[color=orangered][h3]Natsumi Fujikawa[/h3][/color]
Oh no. Natsumi had hoped that they could quickly move on from this awkward situation, but Nakanishi was still pushing the topic. At least she wasn't threatening sexual harassment, but she was… hitting on her? Perhaps she was joking, but if she wasn't, how could she even respond to that? She didn't want to reject a playful request after causing such a blunder and really end up having a bad start with her new kouhai. But actually dating a colleague seemed irresponsible, and Natsumi wasn't even into girls anyways. Oh wait, of course. Since she wasn't into girls, this didn't have to be [i]weird[/i]. She could simply accept a platonic date, and if Nakanishi had other ideas, it wouldn't be rude to issue a correction about her orientation.

[color=orangered]"Alright, alright, if that will make it up to you,"[/color] she answered while turning around to face the cat-girl. [color=orangered]"Just don't get any weird ideas about me. It was an honest mistake."[/color]

Any further conversation between them was interrupted by Ayako. Natsumi sighed before performing her Shinto prayer once again, reverting her mane of fire into normal red hair, and making her way back to the transport.

[hr]
When Ayako dismissed the operatives, Natsumi spotted Kaida talking to Nakanishi, but she instinctively avoided mingling with them. The embarrassment of her earlier blunder was still a bit too fresh on her mind. Instead, she set her sights on Rika. [color=orangered]"Excuse me, Rika-san,"[/color] she said as she approached. It felt wrong to address her so informally, but she didn't quite remember her proper name. She had seen the names of the new recruits listed in the paperwork, but western names were so much harder to remember. [color=orangered]"You fought very well out there. You said you've fought demons before, right? Were you transferred from another branch?"[/color]

[sub][@Emeth][/sub]