coloured her cheeks, embarrassed at her forgetting about the case because of a cute girl. 'Well, I've never been to this gym,' she said. 'But I am a member of another gym, close to where I live. So I kind of know how they work. And I have the clothes for it as well,' she added without thinking, but as she remembered Riko's nosebleed, the blush on her cheeks deepened. 'Ummm... anyway...' she stuttered. 'I... I think we should scout the place out, then I could go in and pretend to want to join. Ask a few questions, and see what I can dig up.'

Riko would have appreciated that blush a bit more, if she wasn't in the middle of one major one, of her own. But, at least they were back on track. It was amazing they got this far, at all, actually. Holding the fresh napkin to her nose, she looked back at Etain.

Yes, her cheeks did glow quite a bit brighter when Etain mentioned her work out clothes. But, at least she wasn't going to have any repeats any time soon. She hoped. All the while, she still had an arm around her shoulders and Riko most certainly wasn't going to raise any complaints about that. After all, that might lead Etain to actually MOVE it!

"S-sounds like a good plan." she nodded her head in agreement, "Um...what should I do, then? I-I could go with you!"

Try as she might to not sound to eager to go along with this plan, Riko couldn't quite stop herself from blurting it out. Besides she DID have a reason to go to that gym. Mr. Ookami would want detailed notes, after all. And she needed to get as much information surrounding these odd disappearances as she could.

The slight brightening of Riko's blush caused Etain to smile again. She's definitely not in any trouble, she thought. At least not the medical type. She felt her cheeks colour again at that thought, though a small voice in her head warned her to be careful. She was on the job, and there was no telling what could happen.

As Riko raised the question of what she should do while Etain was inside, then eagerly asked if she should go with her, Etain couldn't help but chuckle. 'You really are cute,' she said. 'And that's a good idea. While everyone's got their eyes on me, you could sneak around, see what you could find.' She thought for a second, before she nodded. 'Also, use your cuteness. Adults say things when kids are around that they wouldn't say if an adult was there. Adults always underestimate children.' She smiled at Riko, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze, hoping she hadn't upset the girl. 'And that means we're going to have to get you some gym clothes, and stop by my place and pick mine up.'

"Great!" Riko said, still as red as fire hydrant, but obviously eager to be on the case. There was so much to do and it felt like there was very little time to do it. She just wished she was playing something other than the age card. But, she couldn't say that Etain was wrong. If people were going to underestimate her, she might as well use that to her advantage. She had tools at her disposal that most people wouldn't expect from her.

"O-OK!" she agreed with a nod of her head, as Etain squeezed her shoulder. There next move was planned out. Off to pick up some gym clothes and then heading over to the detective's home to pick up her own things. What an exciting day this was turning out to be! She smiled behind the napkin, before cleaning herself up. She put a stop to the nosebleed...or at least it came to a stop.

---

After finishing up their little meal, the pair of detectives were off. First stop on the case was to a sporting goods store. Riko would need to pick up some appropriate attire for their undercover mission in the gym. She certainly wouldn't make it very far just walking around in her TA Academy uniform.

As they entered the store, Riko found the choices to be quite impressive. If you needed something for a sport, this was the place to go. No matter how obscure it might be, they seemed to be carrying it. They still had to solve this mystery, but before they could move ahead...

Riko needed to pick out something to wear!

Beaming at how eager, and also how red Riko was, Etain realised she would have to let go of Riko's shoulder soon. She could also see that Riko wasn't entirely happy about having to use her age, but also knew that it was an advantage to be exploited. And, if Riko was as good a detective as Etain knew she was, Riko would have more than a few things at her disposal.

Smiling again, Etain gave Riko's shoulder another squeeze before she, rather reluctantly, removed her arm from around Riko. If they were going to go anywhere, they would need to finish their meals off. So she pulled her jacket potato and coffee to her and continued eating her now cold meal.


After paying, Etain lead Riko to her car. She then headed to the nearest shopping centre, where Etain knew a sports store was located. Parking up, Etain smiled at Riko, before she lead the girl inside.

The sports store was larger than the one Etain had used when she'd brought her own gym clothes, with a wider range of equipment and outfits. The choices on offer ranged from trainers, to footballs, to leotards, to snorkels and everything in between, all in a variety of colours and patterns. Making a note to remember this store, Etain glanced around and lead Riko towards the gym equipment.

