A/N: Sorry for last time's late upload but things got in the way namely my horrid, horrid memory.
"Dude, you look like you got hit by something." Denji stared at his friend with an eyebrow raised and his expression quizzical. Yukio had woken up with bruises on his torso and dirt on his face and clothes among other scuffs. Yukio was shirtless and changing his clothes to his spares which were exactly the same.
"It's nothing." He responded curtly, his expression a frown as he grabbed a new shirt. Denji noticed the few scars along Yukio's torso from previous engagements against bandits, other bounty hunters, targets, etc. By this point his dodging was pretty good though the expression on his face was one of self-loathing from what Denji could guess. He was like that with his parents on occasion.
"You sure? It looks like you got in a fight. And lost." Denji asked and immediately regretted it when Yukio shot a glare at him, staring intensely for a minute. Yukio never believed it when he was told, but he could look incredibly scary with those eyes of his. That and his thin frame added to his kind of starved animal look. He looked like he was going to just leap on you, suddenly sprouting claws and fangs.
"It wasn't a fight." He growled, looking back into his bag before pulling out another dark blue shirt and putting it on. He closed his bag and growled something else Denji couldn't hear.
"What was that?" he asked, causing Yukio to look back.
"Nothing. When are we going to meet Aika?" he asked suddenly, grabbing his jacket and slipping it on.
"Uh…" Denji couldn't remember.
"Never mind, she'll come to us." Yukio corrected himself as he grabbed his back holster and attached it just as a knock was heard on their door. Denji went to answer it to see Aika standing there, half awake, dark circles under her eyes.
"Meeting in a few minutes, get your things ready." She looked over to Yukio. "Something happen?" she asked.
"No." was Yukio's response as he cleaned his stuff up while Denji still had to get everything ready. Aika simply shrugged her shoulders and walked away, closing the door as she did. Denji was wondering if everyone but him had a terrible night of sleep.
"Holy…" was all Denji had to say before he decided it was time to get his things ready. Yukio was already waiting for him patiently, standing by the door. Denji got a new grey shirt out and slipped it on while shoving his old on in the bag. He grabbed his jacket and slid that on while making sure his scrolls were still in the pockets. They were. He hefted his bag as Yukio was grabbing his own and the two of them headed next door and knocked, the door opening to show Arine, who surprisingly looked rested. Her expression was more neutral and her eyes didn't have dark circles beneath them. Compared to Yukio, Arine was the symbol of livelihood.
"Come on in." she said, also neutrally. Denji wondered if she had gotten an improved mood overnight. He hoped as much. She backed up to let Denji and Yukio in. Denji looked and saw Tomoko sitting down on the floor and went over to her and sat down.
"Hey." He breathed the whisper and she smiled at him though she was also looking tired. Denji was really concerned for the three people of his group that seemed to be having issues but was unable to talk about it before Aika took over the meeting.
"Okay, here we all are." She announced, standing in the middle as Arine was sitting down, holding her spear. Yukio sat opposite of her, so both were on either side of Denji and Tomoko. "You all remember what we discussed yesterday right?" she asked. Before Denji could say yes, Aika went off into the explanation anyway for seemingly no particular reason. "Well basically you're all going after some bounties that should be easily earned. On your own" she looked to Denji "though Denji will be paired with Tomoko since she doesn't have one personally. Anyway we'll each collect the money individually and I give you all free reign to spend the rest of your time as you wish. Visit the market place, walk around, have some fun. No need to blend in so do whatever you want."
"Will we need radios?" Yukio asked, looking up at Aika.
"No since this is individual you all should be good with going without communication. Should you meet someone else in our little group you're free to talk about things, plan, etcetera. Just get your targets in a timely manner. There is no time limit but if I were your age I'd get it done quickly so I could dick around all day. But that's me." Aika smiled lightly. "Anyway you all should have your bounties. I'll meet you all back here… just before sundown, say. Or stay out all night, your call."
"Is that all?" Arine asked.
"That's it. Now go on, do things." Was Aika's lackluster motivational go-ahead. Denji pulled his bounty paper out and read it as he and Tomoko left just after Yukio but before Arine.
"So who's the bounty again?" Tomoko asked as they walked out into the village.
"Uh…" Denji read it once again, the details slipping his mind in that split second. He hated when that happened, you read something and then forget it when someone asks you just a second later. "Shinji Mato, he's wanted for various accounts of sexual assault and stalking. Specifically one girl who is the one who put the bounty out. She's apparently decently well off and the guy won't let things go." He explained as Tomoko took the paper and gave it a glance.
"Well let's hope we can get him so that he doesn't do this to any other girls." She said, giving the paper back.
"Exactly." Denji nodded in agreement. "I mean if a girl broke up with me I wouldn't stalk her. It's stupid to do that. It just shows you that you've got some sort of mental problem."
"Yeah." Tomoko chuckled. "You don't seem like that. If anything you'd just move on and find someone else, I think." She smile at him and Denji felt his face heat up.
