Alice groaned when her eyes widened. The first thing she could see clearly through the haze of sleep was her alarm clock next to her bed. The bright electric green numbers said five thirteen in the morning. Her shift at the clinic had ended at two.

Damn ... she should be asleep. Why wasn't she?

She perfectly remembered falling asleep. Otherwise, why the hell would she be opening her eyes to hers?

Letting out an irritated snort at the realization that she was awake from having so little to be in her bed, she pulled the covers more firmly around her head and closed her eyes again. She had had a pleasant dream. Whatever it was, she wanted to have it back as soon as possible. She was about to go back to the dream world when it happened again. She woke up... only this time, she knew why.

Someone ... soon to be dead, was knocking on the apartment door. She moaned again and silently prayed that whoever was bothering her would get away from her. When the blows were repeated, this time much louder, she knew that her prayer was falling on deaf ears.

"Damn" she murmured as she flailed the covers angrily, swinging her legs and standing up abruptly.

She snatched the pale pink robe from the chair to her dresser and threw her arms through her sleeves as she shuffled across the floor of her small room. After a straight week of the night shift at the clinic, plus some of the most brutally intense training sessions Tsu had put her through, all she wanted was to sleep.

It was her day off, for crying out loud!

"Okay" she growled as she knocked on the door too persistently, hissing painfully when her blurry vision of her dream made her trip over the coffee table that Carlota had recently moved.

Speaking of her blonde roommate ... if it was her on the other side of the door claiming to have lost her keys again, she was going to beat her to a mash.

Fiddling with the three separate locks on the door

Carlota's mother had insisted they have the extra protection

, she yanked the door open and fixed her bloodshot gaze on the idiot on the other side.

She recognized the girl as a new member who trained as a doctor under Shizu's instructions. The girl's joyous smile instantly faded as she arched an eyebrow and demanded an answer sharply

"That?"

Swallowing nervously, she held out a piece of paper in her shaking hand. She let out a little squeak when Alice practically ripped it from her fingers. When unfolding it, she had to read it twice before processing what the letter said.

Come immediately to my office. There is a mission that I want you to do personally. Consider this payment for hiding my sake ... Bring your ass right now or else you'll regret it!

Tsu

She crumpled the note and threw it down the hall, causing the subordinate to scream and fall to the ground for cover. Without bothering to calm the poor girl's nerves, she returned to her room and began dressing for another day at the office. She put on a new bra and panties, opened and closed three drawers in search of a clean shirt and shorts before pulling her sandals out from under the bed where she had kicked them the night before. Revenge for hiding the sake ...

She wasn't even the one who did it this time!

She picked up her medical kit and was about to leave when Carlota came yawning out of her room, blinking in confusion when she saw her roommate fully clothed

and very angry

.

"Hey ... I thought you had the day off" the blonde girl muttered.

"I had it ... until Tsu noticed that last week's sake disappeared"

"Oh ... Wasn't Shizu doing that?"

"She did, and now I'm the one paying!"

Shrugging, she flopped down on her couch in a daze and said:

"That sucks, especially since she's on a mission right now and she can't confirm that"

"Thanks ... I'm not having a good day now" Alice answered before closing the door.

Carlota yawned again and stretched out on the couch, pulling on the blanket that Alice's mother had made. Normally, she would have been fighting Alice over her attitude but she sympathized with her friend, plus she understood that she was not a morning person. Living with her childhood friend of hers for a little over a year had taught him that. Snuggling against the sofa cushions, she made a silent note to have food ready for when she returned.

XXX

Alice took a few seconds outside the sliding door of her boss's office to recover.

Yes, she was angry, exhausted and yet Tsu had a temper that made her look like an angry kitten. If the two of them lost control at the same time ... Well, her village would be reduced to rubble and neither of them would be talking about it.

Hopping onto her legs and twisting her neck to release him, she took a deep breath and slowly released it before hitting the wooden frame. She was calm, she was a professional. But she was still angry.

Curse.

"It's about time you played, Alice! Come in now" Tsu called impatiently.

Gritting her teeth she walked into the office and approached her boss's constantly cluttered desk. Tsu was sitting behind him as usual, but instead of being wrapped in one document or another, she was looking at her apprentice with narrowed, speculative eyes.

"Did you call me, Tsu?"

Even though you know I just finished a week in a row working out at midnight after training all day with you?

Of course, that last part remained within her being.

Barely.

"Yes, I did" she said, leaning back in her chair and touching her lips thoughtfully "How old are you now, Alice?"

"Umm ... 18. Remember we just celebrated my birthday last month"

How could I forget it? She had given him the medical kit that she now carried!

"Hmmm ... that's pretty young" the older woman muttered before waving her hand dismissively "Still, I don't think it's going to be a problem. Your face is pretty enough, even if you are lacking in the area of physical development"

Alice bristled at her words, her fingers clenched into tight, trembling fists.

"Look, teacher, if you called me here to remind me that I am not as well endowed as you, Carlota, or even Shizu then I will ..."

"Wait, girl. It was not an insult, just an observation" she interrupted abruptly "What you lack in the curves makes up for more than in intelligence and intelligent thinking. Those two factors alone are more than attractive enough. Plus you have a nice tight ass, which is more than Carlota can boast about. And if that comment leaves this room, I will personally make sure that your life is a hell from which there will be no escape. It is understood?"

"Yes, Tsu" she couldn't help but smile even though she knew that her mentor took her threat very seriously and that she was also very capable of carrying it out.

It was nice to hear that something about her body was more attractive than what Carlota had!