Akiyama scratched his neck as he separated from Haruka and Haruto. The two would continue to explore the city by themselves. Yagami had separated from them earlier to investigate some things on his own as well. They agreed to meet at the nearby hotel where there may or may not be a hidden gambling den. Yagami noticed it and Akiyama sure as hell noticed it as well. There were two bodyguards guarding the doors and everything. Inconspicuous to the untrained eye, but that was a red flag for some illicit activities being done nearby. They were going to use that as leverage later for when they wanted a free place to stay...or use earn their stay by gambling.
From what he could gather… this Imperial Theater seemed to be a pretty damn important place if people were flocking to it and mentioning it in passing. Unsurprisingly the plays are the highlights. There were even some fliers that provided a schedule for the next few plays.
"Geez. I guess I need to work some of my old magic." Akiyama was, suffice to say, used to the whole ordeal of gathering info and possibly making the most of what he's got. It's how he's...somewhat successful in his business. Right now he needed to make some connections and a little money on the side. Learning about their current predicament can come later as Akiyama can vouch that connections and money can easily make the world go round. Money will definitely help, but it was mostly a favor for Haruka and Haruto.
All he needed to do was wait for the right people to look for. Akiyama decided to turn a bit into an indenture in the wall to give him a moment to think. He thought he could smoke for a moment, but he didn't have any cigarettes on him. He watched as the people passed by, men, women, children. They were all walking along their merry way. If they weren't in their weird...time travel(?) predicament, then he'd say he was just in a different city and note that nothing has changed from one city to the next. He didn't know how long he stood there as the crowd began to thin out just a little. The sun had slightly dipped down, but nowhere near the evening.
Akiyama stepped out of his little indenture, the people stepped around him as he was just a small obstacle in their path. Well he can definitely say for certain that people still acted like people. Something small slightly bumped into his foot and he promptly looked down. It was a bottle of some sort, there was no label on it, but some small letterings of x, 3, and v was on the very top of it. He picked it up and noticed it was completely filled to the brim. Wasn't even cracked open just a little.
"Sorry about that." A man in an unassuming blue suit said as he stopped right in front of Akiyama, "Dropped my bottle of alcohol and you picked it up. Mind giving it back to me?"
Akiyama noted that his demeanor was a bit stressed for someone who just dropped a bottle of alcohol, usually the homeless would looked this stressed at the mere fact of a bottle slipping out of their hands. He smirked as he knew what to do now.
"I don't know. Seems to be a good case of finders keepers. Unless you'd be willing to compensate for-"
The man's eyes widened, "Could it be that you realized just what exactly that bottle is?! Only a true liquor connoisseur would be able to recognize such greatness, of course!"
Akiyama raised his brow as the man pulled out his wallet on a dime, "I was gonna say I don't need your mo-"
"Here is your card to the illustrious LC. With this you're able to come to any of our wine tastings, club exclusive wines, discounts on any alcoholic drinks, and anything else we're involved with."
"You know what… this works fine." Akiyama handed the man the liquor bottle back without a fuss and took the card in exchange.
"I look forward to meeting you at one of the events. A true connoisseur like you is always a treat."
Akiyama looked over the card details as soon as the man was out of eye shot.
Liquor Connoisseur Card
Office is right next to the bookstore
Phone:XXX-XXX-XXXX
Just flash this at any alcohol vendors to get a discount and to enter member exclusive events
President and Founder: Saku "Sake" Shiro
Akiyama just sighed and pocketed the things. He had a feeling that someone might want something like this. A connoisseur who wants something good, but can't find the right person to talk to. He took another look at the address. He had a feeling that he might find someone close by.
He spent a good fifteen minutes walking around, looping back and forth around the block of the bookstore and a few blocks further. Akiyama sighed.
"Maybe I should take a couple of steps back and start over." It wasn't unusual for trading to arrive at a dead end.
"I told you, we don't know anything about a Liquid Connoisseur building, nor a Liquid Connoisseur card."
"Come on. You don't have to hide it. I know a lot about alcohol and their contents. Did you know that there's a drink that's 80%-"
Akiyama looked over as a woman ran away from a man talking about alcohol. He was pretty sure he found his guy, but a quick jab ran through his mind as he approached the man.