"Well I'd have to break up with a girl first. And date her." He said sheepishly.
"You never know." Tomoko said "It could happen." Denji felt his face heat up as they went to go after their target.
Arine glanced at her paper. On it was a girl who was wanted alive for apparently cheating someone out of some money. Quite a bit of money. The reward was modest due to the lack of the aforementioned money. Her name was Mai Kurokami, her picture portrayed a good looking woman, well endowed with large breasts and a taste for the classy and upper class things in life.
"Such trite goals." Arine grumbled as she walked, heading out of the normal market place and heading out to find the higher class areas of the Hidden Sand. Theoretically it'd be nearer the back or middle but she could be wrong. Which is why she entered a small tea shop that was tucked away into a wall. Arine entered, hood lowered, and took a seat at an empty table near the entrance. It wasn't difficult since the place was quite deserted aside from a couple other simple patrons. A waiter came up to her as she sat down and asked what she could like to drink, tea, a water perhaps? "Just some green tea." Arine ordered and the waiter nodded his affirmation and walked off fast, as if he were determine to keep her here as a patron. Arine watched him head behind a door and presumed he would be a few minutes. So she strategized, something that was tougher without Yukio around she had to admit.
The obvious place to head would be the classy outfits around here, should they be open, or just the upper class areas. That was the easiest way to narrow down her target, at least according to the bounty notice. It also listed a woman who preferred the company of younger men due to their naiveté with their money and having a woman who was as good looking as her was a shock, especially one that just wanted gifts and that was easy to deal with right? Just give her more and more money for her to buy things and she took care of herself aside from the bare necessities, simple.
However she'd swindled more than enough money due to her refined tastes wanting more and more. Eventually she ran into her most recent victim who had a secret fund in case such things should happen, a modest aware for her head.
"Miss?" Arine heard as she looked up from her bounty notice. The waiter, a young man, lanky and thin with matted brown hair and plain brown eyes, was above her with her tea on a tray.
"Oh, thank you." Arine responded as she grabbed the coins and handed to the boy as he set her tea down. He was older than her, a couple years roughly. "Say, can I ask a question?" she began, startling the boy before he recovered.
"Oh, uh, sure. What is it?" he stood ramrod stiff, as if he weren't used to customers asking him questions and talking to him.
"Where would I find the classier places?" she asked, blowing into her tea before taking a cautious sip, the liquid burning hot in her mouth. She swallowed it quickly. "Places where someone with, for lack of a better term, refined tastes hang out."
"Uuuuuuuhm?" the boy looked up in thought, possibly wondering if Arine was rich and looking for the places to hang out. She wished, the four of them lived comfortably but never could afford more than what they needed. She saw the bounty for that Yuno Gasai girl and that money would set them for a long time. "Well there's this little club that a lot of rich people go to." The boy answered finally. "It's called Sand. It's a stupid name, I think." He chuckled at his own joke. Arine raised an eyebrow. This boy was quite awkward, socially at least. Why he waited a tea shop was a mystery unless one of his relatives owned the tiny establishment.
"It wouldn't be open during the day, would it?" Arine asked, blowing into her tea once more before drinking. It was cooler than before but still quite hot. She set it down as the boy answered.
"No it's not. However I've seen some of the patrons. Pretty swanky." He sighed. "Some of the women that go in there…" he let a slow, creepy smiled spread across his face. Arine refrained from raising an eyebrow as she waited for the boy to stop smiling and fantasizing. He did when Arine finally asked
"You wouldn't have seen this woman around it, would you?" Arine asked, showing the boy the bounty notice. He motioned towards the page and Arine let him grab it from her hand to examine it. She hoped he would give it back once he was done.
"I-I think." He said as he squinted at the picture. "I mean a lot of busty women go in there."
"Do you just sit around outside the club and stare?" Arine finally had to ask, forcing the boy to flush a deep red as he gripped the paper tight.
"N-no…" he looked away. He did. "But uh…" he looked to the picture. "Wait I think I remember now."
"Oh really?" Arine asked, taking a sip of her tea, which was cooler. The boy nodded.
"Oh yeah, this woman was a talk of the place. She was pretty, had a lot of money apparently, and had some big-" he stopped and eyed Arine, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, curious to see what he was going to say. "jewelry." He said suddenly. Arine gave him a light smile.
"Good catch." Was her vocal reaction. "Now anything more about her?"
"Uh she had guys with her. Like, a few. All younger, early twenties maybe?" he shrugged. "She had a lot of attention and that's all I know."
"Does she frequent it? Does she go once a night, a week, month?" Arine took a bigger sip of her tea as the boy answered.
"Um, once every few days maybe." The boy answered, handing the paper back to Arine with some obvious reluctance. "But whenever she did she got a ton of attention."
"All right, thank you. One more question, where are the ritzier neighbourhoods here in the village? And the location of Sand." Arine finished her tea off and watched the boy try to recall.
"Uh, Sand is in that area. It's just up the road a ways. It's open more during the night so that's likely where you'll find your girl."
