Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex Fan Fiction ❯ My Magical Gate Experience Was Ruined, As I Expected ❯ YGS: 11 ( Chapter 11 )

[Batou]

My military ID helped a lot. I have a special license for the handgun, thanks to being both special forces and an intelligence officer, and a veteran of that Outbreak Company mess. No cameras were allowed to film us as we went out the back way. As expected, Saki and I were politely directed into a van with tinted windows by officers I knew from my platoon and we got a visit to the station for debrief. Saki had to wait and I kept things brief, with an explanation on what I knew, and why I knew two magical girls.

“They were a little odd in school, but I’ve known Komachi since I was in Junior high and she was in elementary school. Her brother and I go way back.”

“How do you mean, odd?” asked my interrogator. There were cameras recording me. What a pain in the ass.

“Well, she speaks German, and English, and probably a few other languages. She always seemed to know a lot of stuff, and spent most of her spare time reading history instead of playing video games like a normal kid. She dotes on Hachiman, of course.”

“Ah, Hikigaya Hachiman, a captain in intelligence over at Narashino. There’s been significant pressure to release him. From certain members of the Diet.”

“You mean Yukinoshita. Don’t beat around the bush. Yukino I’ve known since high school, and she worked closely with Komachi since they met. I’ve never seen that girl take orders from anyone else. Yukino ALSO speaks German, and tends to converse with Komachi. I used to think… nah nevermind.”

“What did you used to think?” asked the interrogator, leaning forward for emphasis. Just another body language trick.

“Nah, I’ll wait to hear it from them. If ever there was a time for that, they’ll say it themselves.”

Behind the one way mirror the staff psychologist wrote “lesbians” on his notepad. He was wrong, of course, but never tell a psychologist they are wrong. It drives them absolutely crazy.

This repeated for a while, and I kept changing my story after the second time, just to be a dick. Don’t screw with an intelligence officer. We are subtle and quick to anger.

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[Tanya/Komachi]

I went through a series of debriefings and interrogations until I got bored and looked at my watch. It was a gift from Taichi and had one of my sensors on the band, disguised as a cute little pineapple charm. It was 10:30 at night. I was tired of this. Time to make a scene.

“Officers, this has been ever-so-much fun but I am tired and I’m going home for the night. If you’d like to do this some more, make an appointment. Now, will you show me the door or do I make my own?” I offered in very Japanese sarcasm and gestured as I started to glow green. I stood up and the officers in the corners of the room tensed.

“Don’t. I threw cars today. I can throw bigger things.” The desk, which was bolted to the floor strained and the bolts on each leg popped one after another, one of the heads embedding in the ceiling. It was concrete.

They opened the doors. They insincerely thanked me. They promised to see me in the morning, at my apartment building, at my apartment door. Taishi would be pissed. He really didn’t deserve this, but I wasn’t going to let invaders destroy Tokyo. I’m not that kind of lazy magical girl. I’m a hard working warrior magical girl. Don’t you forget it. And I still need a rifle, dammit.

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The interrogators eventually ran out of demands and shifted into more patient and subtle manipulators, changing the locations, and I got a lot of practice wearing concealing clothes. I suppose it helps that with my ahoge covered I look like any other Japanese girl. And my SEP field gives me some personal privacy from stalkers, spies following me, and the rare sniper. I learned from last time. My passive shields are running all the time. There’s enough mana now that’s not a drain.

The interrogators eventually took what they learned from me, less from Yukino who was reasonably shielded by her family, and Batou who probably said more than he should. They did ask some weird questions about languages, and put up posters of Bishounen and Norweigian supermodels in swimsuits. I think they meant to make me uncomfortable, but I’m happily married and Taishi is good at meeting my needs. I don’t just like his personality or find him merely comfortable to live with. Real marriages require that. I read books about this.

I want to say I was good at hiding from the press, but that was a lie. I did end up faced with cameras sometimes, when I let the SEP lapse. Interviews with Japan’s other Magical Girl probably paid a fortune in broadcast rights. I never saw a dime of that. My name was known, and my books were selling better. I could now afford to buy a modest house instead of rent.

“OMG, is that an engagement ring?” asked the 17 Japan correspondent. It was Ebina’s younger sister. She was a bimbo, or pretended to be one. I saw the jealousy. She didn’t get into Soubou. Not as smart as her sister, who eventually went into Diplomatic corps protection. She was even more terrifying now. Niisan told me a bit about Outbreak Company, now that I had a security clearance, and it was relevant to the Gate me. If this bimbo only knew. I smirked.

“Wedding ring. Married a year.”

Moments later, Lines was flooded with posts: “An Okasan has descended!”

“So what is it like being a magical girl?”

“What’s it like being a reporter? You live, you do normal girl things, and then there’s disaster and you leap into action, because what else would a good Japanese girl do?”

“But you can like… fly, right?”

“Yes, yes I can. And I can do other things, but they are currently secrets shared with our government and military, so I’m afraid I can’t talk about them.”

“Is it true you’re a war veteran from a past life?” asked the girl. Verdamt. They picked up on that rumor, and it happens to be true. I hate that question.

“No comment.” And I turned green and flew away.

“I can see her panties,” cheered a small boy. Great. Just great.

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