'Here we go,' she said, indicating the racks of gym clothes covering one wall, with racks behind them, all filled with gym clothes in all sizes, patterns and colours. 'Have a look. If you see something you like, pick it up, then try it on.' She smiled as she thought of Riko going through the racks. It had been so long since she'd been shopping with someone else.

"Sounds good!" Riko had managed to recover enough of her senses to not make a stuttering fool of herself. Of course a store of this size would offer quite a number of choices to it's clientele. Now that Riko could see just what they could offer in terms of gym equipment, she found herself awed by just how much there was to choose from.

Without much of an idea of where to begin, Riko opted to just find anything she liked and made sure to grab those items in her size. She'd suffered enough embarrassment today and was determined not to add to it, by choosing something too tight or too loose. With an arm full of clothes, she turned to Etain and grinned, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

This was a bit more fun than it had any right to be.

"OK! I'm gonna go try these on!" she said, before heading over towards the changing rooms.

The excitement in Riko's voice was infectious, as Etain found herself enjoying just the act of looking at the items on offer with the girl. She looked over at Riko as she went through the items, picking up this or that. Etain was reminded of the first time she'd gone shopping with Noemi. She'd only been a couple of years older than Riko was now.

Etain sighed and chuckled. That was about the only similarity between herself and Noemi, and herself and Riko. Riko hadn't been practically stalking her for weeks. And Riko hadn't, thus far, kissed her. Etain realised she was blushing, so she turned slightly from Riko, to hide her blush, and looked at the gym stuff.

A moment later, she saw that Riko had gathered an armful of clothes. She turned to her, grinned, and headed to the changing rooms. Etain smiled as she watched the girl entering the changing rooms. She sighed and looked at the gym clothes again. And an almost wicked thought came to her, and she grinned.

She searched through the clothes and grabbed a few items. She doubted she'd buy anything, other than Riko's clothes, but still, this was far too good an opportunity to pass up.

Now, just to wait for Riko to come out in the first of her choices.

Riko checked the potential items she would purchase with one of the clerks by the changing booths and soon found herself with a private room to try out a few of the things. With an excited energy, she hummed a few notes of some of her favorite blues songs as she sorted through what she had assembled and tried to figure out what she wanted to test out first.

Etain had certainly seemed to be matching her excitement for this little shopping spree. The other detective had also been nice enough to pay for the meal! What more could Riko ask for, honestly? As she found what she wanted try on first, Riko hung up her uniform on the spare hanger and was soon ready to step out and check some of the other mirrors.

First up was matching pair of shorts and a track jacket. They were red in color, but had white stripes going up and down the sides. It didn't come with anything else, so she supplemented with a nice looking tank top that she had found. Riko grinned to herself, before looking to see if Etain was near by.

Waiting for Riko to show her the first outfit she had chosen, Etain found herself becoming impatient as the excitement built. She also couldn't wait to see Riko's reaction to some of the things she'd chosen.

Looking around at the gym clothes again, thinking she might get herself a new pair of trainers, she heard the door to the changing room opening. She turned and barely stopped herself from squee'ing out loud. She's so cute! Etain squee'ed in her mind. And she has the legs of a detective. Used to lots of walking and running, she thought with a chuckle, her cheeks tinting pink. 'That really suits you, Riko,' she said, smiling broadly at the girl.

This was turning out to be more fun than she'd had in ages.

"You think so?" Riko smiled and blushed a little bit as Etain gave her evaluation. She went so far as to even add a quick pose, as long as she showing off the new clothes a little bit. "I kinda like, too. Very simple!"

There was still more to get to, but Riko was still fiddling about with the jacket's zipper and ocassionally stuffing her hands in it's pockets. It was a loose fit and did feel rather comfortable. Even the shirt had a nice texture to it. Of course, these were clothes that were meant for working out, so it was a definitely a no-frills kind of deal. She had seen a few that looked rather impractical for an actual work out.

Once she was satisfied, Riko went right back to the room she had secured for herself and went on to her next outfit. Reemerging, the detective found herself in another tank-top and shorts combo. The top, this time came with a hood and the shorts were a little shorter than the last pair she had tried. Both were black in color, but had some dark blue on them, as well.