"Oh I can find the answers myself." Arine said, standing up. She passed a handful of coins into the boys hand when she did. She then quietly said "Go buy something for you to enjoy that doesn't intrude on others." She sneered and patted the boys hand as she began to leave. He quickly stepped up to her and stopped her.
"You're a bounty hunter, aren't you?" he asked, mystified. Arine stopped and rolled her eyes.
"I wouldn't be holding the notice otherwise." She sighed, turning around to face him. "But don't go blathering on about it, okay? Between you and me." Arine pointed between the two of them and turned to leave once more, this time without being stopped. She entered the streets and mingled with the sparse crowds, making sure to follow the small groups as much as she could as she travelled up the street. It wasn't long before she found herself meandering around buildings that looked far nicer than the ones nearer the marketplace. This was definitely the richer area, with the houses looking cleaner and whiter and overall nicer. Arine noticed that, as she walked, less people milled about. If anything she saw more eyes peering at her from windows and house doors as she walked.
"I'd say it's odd" Arine whispered as she kept her head down "but they've got every reason to be paranoid." After all with a woman running amok stealing money from opportunistic young men, Arine would hide inside as well. Unless this Sand club was a place where the rich left their homes to indulge in their deep, inner desires that could only be satiated in the dead of night where no one cared to watch aside from perverted teenage waiters.
"Excuse me, miss?" Arine stopped and looked to someone. It was a man, modestly dressed with a bit of a gut and neatly cared for black hair with brown eyes. He had some form of a thin moustache but it seemed a bit patchy and not grown in. Arine presumed he just had trouble growing facial hair.
"Yes?" Arine asked, eyebrow raised. She was curious as to why he stopped her.
"Would I be able to ask you why you're skulking around?" he asked, his voice wobbly. "I mean we haven't seen you around is all and-" Arine held up a hand to stop him.
"Listen, I'm just curious" she pulled the sheet out "if you know this woman." She handed it to the man, who took it and looked at the picture that was drawn and stared at it for a full minute.
"Hm…" he started, still looking at the page but flicking his gaze between Arine and the paper, as if debating internally what he should do. Arine noticed sweat gathering on his brow en masse. She'd blame it on the heat but it wasn't incredibly hot today. He was likely nervous about her, being a newcomer. "May I ask why you're searching for her?" he asked, eyebrows pushed together in a concerned look.
"She's…" Arine quickly tried to think of something. Anything! "my cousin." She let out. "She's a cousin I was supposed to be visiting and I just got here and…" Arine ran a hand through her hair, no looking distressed. "I saw that and it has her name and it looks like her and I'm worried she might have done something bad. Or is being framed and I want to find her." Arine let out a sigh and looked as concerned as she could to the man, who seemed to debate for a second over whether or not he should believe her. Should things get sticky she could threaten him spear point to heart. However, she decided, that would be detrimental to her goal which was stealth.
"Well…" the man flicked his gaze between Arine and the page a bit more before he sighed and handed it back, his sympathy winning out. "I've see her around the Sand a few times but I can't give an exact location. I want to say she lives within a few blocks from here." The man pointed to his right where a street went. "I saw her heading over that way the other night so I can presume she lives there."
"Okay, thank you very much." Arine reached a hand out and took the paper back from the man and began heading down the street, not looking back to the man as she hoped he would forget her eventually. She had a target to chase down and she was given a direction on where she lived. As Arine walked down the street she wondered what she would do once she found the house in question.
Should she knock? Of course not. Should she hang back? Yes. Arine pondered just hiding somewhere on the property or, should she be able to, in it. Wait until nightfall and then follow the woman to the club and nab before she entered. Or after, an intoxicated target could be easier to deal with. But what if she got uncooperative? What if she got louder? Perhaps a sober target was a better target. Arine had to think this through for she only had a few hours. Or all day and night, Aika never gave them a specific time limit and Arine had no urge to go shopping. She could spend the entire day and night staking out the house, if she could find the sodding thing. Perhaps someone could point her in the right direct- shit! Arine stopped and backed up quite a bit. Before her, a few houses away, was her target. Mai Kurokami. She was standing outside of a house, looking in the opposite direction. At what, Arine was uncertain, but she quickly went back into her house. She was looking for something… or someone.
Arine quickly walked up to the house and learned a few important things:
For one, the property had… well little property. It was just a house and small, barren land. So no hiding outside. It had few windows, all of which could be heavily monitored. However it was only one person inside but Arine knew how crafty just one person could be.
She would have to think this through quite carefully.
Yukio tried to keep his head down, he really did. He didn't know why he was angry, but he was. He wish he wasn't but something kept nagging at him, in the back of his head where his mental earplugs decided they didn't want to go. So he walked through the market place crowds with his hood up and his head low, his bounty paper in his pocket, and a chip on his shoulder. He wanted to get his bounty done and over with so he could go back to the hotel and sleep. He didn't want to encounter Karako either, despite the fact that last night he enjoyed her company. Whatever it was, he was angry and didn't want to see the girl.
