The view outside might have been nothing special, but inside the four table wide room was open and took up four stories. A system of balconies allowed for more tables and there was even a floor of fancy wrought iron. you could look down on those below or, as Ron just noticed, look up a waitresses skirt. he looked doen quickly and focused elsewhere.
It was tastefully decorated too. A pearl paint on the walls, White marbel floor, stained glass windows from the back of the room cast a beautiful rainbow throughout the room and lit up the silver and gold embellembellishments.
The handrails on the spiral stair cases were Black Oak with the precious metals inlaid within it. The elevator screens were gold weave. The cloths on the table were black silk.
A fountain filled with with Koi was by the door. The four had no time to admire the place any longer, as a young black woman in a red blazer and black and red checkered, pleated skirt stepped in front of them. "Reservation?"
"Ah, McDonald and Sanders." Ron provided.
The woman put her hand to her ear and nodded. "She grabbed a few menues and handed them out. "Dining with the boss, you must be important." She seemed jealous. "Follow me."
She led them towards one of the elevators. This is when Yori pointed out the customers. Sure, there were groups with men and women at a table, but most of the tables were occupied by women, seemingly on a date.
A familiar couple saw them. "Look, Alice, they're letting in the rabble now!" she said it loud enough.
The hostess stopped them and went to the table. she said a few things and then a group of employees began clearing the table under the women's protest.
"I will leave a terrible review for this!" shouted one of the women as a butch brunette ushered the two out.
"You do that." Their hostess called out before returning to her task.
she led them to the elevators, they stepped inside and she produced a key. rather than go up, the back panel opened.
"Down the hall and to the right. Go right in, the boss expects you."
They stepped into the narrow and dim hall, the panel closed behind them.
"Husband." Yori said with a tinge of fear while taking his hand. the hall was a perfect choke point. two doors at the very end coukd provide cover for an assault. a dreadful feeling floated down the hall along with the strange smelling smoke.
They proceeded slowly.
Ron went first, followed by Yori and Anna. Xia brought up the rear. all were on edge as they went deeper into the dimness, the light from the cracked door on the left sending a beam into the smoke.
Ron peeked in the open door. Wait and kotchen staff sat around, mostly snacking and talking about customers they liked or didn't. A couple bouncers played a video game with a busboy and scantily clad dancer nearby playing pool.
"They have a nice little club house in there." Xia said as she peeked in after Ron.
Anna, tired of standing in the hall and in a hurrry to get her children back opened the door.
The strange smoke billowed out and lwdt the group aa bit dazed. when it cleared some, a set of book cases were to the right making a makeshift hall way. at the end was another wall, covered in various framed objects like the one to the left.
it was dimmer in here and the ominous feeling pervaded them deeply. Yori grasped Ron's arm tightly and drew a Kunai.
with some apprehension, they went forward, the door closing behind them left them feeling like they were mice trapped with a cat.
As they rounded the book cases, they saw a nude woman face down on a massage table. Another woman just as nude was cleaning up. She gave the woman on the table a swat on thr bottom.
She lazily but gracefully turned on her right, putting her back to them, them pushwd herself up while slipping her legs over the edge. She took the hat from the other woman. "Danke, Hilde!" She said sweetly giving the masseuse a kiss on the cheek. "Mein lieber Cousin, soll ich dich nächste Woche sehen?"
The woman, Hilde, laughed sweetly and shook her head no. "Dearest, you know i have my honey moon!"
"I don't like him. Let me know if he gives you trouble." Hilde laughed at the woman's words and slipped on a dress. She kissed her cousin's cheek and bowed politely to the guests before leaving.
Without Hilde in the room, the atmosphere grew heavier with the opressive force.
All eyes were locked on the woman with the fedora. Her back was still to them, she stood just so, leaving her upper half coated in the shadows. They could see the scar on her right hip. The lights lit up above her and she turned reavealing that the scar went around to the front. There was also a small scar on her otherwise flawless chest, it rested just below her right nipple. The tattoo of a demoness resting against a European style dragon was between her navel and pubic mound.
Her hat cast a shadow over half her face, the only thing they knew is that she had her lower lip painted black and the upper one colored purple. Two purple orbs glow from in the shroud or darkness she wore.