'I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it,' Etain said, smiling as Riko posed, showing off the outfit. 'It is simple, but you pull it off perfectly.' She watched as the girl fiddled around the the jacket, stuffed her hands in to the pockets. Etain could tell that Riko liked it, it was simple and comfortable. After a moment, Riko went back to the changing room, leaving Etain to wonder what she would come out in next.

When Riko came out again, Etain couldn't help herself, and gasped out loud, her cheeks instantly colouring. It wasn't that the outfit Riko wore was any more reveling, though the shorts were shorter than the last pair. It was just that it looked natural on Riko. Etain smiled and nodded. 'That one suits you as well,' she said. 'You're a natural at this.' She tightened her arms on the items she was carrying and chuckled. 'You've chosen some good ones so far. I can't wait to see the rest.' Etain was excited, wanting to see Riko in all the items she had chosen.

Spending time with Riko had awoken something deep within Etain that she hadn't felt for years. Her sense of fun.

Now there was a reaction that she was hoping to get out of her detective friend. Riko smirked as she finally managed to make the older woman blush. Which was a rather nice change of pace for how the day was going so far. She spotted a few things in Etain's arms and curiosity drew her in a little closer.

"Say, what do you have there?" she asked, trying to see if Etain was looking to pick out an outfit of her own. She knew she still had a few more things to try on, but if Etain was going to be trying some things on. Well, Riko certainly wouldn't want to pass THAT up!

At some point, Riko figured they would have to move on and actually get to that gym. But, in the meantime she wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to have a little fun with all this. Mr. Ookami would probably have objected to the delays...but he wasn't around here, now was he?

As Riko drew closer to her, Etain's blush deepened, especially since the girl had noticed the items she was carrying. 'W... well, I figured I'd try a few things out, since we're here,' she said, her arms tightening around the clothes, hoping Riko couldn't see the individual items she'd picked out.

'Ummm... are... are you going to try on the next outfit?' she asked, hoping to deflect the girls attention away from the items in her arms, and back to picking out an outfit for Riko. That was why they were here, to see Riko in different gym clothes. No! So they could pick out an outfit for Riko, so they could go to the gym together. And do their jobs. Yes, that's it.

Etain knew they would have to leave and head to the gym. But she was enjoying herself, and an opportunity like this didn't come along everyday. Besides, the gym wasn't going anywhere. So it was fine.

Ah, so Etain was looking to try out a few things. Since they were there. Well, if that was the case, Riko was more than happy to see what the older woman had picked out. And more importantly, how it looked on her. She was going to go ahead and guess it looked good. But it never hurt to have confirmation of a theory.

"I sure am!" she winked, "Are you going to go try anything on?"

She waited for an answer before leaving. After all, Riko did want something to look forward to after getting out of the changing room. "I mean, you've already picked it out! Might as well, right?" She said, an eyebrow arching upwards as she held a broad smirk.

It seemed that it was now Etain's turn to blush, as her cheeks felt like they were burning. Her blush spread slightly, her arms tightening on the items she was holding when Riko winked at her. 'I... I think I will try them on.' she said. 'I guess you're right.'

She waited for Riko to enter the changing room, before she found an empty one. She shut and locked the door. She looked at the items she had chosen, wondering what one to try on first. Should she go for a regular, safe one first, then work her way up to the one she knew would induce a nosebleed in Riko? Or go straight for the nosebleed inducing one?

She smiled and nodded, before she changed out of her regular clothes and into the gym clothes she'd chosen to wear. She unlocked and opened the door, before stepping out.

"Awesome, looking forward to it!" Riko winked again, before she ventured back into her changing room. Now that she was done with her second set gym clothes, Riko had to decide what to try on next. She still had a few good choices and gave her internal debate some time for serious consideration. One hand on her hip and another thoughtfully rubbing her chin, she had the appearance of someone faced with one of the most difficult decisions to make in their life.

There was a very cute set that had pink shorts and a matching hooded track jacket. Pink normally wasn't her favorite color, but it looked pretty good to her. She liked the black cat that was printed on the back of it. Deciding, "Why not!" Riko threw it on and added a black t-shirt. What she was not aware of, when she picked it out, was that the hood had cat ears on top of it.