So, of course, he bumped into her. Literally.
He was walking along, head low and looking at the ground when he noticed a pair of feet step right in front of him. He looked up and smashed his already sore face against Karako's face, causing both to recoil. Yukio held his face in his hand as he stumbled back.
"Hey!" she said, angrily. "Watch it you-" she stopped as Yukio removed his hand from his face and looked to Karako, whose expression was one of surprise. "Oh." She said, realising she was about to freak out on him.
"Oh." Yukio responded simply as he realised he had run into the person he didn't really want to see at present for no reason.
Which was why they found themselves sitting in an outdoor café with tea and dumplings that Karako had ordered plenty of and was now wolfing down with a vigour that Yukio hadn't seen since Denji first had grilled pork. It was a massacre.
"So you were looking gloomy." Karako commented as she finished another stick of dumplings, her fourth one. Yukio finished one and was slowly drinking his tea while Karako had a feast beside him. "You're still looking gloomy now."
"I don't know." Yukio sighed, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. "I just woke up and I was in a shit mood."
"Well don't be so gloomy. It's a nice day, you kicked a couple of creeps asses, and you're having food and drink with a friend." Karako reasoned as she took a swig of her tea.
"I also lost the second fight that night." Yukio muttered, with Karako quickly commenting.
"Dude, I've been doing this stuff most of my life. You've been doing it for, what, couple years?" Karako smirked, though Yukio didn't see malice in it. "I mean for a couple years you're damn good, comparable to me. It's just that I've had to face people like you who are focused on predicting others moves and I've learned the strategies to counter it." She shrugged as she finished her tea. For the first time, Yukio noticed she was wearing new clothes. A white t shirt and loose black pants with black sandals with open toes. She looked nice in a casual sort of way. Her loose clothes, Yukio presumed, was to give her range of motion so she could move around freely.
"That's fair." He commented, finished his tea. He quickly realised that was why he was so bitter: Karako had beaten him again. He wasn't handling it after defeating Arine and Denji so much. His defeats with Aika were rationalised as she was a former ANBU member, she had more experience. Karako was in a similar boat when he thought about it. If she was telling the truth and had been fighting most of her life, then she was far more experienced than him and more in the right place to defeat him. Then why did it bother him so? Because he didn't know her as well. She was a random girl off the street who had trounced him completely and he wasn't able to cope with it. The reality made him grimace.
"You sure you're okay?" Karako asked as she leaned in, her face close to Yukio's. Yukio flicked his gaze over to Karako's blue eyes. Yukio felt his own face heat up and he was in a less fortunate situation than Karako. While her complexion allowed a bit of leeway with blushing, Yukio was pale as the driven snow so any flash of colour on his face was obvious. He knew that beforehand and Karako's sly smile truly warned him that she had well and truly seen it.
"Yeah." Yukio said gruffly, clearing his throat as he turned his head. He heard Karako chuckle beside him and Yukio silent, fervently wished the blood would leave his face despite the knowledge that it wouldn't, not in time. So he accepted it and turned to Karako, who had a smug smile on her face.
"Getting a bit heated?" she asked.
"Shut up." Yukio remarked, earning a laughed from Karako. She had a vibrant sort of laugh, the kind that some would call infectious. Yukio even chuckled a bit, something that was brought out by Karako's laugh.
"So what are you doing today then?" Karako asked.
"Well…" Yukio swallowed as he wondered how he would answer that.
"Need I remind you that I figured it out?" Karako asked and Yukio remembered their conversation the previous night.
"Oh. Right." Yukio remembered that he had all but confirmed Karako's suspicions last night.
"So what're you doing today then?" Karako asked once more.
"I've got a person to go after." Yukio responded, feeling the blood leave his cheeks, something he was thankful for.
"Don't suppose I could help?" Karako asked, eyebrow raised.
"I…." Yukio thought a second. His target wasn't especially dangerous, being in Karako's company would add something to his stealth, and she was an amazing fighter so fights would be less of an issue. "Okay, you can help."
"Good, we'll call it a date." Karako suddenly said, causing Yukio to blush hard again. Karako laughed once more. "You are honestly quite endearing." She said once she finished laughing.
"That's the first time I've heard that." Yukio commented. Karako gave him a slap on the back.
"Dude, lighten up. It's a nice day."
"You've said." Yukio gave Karako a bit of a smile at that.
"I know. Now who's the target?" she asked, moving the garbage over and sliding closer to Yukio. In fact, she made physical contact with him as she slid over, looking over his shoulder as he pulled the paper out and unfolded it. It read:
Ganta Miyazaki, wanted for fraud, plagiarism, and theft. The photo above the description was of a man with a scraggly, patchy beard with neatly combed back hair, and glasses. He was very lanky and rail thin. Hardly a threat at first glance. He was wanted alive.
"What did he do to get those charges?" Karako asked, with Yukio glancing down to the text below the charges.