"I thought you stupid ninja were good at taking orders." She said in a displeased tone.
"Who ar..." Ron fell back a step as a shot glass came from the shadows. He barely caught it. The liquid inside just teasing the edge.
"Sorry." It didn't sound that sincere. "Misjudged that one." she added with a low chuckle.
Ron glare. "Who are you?"
"I'm sure you nosy ninja can find something. Or you could just ask around." The the orbs narrowed as if she were smiling.
"It turns out that we actually have two topics to discuss today." She motioned to the bar. "Anyone else?"
"Appletini, please." Xia said meekly. The atmosphere was getting to her.
"When Xia used that favor, my cousins had to ask around. See, I thought she was dead!" the woman slid a paper towards Anna. "I guess that's fair though. Saving her lover from a life of scandal. But I guess it's hard hiding out when you're bigger than life."
Anna took the paper and gasped, a few tears were soaked up by the mask. "Wade may have the skills, but I have a better network, and a bit more flexable morals." The woman told them as they all crowded around to see two girls locked in small cages being loaded into a van. Behind them an unconscious woman in a black cat suit, her hands and feet in special restraints.
"So, I ask Yamanuchi Masters Ronald and Yori to come alone. What happens, they bring the two biggest targets on the planet with them. Cost one of my cousin's two of his best friends. Put his brother, my cousin! In the hospital. He swam ashore somewhere in Normandy. Two migs in the Atlantic another over Spain after calling in engine trouble and fuel loss." She took a drink from a bottle. "They didn't care about Team Possible or Yamanuchi. They wanted Princess and the stand in because they needed Paluia Hantu to think that BOTH queens are dead."
"How do you know all of this?" Ron asked.
"Better network." she repeated.
"So, are you done shaming us for an honest mistake?" He asked again.
"I don't need to shame Yamanouchi. They do that themselves." She lifted a remote and pressed play. A screen behind her lit up with a recording of a street race.
Ron and Yori felt that they knew the first place bike. At a turn in the road, the bike with the camera sped up, over taking the lead and the drone of the second bike faded in the distance. after a moment the cameraman stopped. He lit a cigarette and lifted his visor.
"That's street racer Diego Rojo." Ron mentioned. "He grew up in Japan as a military brat."
By the time Ron finished speaking , the second rider pulled ahead and dismounted. "Hey man, good race!" Diego offered.
"Let's just get this over with." The second rider said while removing his helmet. it was Hirotaka.
"Pink slip, Bro." Diego said, less friendly than before.
"Pen?"
"Yeah." Diego turned to get a pen and Hirotaka moved behind him. Diego fell forward out of the camera's eye revealing Hirotaka with a bloody blade.
"Like I would ever give up my motorcycle." Hirotaka mounted his bike and rode away.
Yori didn't know whay made her more disgusted. The fact that Hirotaka did it, or the fact that he left damning evidence.
"To make it simple, anyone who aids him is fair game." The mystery woman said flatly leaning foreward to reveal a familiar face.
"Love?" Ron questioned.
"No, the elder sister, Dearest. If Diego was with these people, then there is a reason that Hirotaka did what he did." Yori didn't bother with speaking the old tongue.
"You know I don't speak Japanese." The woman said with a chuckle. "Nobody i know knew Diego, well, maybe Fuku, he races bikes. But this is just an example of the evidence that you 'nuchi are murderers."
"How dare you insult us you common criminal!" Yori seethed.
"Okay." Dearest said with a frown. "Let's take a poll." She turned on another monitor. This showed a girl around eight and a young woman walking in early evening. They were holding hands and each had an icecream. It was clear that they were family, the little girl looked like the woman.