After she was ready, Riko went back out to see what Etain had picked out for herself. She was looking forward to that, almost as much as she was looking forward to see what she thought of her current attire.

The blush on Etain's cheeks deepened yet again as she stepped out of the changing room in the outfit she had selected. She was looking forwards to both seeing what Riko had chosen next, but also what Riko's reaction would be to what she had selected.

The outfit Etain had chosen to wear first consisted of a pair of black lycra trousers, that hugged her legs and everything else, and a simple black t-shirt, both of which had white pipping down either the legs, or down the arms.

When her eyes fell upon Riko, her cheeks coloured again, and her eyes sparkled, and it took all of Etain's willpower to no take Riko in her arms and squeeze the girl. Though a small squee did escape. She looked that cute.

'That looks so cute on you,' Etain said, beaming at Riko. 'It enhances your natural cuteness.' Etain then struck a slight pose, turning slightly, presenting her profile to Riko, showing off the curves of her toned body without realising it. 'What do you think?' she asked, her cheeks blushing as she look at Riko, her fringe falling over her right eye, some of her hair draping over her shoulder.

Normally being called cute would be quite enough to cause a bit of a blush to cross her features. But, add to that that Etain actually let out a small squee, which was sort of the reaction she was going for, and what Etain had come out, decked out in...well, Riko's face just lit right up.

The other detective was quite the knockout. Her choice in clothes was simple, but it certainly complimented her figure. And rather nicely, too. "O-oh, thanks!" she replied, "It looks great!"

Her evaluation was rather brief, but it was accurate in her estimation. Really, what else was there to say, after Etain started showing off (even if it was a bit unintentional on her part). Riko tried to occupy herself with fiddling with her jacket. Trying zipping it up, then leaving it half-zipped and then flipping the hood up and showing off it's cat ears. Not that she had noticed those ears, yet.

Seeing Riko's reaction, the blushing of her cheeks, only added to the cuteness of the girl, which made it all the harder for Etain to restrain herself from hugging her. But when Riko told her that she looked great, Etain beamed and blushed. 'T... thanks,' she said.

Etain watched as Riko fiddled with the jacket she was wearing, which was just so cute, as she tried to keep herself busy. But when Riko pulled the hood up, and showed off the cat ears on the hood, it was almost too much cuteness for the red haired detective to take. She was almost shaking with the overwhelming cuteness of it all. Though, yet again, a squee escaped her lips.

'You look, really cute in that,' she said again. 'I... I think you should get it.' She realised what she had said, and blushed deeply. 'I'm going to try the next one now.' With that she headed into changing room, mainly to hide how much she was blushing.

Now that was a ringing endorsement. Riko's blush intensified as the detective escaped to the changing room. She hadn't quite picked up on the reason, although she could make a bit of an educated guess. Thanks in part to that telltale stutter.

Turning around, Riko found a mirror and finally noticed the cat ears. She let out a tiny "Eep!" before ducking back into her own changing room. Sure, the track jacket was cute. But could she get it? Well, she certainly could get it. But should she? Riko found Etain to be very genuine in her approval of what she had found for herself. And she did like the whole outfit.

So, Riko decided to set aside with her uniform. It was very likely that she would go with Etain's recommendation. She could even wear that jacket when she wasn't going to a gym! Riko wondered if that girl, Rima, would find it just as cute. Blushing, she found another outfit to try on.

Back outside, Riko had found herself with a pair loose fitting top and a pair of shorts similar to Etain's. Only her shirt was a light blue, in color and the shorts had only one white stripe going down the side of her right leg.

Closing the door behind her, Etain tried to calm down, slow her beating heart. And try to removed the blush from her cheeks! She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, held them, then let them out. After a moment of that, she was calm enough to think about what to wear next.

It didn't take her long. So, with a smile, she changed out of her previous outfit, and donned her next one. This one was a dark blue quarter lengths and t-shirt set, both in lycra, both of which picked out all her curves this time. She smiled, knowing what the reaction to this one would be, sorted her hair out and left the changing room.

She waited for Riko to emerge and, when she did, Etain blushed again. She ran her eyes over the girl, nodding in approval. 'Now that suits you very well,' she said with a smile. 'Definitely something you could wear to a gym.' She cleared her throat, then posed slightly. 'So what do you think of this one?'