(Yuunosuke)
It’s the time between lunch and dinner, so it’s not busy at the Aoiya. It’s a famous place – but just far away enough that I’ve never seen to it to go there.
The rumor among us as kids was that it was run by ninja. But like all of the other ninja, like Yamazaki-san, that’s all gone in this new era.
Oneesan… I keep trying not to think about oneesan. Didn’t Saitou-san just get back from his trip? They quarreled? And he didn’t offer many details…. what all does he know, dammit?
But… I have to help. I have to. Even if I’m just an errand boy to a restaurant.
Inside, I ask a nice lady about Misao Makimachi and oh, does her face change! She looked so kindly with those round glasses!
“Who wants to know about Misao?” she says, looking me over. Another man steps up, as if out of the shadows, standing closer to me than I’d like.
“I’m Yagi Yuunosuke, brother of Yagi Hide – Saitou Hajime sent me,” I tell them. That one guy is huge – as tall as he is wide, and both dimensions are vast. “He said that you could confirm that Hiko Seijuurou was accounted for, away from here.”
Suddenly I feel my feel fall out from underneath me, and a beefy hand bending my head down. “Bow down for the entrance the Okashira!” he growls.
Then… there’s someone else there – I can’t hear her footsteps as much as feel them against the door. “Kuro – let him up. The Yagis have had enough today.”
He releases my head and I stand – to see a short woman with wide, blue-green eyes. “Makimachi Misao,” she says, by way of introduction.
(OOC – to be continued!)
(Misao)
I decide to make it easy on this guy. “And I heard what you’re looking for,” I tell him. The news already got to us – the Oniwabanshuu has had its hands full of helping out the survivors of the broken trafficking/prostitution ring, so we’ve had ears in the police. Damn that Tanaka… but our sources thought that the kidnapping was related.
Saitou was here last week, and now Tanaka’s dead. And now this…
“So you’re the brother, when she has two brothers,” I say, more to myself, but he hears me and looks confused. One had two brothers, the other had one brother. One didn’t like to cross-dress, the other did. One was always sneaking off with Saitou, the other mooned over that Okita guy. They were confusing!
Did I get forgotten? Yeah. But I’m more than the wilderness!
“If you know anything about my sister, that would be helpful,” he says, suddenly finding the need to take off and polish the lenses of his glasses. “But what Saitou-san sent me here to learn was to get confirmation that Hiko Seijuurou is accounted for up north.” He puts his glasses back on, and blinks at me. “Oh! I’ve seen you before! At the Third Higher School fundraising ball!”
I grin a little. “Well, I wasn’t there to enjoy the party – it was for work.” There was some British hot-shot and his wife attending and she has a famous diamond necklace, and some no-good thieves wanted to get ahold of it – but not in the Oniwabanshuu’s territory! And not when it would be something that would -help- Kyoto, in the long run – a university! Sometimes I’m dressed up and going to balls; other times, I’m in trees with my kunai taking more direct action. It’s all part of the Okashira of the Kyoto Oniwabanshuu!
But then I get down to business. “Hiko came through here the first week of September, stayed two weeks (which Okon enjoyed) and then moved on (which she enjoyed less). Then he said that he wanted to get settled before winter, and headed up to… ” I pull Okina’s note out of my pocket. “Hirogawaraobanacho, off of the Oi River. Okina has some people up there who keep an eye out for him, but if you know Hiko, he’s not someone you can miss!” I laugh, but the young man does not look amused by it.
Hiko talked some (a lot) about Yagi Hide and since he was talking about the one with Saitou, I figured out which one it was – that, and she threw a tanto at Hiko, which, yeah, sounds like something -that- one would do. Sounds like trouble, but I have enough trouble on my hands.
“You said you’re meeting Saitou at the central police station? I’ll come on as well, I have business there too.” Besides, it’ll be fun to check in on him. He’ll probably have something smart to say about me not wearing shorts anymore (just on missions!) but… I’m older now! Aoshi-sama says it best – a ninja always fits in with their surroundings!
Although… if they were like before, then he’s got to be out of his mind. Poor guy. But Hiko seemed to hint that there were troubles… just have to see.
“I’m coming too! I’ve been wanting to see Saitou-san for -years-!” Okon pops in, her eyes sparkling. I shake my head. “No, our focus remains helping out the trafficking victims, and you’re -good- at that.” She frowns, but I turn – Aoshi-sama says, that sometimes you have to be unpopular to be a leader.
(OOC – Misao and Yuunosuke exit to the police station. Tamesaburou will be there already)