their fun was cut short when two figures in ninja suits blocked their path from in front and behind. it was an ambush. The young woman got between the attackers and the girl. She was talking with them, even tossed her purse to one. it was tossed aside and the woman began to panic. One went for the girl and the woman shoved him. she was yelling now as she struggled with the assailants. the girl was running now, her guardian lost hold if one attacker. she frantically tried to stop the female foe. this single minded drive to save the girl left her open to a blow from behind. she screamed, the girl turned. just a tiny figure near the end of the stree. she ran back at her parent, slipping past the female ninja and charging the male. Her little fists were no challenge for the man as he choked the struggling woman. He ignored her until she scratched and bit him. he called to his partner who came back and started beating on the girl. the woman let go of the mans hands to grasp at the ankle of the other woman. she was pleading strongly as the man's hands could now circle her throat without any challenge.
lights started to illuminate the distance. it caught the attackers' attention. They drew blades and delivered in sync blows to their targets.
the assassins left the scene, but the lights from the emergency vehicle turned.fartber up the street. the woman managed to crawl to the motionless girl. for several minutes she tried frantically to get a resposne. then tbe video ended with the woman sobbing and holding her baby as she bled out.
"Two people in masks. Doesn't mran it was our people." Ron said smugly.
Dearest lashed out, tearing off one of Ron's shirt sleeves and then one of Yori's pant legs lost the lower half. "But those do!" Shinji said pointing to the scar where the girl had bit him and the spot where the woman's nails left marks in her ankle.
"Isuki never wanted to be a mother. It was forced upon her in a Beijing subway bathroom. Her parents, rich snobs, wanted her to abort and keep up their appearances. when she refused to kill the child, to put it up for adoption, they disowned her. she gave up all that money and comfort for a baby." Shinji sat on the corner of her desk. "Even I don't think I possess enough love to raise a child born from my rape... and what about Asuka. Eight years old, her favorite color was blue and she wanted to be a doctor. Her friend Tsubassa has missed lunch every day since his friend was murdered. what little good she was doing was taken from the world."
Anna took off her mask. Tears running down her face in pain for the two victims.
"Kim!?" Ron, in all his shock of seeing his friend and under the paralyzing gaze of hate she directed at him, couldn't defend agaist the shuddering blow. his teeth chipped and his lip burst and he fell to the floor.
Yori was too stunned to move as Kim stepped up to her and readied for another strike. Her hand stopped short of Yori's face, held gently in Dearest's grasp.
"Don't, Kim." She said solemnly. "If i thought it would make things better, they wouldn't be here today. Besides, it isn't their fault that they were raised on lies."
"We were killing a demon." Yori offered the explanation with no emotion. Kim growled but again Dearest comforted her. "to protect the world from..."
"That isn't what I saw, Yori!" Kim sobbed.
"Hey!" Dearest shouted.
"This is a new age. What is done is done. It has been going on for far too long and I think the best way to honor the innocent is to stop this ongoing feud and allow all of our children grow up in a safer world. "
"Until demons take it over." yori again added.
"That view is relative. If this were the seventeen hundreds, Ron would be considered a witch." Dearest explained.
"I'm no witch! i don't practice magic!" he countered.
"What part of Mystical Monkey Power do you not understand?" He looked confused. "is the blue glow natural for people in your family to have? Can you all float around like fuckin' pixies? Because in my experience, normal people don't do that, Man Witch." Ron had deflated and felt rather dumb after that explanation.
As he and Yori were left speechless Dearest held Kim at arms length. "No offense, Kim, but i might have to kill your brother if'n he don't wise up."
Kim sniffed. "What brother?" She asked with pain.
"The one who is lost in generations of lies."
"I refuse to believe this!" Yori managed to shake off the shock. "You call us liars, demons like you are all about lies!"
"See that's the problem, blind loyalty. Ask the girls who got your grandpa's special lessons about how things work at Yamanouchi. If you can find them. What about those Cambodian gents who drop off a bag of cash every few months?" Yori was stopped from speaking again by Dearest grabbing her by the mouth. "What about your parents? Where are they?" The demoness let go and stepped away. "You are Madamm of the school now, you can get into the archives..." There was motion on a security monotor. "But that can wait." she said as a mousy looking man stumbled in.
it looked like he had crawled the whole way here while being bombarded.
Dearest handed him a water and took the folder he had. she called in two people to tend to him before handing the file to Kim. "We need to rescue our neices, Ron. And we just found their mother."
Kim dropped to her knees. "No!"
Okay, that's done. let me know what you think.