"He fraudulently copied various art pieces and stole a bit of money and apparently got tangled in with stealing from a bank. However the person who put the bounty out wasn't one of the villages which is why he's hiding out in the Hidden Sand." Yukio summarised, with Karako nodding as he spoke.
"So he's a plagiarising artist." She spoke.
"Yeah and he's pissed off some of the wrong people which is why they placed the bounty despite how modest it is." Yukio eyed the bounty reward, roughly three thousand five hundred ryo. "Meaning that whomever placed the bounty isn't all too rich or just values him as a minor target. Were it a bigger gang the bounty would be bigger so he would be captured faster."
"But with this he's not so special?" Karako asked.
"Yes, roughly. We won't know and we don't care. We just need to find him and that's where you come in." Yukio turned to her. "Where are the art pieces kept?"
"Well they'd mostly be in the museum, why….. oh!" Karako caught on quickly.
"Exactly. Now where's the museum?" Yukio asked, grinning. He could see it formulating in his head. They find their guy and follow him to his place, grab him and take him to the bounty station, done.
"Well it'll be a bit of a distance from the market place, surprisingly. It's something that never made any sense to me. It'd make way more money if it were closer but meh." She shrugged. "When do you want to go there?"
"Well I think we should head there now. It's closer to midday, it'll have the most people there at this time. He'd want to go there when it's far more crowded so he wouldn't be spotted easily by anyone looking for him and it'd give him the chance to look at the exhibits with impunity, no one would question him. There he'd be able to get a good mental view of the picture or even take a photo as well. Then he would probably take a roundabout way home where he'd then get started on his copy that he would sell."
"But wouldn't he also visit the painting more than once to make sure it was in his head the right way? I mean if he's a scammer then he'd want to make sure his copy was as good as the original."
"Yeah but that'd be later in the day, if that… unless he does it over days which is probably what he does to avoid capture." Yukio leaned forward and interlaced his fingers.
"But how do you know that's what he'll do?" Karako asked.
"Because it's what I would do if I were him." Then he frowned. "But now you bring up a good point. He'd do all that if he was smart. From what the paper says…" Yukio looked to it "Yeah, he's obsessed with art. Meaning he'd probably take more risks due to his obsession. That's not good, he could act erratically should art come into danger or just to slake his need to see or copy art."
"So he's a volatile mix?" Karako asked.
"I wouldn't say that, just a bit less predictable. This means we have a few more bases to cover but this could give us some advantages."
"Like what? We hold art hostage?" Karako snorted. "I mean…" then it dawned on her and she turned to Yukio, who grinned, having had the same thought just a second earlier.
"We could. In fact it'd be better, especially if I hold the art and you keep him in line. It'd be easy."
"Holy… you're smart." Karako smiled at him and Yukio felt his self-confidence raise a bit. He had impressed her with his strategizing. The way her face lit up was a sight to behold.
"I've been told." He said, grinning. "But now, what we need to do is find him first. Then we can implement the plan. It might take a while, you sure you want to do it?" he asked.
"Depends on what you're asking there." She said, raising an eyebrow. Yukio frowned at first before Karako's innuendo hit him and he blushed again.
"Your sense of humour is a bit…" he started.
"Vulgar? I know." Karako shrugged. "But yeah. I've got all day, so time isn't an issue."
"Excellent." Yukio sighed as he thought a bit more. "We'll have to leave quick-smart. So let's get into the museum fast so that, if he isn't there, we can probably ask around for popular pieces and shunned pieces so that way we can divide it up into what he'll be into."
"Sounds like a plan." Karako grinned. Yukio smiled back. Today might not be so bad after all.
Aika had to pick up another bounty poster Anri Nomura because hers was missing, stolen. By whom, Aika was uncertain. However at least two suspects appeared in her mind as she made her way to the Village library. Right now Aika herself had one bounty, a small time thief who had stolen from various businesses that enjoyed books apparently. Aika could deal with him whenever she wanted, really. Plus she could read some books on jutsu and copy the details to let the three of them learn the jutsu, should Aika find something interesting. Denji had his recent Dreadnaught Armour keeping him busy, Arine needed a new jutsu to occupy herself, and Yukio was constantly tweaking and perfecting various jutsu.
"Those kids, I swear." She muttered as she found the building and entered it, being surrounded by various books, scrolls, ways of reaching shelves, and people. The sheer amount of people, while not a lot compared to other venues, was quite intimidating. What else was intimidating was the distinct lack of overall noise. Well lack wasn't the best word for it. The word for it was sheer volume. It was incredibly low for the amount of people in the building, which Aika found interesting. However it didn't intimidate her too much, she had a goal in mind and was going to stick with it. No reason to deviate.
Aika made her way to the middle section, from where the shelves seemed to radiate from like a stone dropped into a pond. This was where Aika would find the directory that she needed to find the jutsu books. The central directory was so busy when she arrived there, that Aika was almost completely thrown for a loop to the point she almost turned around and walked back without realising it. However she shook her head and weaved between the people and the thick, brown shelves that contrasted the white floors, walls, and ceilings along with the many deep green carpets that were on the floor that muffled many a footstep. Aika frowned as she walked through.