"If you want to pick up women you're going to have to be a little less creepy."
The man blushed a bit and put a hand to the back of his hand, "Sorry. I didn't mean to I was just looking for the Liquid Connoisseur building. I heard it was somewhere around here from one of my friends, but I can't seem to find it. I was hoping to find some members so I could get in."
"Liquid Connoisseur? Never heard of such a thing." Akiyama knew what the man was trying to say, but he was having a bit of fun.
"Yeah. It's a strange thing to be called when they're actually crazy about alcohol. They should be called something like...Alcohol Connoisseur so people don't get it wrong."
"You mentioned a card earlier? What's that about?"
"It's proof of membership. You've got to know a lot about alcohol, whether it be Wines, Rums, even the lowly beers. They don't just let anyone in you know?"
"So Liquid Connoisseur?"
"Yep!" The man had a smile on his face as though he passed on the wisdom of the Buddha.
"That's funny, it actually sounds quite similar to a thing called Liquor Connoisseur." Akiyama pulled out the card just to prove his point.
"Now that I think about it, perhaps it was Liquor Conn-" just as expected, the man's eyes lit up like a fire in the night, "This is it! Does this mean what I think it means?! Are you giving me this membership card?" The man reached out to it, but Akiyama snatched it away.
"Not so fast, I expect some compensation for this."
The man nodded his head as he pulled out a small bag, "Of course! I came prepared for possibly paying for my membership."
"I'm not talking about money. I'm thinking more of an exchange."
"Of course! If anyone could just buy it all the rich people could flaunt it around like it's nothing! We need to prove we're true connoisseurs after all."
Akiyama could feel the beads of sweat on his head start to fall down at his current situation. He didn't expect much, but this man was crazy for this. Basically a verified alcoholic by the looks of it.
The man tapped his foot on the ground and walked around putting a finger to his chin, "What to exchange. What to exchange? Maybe?"
He shot a hand towards his pocket and began to rummage through it. Either he had deep pockets, or there was a lot of stuff in there. It didn't take long for him to pull out something, "Got it!"
It looked like a simple smartphone...er..whatever they call the phones here, but definitely smaller than the average model he's seen around here, "I'm not supposed to tell anyone this, but this is the latest prototype for the competitors for the Smartron, the Koba MK II. It's still in the prototype stages, but it has everything a Smartron has, but better than it in every way. It has texting capabilities and an enhanced camera function, plus developer tools necessary to create Koba MKII...well tools to use, but can't connect to a lot of places due to it being a prototype. It's apparently powered by the sun...to compete with the steam power of the Smartron. Not sure if it'll take off though."
"You're giving me the power to get you fired you know?"
"I know, but you look like a trustworthy guy."
"What about your bosses?"
"I'll just say it exploded when it was charging in the sun. It's actually quite common."
"These things explode?!"
"Mine doesn't, but it used to be common."
"Alright…no! Don't do something as stupid as trading a prototype for this card. I have a feeling I'll be dragged into a corporate warzone if I took that thing."
"I guess that makes sense. I can trade you this vintage lighter from America. It's harder to get lighters around here because of a trade embargo for lighters in Japan that happened a little while ago."
"What happened?"
"Some bigshot put the embargo up quietly and Japan put an embargo on themselves against the lighters. I tell you it only happened because it was quietly passed as something not that important to talk about. People were dealing with the New Machines built around the world, so a trade embargo on lighters was not noticed. It'll go down in a few months because someone finally noticed when they couldn't get their cigarettes lit. Apparently the homeless noticed first, but uh…"
Akiyama took the lighter out of his hands and handed him the card, "No one gives a crap about the homeless, right?"
He pocketed the lighter, "See you around."
"Thank you so much for the card!"
"Don't mention it."
…..
Okay. So far Akiyama managed to trade the lighter for a collectors item, the collectors item for a hat, the hat for a baseball bat, the baseball bat for a cake, the cake for an encased bug, an encased bug for a gold watch, a gold watch for a diamond, and now a diamond for a simple looking suit. The suit didn't scream anything eccentric, but had the word, "Sakurai" as a brand logo. It was encased in a nice enclosed box with nothing else.