It'd be too easy to sneak in here with these carpets. She thought to herself. Anyone with a brain could make their way into the library and have their way with it at night. I might have to do that. Aika pondered it seriously as she walked up to the central desk. She still hadn't decided once she reached it and an older woman, at least a decade older than herself, asked her if she needed help finding something? A book, scroll, person, author?
"Yeeeeeeeeeees." Aika drawled as she still thought about breaking in at night. "I'm curious where you keep your jutsu technique books? I've been wanting to read up on a few that you might have."
"Why yes, I know where." The woman answered, her greying hair pulled up into a bun as she wore modest white clothes. "Up on the third floor, there should be the jutsu techniques around…" she looked up, slowly turning until her back was to Aika, where she stretched out her arm and pointed up, basically across from where Aika was standing but up. "There." She said with a firmness that one used to cement their superiority in basic locational knowledge. Aika would've commented, but she didn't want to see rude. Instead she gave a small bow of thanks and made her way to a flight of stairs that was across from the central directory.
It'd honestly be incredibly easy, even to just copy down things written. Aika argued with herself as she made her way up the stone stairs. What would this place need with them? Aika argued despite the immediate counter she came up with in her head. Without it there you wouldn't be able to get to it now.
"I hate arguing with myself." She mumbled as she crossed the threshold of the second floor and rounded to start of the flight to the third floor, which was an absurd height above the ground floor it was ridiculous. Aika almost gave up just to be stubborn but she persevered and quickly reached the third floor and found her way to a table surrounded on all sides by shelves containing books, scrolls, and the like that held various jutsu techniques and methods that Aika could use to teach. She was a good teacher, at least she thought, but she needed a bit more jutsu to teach. Some all around jutsu. There was the one but… she wanted to wait until they were a bit older, when they'd be a bit more mature as it required fierce cooperation to achieve it properly along with attempting to channel a chakra nature none of them, at least in Aika's experience, were experience with.
As she sat down, Aika eyed the area around her for her target, someone she was beginning to doubt she could find as easily as she thought. This library had so many people that he could hide easily and Aika could search for hours and not find him.
"He certainly found a good hiding spot." She whispered as she looked through the various texts on fire style jutsu and pulled a few select tomes from their spots and took them over to the centre table and opened one up, glancing through the contents for something that interested her. Sadly not a whole lot she didn't already know. Hell, she practically pioneered using flame with a sword as a primary form of attack. Others used it as a last resort of special move that used up a ton of chakra all at once. Aika, meanwhile, fought with an elementally enhanced weapon as her primary form of offence, something few people saw but what made her known. Much like…. Him.
Aika pushed that thought out of her mind as she read with one eye on passersby. So far no one of importance had passed through her limited and distracted field of vision. The first tome had nothing new that Aika had any interest in so she closed it and set it aside for another one, she had picked four. She opened this one and found a few more things she found interesting including adapting other elemental jutsu into fire jutsu such as the water dragon and raging wave jutsu.
"Interesting." Aika muttered as she read this chapter. The details were interesting, requiring basic knowledge of what the jutsu should be, ie water flowing, but replace the water with fire and sort of force the idea to form with the right hand signs. That was at least one technique, various were listed as to how one could accomplish this. In fact Aika was so absorbed into the chapter she didn't notice the man beside her until he spoke.
"Hello?"
Anri broke into the stall with the grace of someone who had been bursting to go for hours and was ready to let it all out whether or now they were even there. However Anri wasn't needing to go to the bathroom to relieve herself, at least not physically. She fell to her knees and held both sides of the toilet in a vice grips as she began dry heaving. Nothing was coming out but her body was convulsing so violently that it caused her immense physical pain. She felt so sick as she surged forward with enough force that she thought her innards would be forced from her body.
"Ooooh…" she groaned into the toilet as she tried to make sense of what had happened. What had happened? The feeling was subsiding and Anri's mind was able to focus on more than just making her try to upheave unwillingly. Denji and her had been walking around looking for their guy when her and Denji began talking about girls and guys lying to their partners. Denji displayed quite a stalwart dislike of someone who lied, and suddenly Anri felt so sick to her stomach she had run from her spot, hands over her mouth. Thankfully Denji had treated her to ramen earlier so she had an excuse later. If she wanted to use it. She didn't know, her torso still throbbed with the pain of having tried to hollow itself out.
"Ow…" she breathed, her panting filling the small, single person closet that passed as a washroom. As she gripped either side of the toilet, her hair fell on either side of her face. It began to shift colour without her wanting it to until her hair had returned to its natural green colour. Anri wasn't sure if she was going to throw up more or sigh in relief. It felt good to slip out of the now suffocating costume of Tomoko and just sit there, being her. Aside from the murder. Anri slowly pushed away from the toilet and sat back against the wall to relax herself for a minute while she collected her thoughts.
She'd just had a panic attack or something due to the conversation they were having. It was about liars and Anri was feeling it resonate with her so much. Being Tomoko was becoming a more and more suffocating endeavour than she had anticipated. The long she spent with the disguise on, the more she felt as if she was losing air fast. She took deep breaths now that she didn't have the disguise one and was dreading the moment she had to don it again. The temptation to call Denji in and explain was one that Anri wanted to do so badly now. However she couldn't, not while they were searching. She wanted to.
"But I can't." she panted, feeling her eyes begin to become prickly. She was on the verge of tears. She closed them tight and leaned forward, putting her head between her knees and rocking back and forth. She took another deep breath as she felt like she was being split apart. "But I want to tell him." She whispered to herself. It was something she could have to weigh severely. If she told him she would have to make sure Denji wouldn't reveal her to his friends. At least not yet. Or else they might go after her. Suddenly there was a light knock on the door, causing Anri to jump.
"Tomoko?" he asked, which made Anri's stomach churn. "You okay?" he asked, his concern genuine. Anri took a deep breath and cleared her throat before she finally answered with a scratchy voice
"Yeah." She slowly stood and walked over to the sink, looking in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were wide and wild, like a cornered animal. "I have to calm down." She whispered to herself as she closed her eyes and concentrated. Within the minute she opened her eyes to see Tomoko staring back at her. The sight alone almost sent her back to the toilet but Anri swallowed and took a deep breath before she headed back out to meet Denji, who was looking anxious.
"Tomoko, you okay?" he asked suddenly, an arm reflexively reaching around her back. Anri didn't flinch like she expected but she did wave him off.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Must've been the ramen." She sighed with a light chuckle. "Nothing came up but it just…" she let it drop and Denji nodded sympathetically.
"Yeah, I understand. I once ate some bad pork and I couldn't leave the toilet." He sighed at the memory. "But regardless, I found the guy we were looking for." He said.
"You did?" Anri asked and Denji nodded. The bathroom Anri had ducked in was close by the ramen shop, hidden in a clothing store. Denji nodded his head over to the women's clothing section where Anri spied a young man of short stature with blue hair that had wavy blue fringes in front of his forehead. He was skulking around the various clothing racks and watching women choosing clothes and checking things out.
"Yeah, he's been skulking around for the past while." Denji informed her. "Ever since we got here at least, I reckon. How much you wanna bet he follows a girl out of here with bad intentions?" he snorted and Anri felt a flash across her mind, the issues of her identity being pushed back for now.
"That's it!" she exclaimed quietly, turning to Denji, who frowned. "If he's going to follow a girl then we can follow him!" she was getting excited as Denji's eyes widened at the prospect of an easy catch.
"Holy…" he breathed, grinning ear to ear. "That's brilliant!" he chuckled a bit at the prospect. "It'll be easy!"
"Exactly." Anri grinned, her issues receding fully. "So all we have to do is make sure he doesn't do anything and then take him to the bounty station."
"Pretty much." Denji was really excited, he was bouncing up and down slightly and Anri managed to get him to calm down and wait outside the store.
"You'll be a bit less conspicuous out there." She reasoned and Denji didn't argue. He walked out of the store and Anri saw him take a position outside the entrance. Anri walked over to the women's clothes section and began looking around with no interest in anything in particular. She did, however, keep an eye on the guy, Shinji, who was keeping a watchful eye on a buxom young thing that was trying thing after thing on. In fact she was in there for so long that Anri was beginning to wonder if Shinji would lose interest. He didn't. If anything his was dedicated to watching this poor girl. As tempted as she was, Anri had to restrain herself from attacking the guy until the girl he was watching finally bought her things and left with Shinji trailing a distance behind. And a good distance behind that, Anri and Denji trailed, keeping a close eye on him as the girl took a few turns here and there with Shinji following, his shoulders hunched and head low.
"He's not trying very hard is he?" Denji muttered as they followed him.
"He does look quite conspicuous." Anri said, lacing her hand into Denji's to throw off suspicion. Denji accepted it as they walked, which helped stabilise Anri's nerves a bit. She was still coming off the after effects of her episode, her stomach was still a bit queasy and her mouth was still dry, but she was better. Not about to vomit.
"He's moving faster." Denji whispered and Anri noticed they were losing ground. Shinji was advancing towards the girl as she turned right into an alley. Denji and Anri separated their hands and moved faster, reaching the alley before Anri stopped him.
"Find a way around. I can deal with him, I need you to stop him should he run." She reasoned, earning a frown from Denji.
"You sure?" he asked and Anri nodded.
"Last thing we need is either of us having to use jutsu in a village." Anri argued and Denji sighed.
"Fine." He said quickly, heading down a parallel alleyway as Anri entered the alleyway Shinji had and saw him on top of the girl, her bags thrown to the ground as he had his hands all over her. Anri pulled one of the kunai from her jacket pocket and threw it, merely nicking the bridge of Shinji's nose before it stuck into the wall beside him. However it had the desired effect, causing the man to turn and see Anri standing there, another kunai in her hand.