The sun looked like it was going to set in at least two more hours, so it had to be around five or six. He was making good with what he was doing, but with the suit he felt like he took a lot of steps back from the diamond. It would've been easy to sell it to someone, but his instinctings told him to keep trading and trading.
He was looking around for someone to trade the suit, but this time he was stopped.
"Oi! That's a fancy suit you got on right now, old man."
Akiyama sighed and set the box down on the ground. The tone of voice said it all and he looked behind him to see a man in sunglasses. He had his hair slicked back, a completely white suit with a red tie, impressive shoes, and what appeared to be part of a tattoo peeking from around his neck. His hands were placed in his pockets and he slouched over to try and intimidate the loan shark.
"Why don't we trade? Your life for the suit you have on right now? Fair deal if you ask me."
Akiyama placed his arms above his head and stretched, he gave an exaggerated yawn as he did so. He then whistled, "I don't know. Seems unfair to you really. That's a nice suit you've got there."
"Think you're funny, old man?"
"This is clearly a misunderstanding, go pretend to play Yakuza somewhere else. I've got more important things to do."
Akiyama knew that the Yakuza took in all sorts of types, but the ones on the lower totem poll usually stuck in groups. This poser obviously wasn't one of them. He got his result anyway as the man adopted an expression of anger.
Now he expected some more banter to occur between the two of them, but he was completely unprepared for an immediate punch. He was sent towards the ground; the people around them scattered or formed a circle around them as a fight was about to commence.
Yakuza Hunter
"You damn Yakuza should really get out of-"
"Hold on! This really is a misunderstanding." Akiyama found himself to be mistaken, this man wasn't a Yakuza, no, he was a Yakuza Hunter! Akiyama's own eccentric suit had the man mistaken!
The man tried to jump on top of Akiyama, but the loan shark rolled backwards to avoid the attack. He tried to follow up by punching Akiyama as he got back up, but the loan shark grabbed both of his fists and used them as leverage to get back up. Akiyama shook the man's fists as a form of a mock greeting before pushing him back.
The Yakuza Hunter put his arms closer to his face, expecting punches to start flying. Akiyama opted to simply shake his feet idly and make a waving motion with his hand, "What's wrong? Can't hit an old man?"
The Yakuza Hunter didn't move from his spot, "Too afraid to break your bones, old man?"
"You should be more worried about yours."
Akiyama brought his fist up and the Yakuza Hunter steeled himself as he brought it down. He stopped his punch mid way through and quickly switched to using his legs. He kicked the man in the thigh, before following up with a direct kick to the man's stomach.
He stumbled back just a bit and left a perfect opening to attack his upper body, Akiyama brought his foot down and maneuvered his other foot forward and delivered four quick kicks in a row before finishing off with a roundhouse kick. The man dropped to the ground, but he was quick to recover. He was on his knees, but Akiyama wasn't going to let him take his sweet time to get up.
The loan shark charged forward and lunged towards the man's face with his knee, blood shot out of the Yakuza Hunter's mouth and he cradled his face to try and make the pain go away. The loan shark wasn't finished as he moved towards the man, grabbed him by the shoulders, and lifted him up. Akiyama then pulled the man's shirt towards him as a subtle red aura formed around the loan shark. He felt the heat of the climax to the fight as he began to insult the man.
"That all you got?"
He pushed the man away and shook his legs a couple of times. The Yakuza Hunter grunted as he charged forward to initiate his own relentless assault. Akiyama rolled his eyes as he swept the man's legs with his own sideways sweep to his feet. The man was suspended in the air for a precious few seconds. Akiyama had to hit the ground to initiate the leg sweep, but it worked to his advantage his he coiled on his back and sprung up from the ground. His legs would meet the back of the Yakuza Hunter as he was falling; the man could only give out a weak gasp from it.
The man bounced off of his feet and was sent a couple of feet away from him, but Akiyama was sent back on the ground. The loan shark slowly got up and clutched his own back a bit, but shook it off.
"Ouch. I got to get a bit more practice in doing those types of stunts again."
He looked towards the crowd of people who began to disperse after the fight was over. Some quick ran away, but tried to not look scared and walk away calmly. The loan shark sighed and slowly crept over the man who was clutching on to his back in agony.
"Come on, I didn't hit you that hard."
The man somewhat stopped his agony...well enough to shoot Akiyama a glare, "What do you call that?!"
"Going easy on a punk who has never been in a real fight before."
The man placed the ball of his arm on the ground to elevate his height. He still held his back, but he wasn't crying out, "Probably easy for a Yakuza like you."
Akiyama clicked his tongue, "I told you it was a misunderstanding. I'm not a Yakuza. If I was, you think I would be talking to you so calmly? Let me tell you what they would do." He crouched down to the man and lifted up his fingers, "1) They would force you to work for them to compensate for a brazen attack on them. 2) Take you back to their office for a special talk that would result in you mysteriously being found at the bottom of Tokyo Bay. 3) Held hostage for them to collect a ransom and substantial payments afterwards from someone you know. Or 4) Be arrested by the cops and put in jail for life. Some law enforcement get a big fat check from the Yakuza you know? Maybe you would even meet some of their buddies in prison? I can probably list a lot of others, but you get my point."
The man spat out a wad of blood on the ground and gave a short glare towards Akiyama. The loan shark sighed as he got up and extended a hand towards the man, who graciously grabbed it and was pulled up. Akiyama pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the man's blood off his face. He then handed the man an emergency Staminx he kept on him at all times.
"Drink some of this, should make you feel better."
The man didn't really have a choice as the bitter fluid was forced into his mouth. He let out an audible 'bleh', but noticed the helpful effects right away.
"I'm not going to apologize. You seriously look like you could be Yakuza with that getup."
"Alright, but let this be a lesson that you need to work on your style if you're going to be picking fights with any Yakuza. Got any reason for going out of your way to hunt them?"
"Do I need one? They're the scum of japan."
"Alright, just be careful next time. You're picking fights with very dangerous people, so choose your battles wisely."
The man kept silent and walked away from Akiyama not long after. He's seen multiple odd fellows, so it wasn't unusual to not learn their names.
The 'Sakurai' box was still where he left it, so he picked it up. He felt a tap on his shoulder, but from a low angle. He turned around to see an older woman in a kimono slightly bowing to him.
"Thank you for going easy on Yuta-kun. I think he's learned his lesson from the brief scuffle you had."
"I take it you're his sister?"
The woman smiled, "No, I'm way too old to be his. I'm actually his mother."
"Any idea why he's taking the path of a Yakuza Hunter?"
"It's a bit complicated, but he had a couple of childhood friends that ended up in the Yakuza. They died in a territory dispute with a rival family and now he's on the run looking for Yakuza to pick fights with. I think you knocked a little more sense into him than I could ever do as his mother."
"If he found a different guy he would be six feet under right now."
"If there's anyway I can repay you, just ask. My husband runs a medium sized company in Ginza, so I'm sure I can get you something. I think you changed Yuta-kun's direction in life for the better, so nothing will be too ludicrous."
Akiyama just gave a cursory glance towards the box he's holding, "Do you think you'd be willing to trade for this?"
"Name your price."
"I'm not looking for money. Just an exchange of items of importance." Besides he was going to get money in a completely different way.
The woman put her hand on her chin and thought of something to give to him for a few seconds, "Would time be a perfect thing to exchange?"
"Depends, what kind of time?"
"A meeting with the Kanzaki Sumire."
"Huh?"
"My husband happens to have a meeting scheduled with her by 6:30pm today."
"That is pretty late in the workday. Also wouldn't your husba-"
"I didn't exactly say he runs the company by himself. I'm sure he would love to spend time with his darling wife."
Akiyama had a feeling he shouldn't pursue a line of questioning he had no business knowing,
"So...6:30 huh?"
Akiyama had a feeling he had a ticket to helping Haruka and Haruto. A steady job for Haruka of course. He's seen the fliers around town and he wasn't stupid. From what he gathered she was in charge of the Imperial Theater. He wasn't exactly hoping to get Haruka a job as an actor in the play, but anything else would also help… maybe a personal maid, overnight janitor, or even someone as simple as an usher.
...
Next chapter should be the final one for this before the English release of the game comes out. I'm feeling it'll be short and sweet, but not too sure.