"Let the girl go Shinji." She said, steeling herself as she kept a tight grip on her knife. She could see Shinji was contemplating what he was going to do. Run or fight? With a girl like Anri holding a knife, he was likely to run. However, Anri miscalculated and didn't think Shinji would grab the knife Anri had thrown and hold it to the girls throat.
"Oh yeah?" he asked, his grin becoming smug. Anri quickly readied herself for a quick charge as Shinji grinned wildly, licking the face of the girl he held. She squirmed but didn't scream as a knife was held to her neck. Anri looked into Shinji's eyes and saw that they were a deep blue along with his hair. They were bright with a crazy, insane energy that made Anri think of various people she'd encountered who were serial killers. "What are you going to do about it then?" he asked. Anri, while she was trying to formulate a plan, had forgotten the main part of her original plan: Denji. As Shinji was looking like he was going to cut his losses and kill the girl to escape, Denji had creeped up behind him and reached around, grabbing Shinji's arm and ripping it away from the girl, pulling the knife with it, forcing it to point out. Denji then twisted his hand to force Shinji to drop the thing. The girl managed to escape Shinji's grip and run towards Anri, who caught her and tried to comfort her.
"It's gonna be okay." She tried to console the girl as Denji forced Shinji to the ground and kept one of his arms bent behind his back. Shinji struggled but Denji, as a fourteen year old, was stronger than the wiry Shinji.
"So." Denji asked, looking to Anri, a grin on his face. "Where's the bounty station?
"You sure that's him?" Karako asked Yukio, who was quite sure.
"He matches the description to a T and he's been staring at that painting for the past couple hours." Yukio sighed as he kept checking outside. The sun was still high in the sky but Yukio was not only bored but he wanted to enjoy the rest of his day. He didn't expect to cycle through the museum a few times as he waited for his target to stop staring at the painting. Karako had gotten bored with walking so they planted themselves on a bench watching over the man, Ganta Miyazaki. They hadn't moved from the spot in a half hour and Karako was becoming frustrated.
"You'd think he'd get bored and go home." She grumbled and Yukio rolled his eyes.
"Remember, he's a plagiarist. He'll stare at the thing for as long as it ta-" he stopped whispering as Ganta began moving. Yukio and Karako waited for him to leave the room before they got up and followed him out of the exhibit. Yukio expected him to make another stop but he didn't, he left the museum entirely. Karako and Yukio exited a few minutes after him and began following him. Yukio was prepared for various turns and twists but what shocked him was that Ganta kept walking in a straight line down the road. What Yukio didn't realise was how far away the man lived. They had been walking for half an hour and Ganta showed no signs of stopping.
"It's like he chose to live this far from the museum." Karako grumbled in irritation as they walked. "My feet hurt." She complained. Yukio suddenly had a realisation.
"He probably did!" He exclaimed. "He probably lived this far away to throw people off. Most people would assume he'd live close to the museum so he lives this far to make them think maybe they've got the wrong guy." Yukio found the prospect interesting.
"Yeah well…" Karako blew a strand of hair from in front of her face in irritation. "I wish he did live closer."
"The easy goals have the least rewards." Yukio gave her the proverb he once heard. Only Karako turned on him.
"But this one is easy!" she argued. Yukio had to concede that. Aside from this walking and waiting, the mission was overall easy. Just drag him to the bounty station and then there they were. "He's turning!" Karako exclaimed and Yukio looked to Ganta, who had turned to a small building that was made up of two houses. Ganta entered the left one and closed the door. Yukio and Karako stood outside the property, looking at it with mild interest. Yukio was trying to think of something that could get them inside.
"Okay, I think if we try and act like-" he started when Karako cut him off.
"No." she said firmly.
"What?" Yukio turned to her and Karako turned to him, eyebrow raised.
"You heard me. I said no. What we're doing is knocking, he opens the door, we bust in." Karako frowned when Yukio raised an eyebrow. "We've been waiting long enough!" she argued.
"Patience." Yukio started but Karako, once more, cut him off.
"I don't need patience, Yukio, I need to finish this so we can enjoy a day." She argued. Yukio wanted to challenge her but she had a point. They had been waiting for quite a while and Yukio did want to enjoy the rest of his day.
"Fine. Let's make it quick." He said. In fact, it was quick. Karako hurried over and knocked on Ganta's door. When he opened it, Karako pounced and Yukio quickly slid in, closing the door. What followed was Karako pinning Ganta to the floor as Yukio walked around his bachelor studio. He quickly found something that caused Ganta to react unfavourably, which is what he wanted. Rolling the paper up, Yukio explained that should he make any wrong moves, his art would suffer. After all why harm the bounty that was wanted alive? Ganta seemed easier to handle once his art was threatened.
"All right mate, let's go. And make it casual." Yukio held a needle to Ganta's art as Karako got him to stand. For a wiry little guy, Ganta had an imposing frown.
"Why do you bounty hunters have to ruin everything?" he growled.
"It's my job." Yukio said with relish. "Now move it." Karako, Ganta, and Yukio walked out of Ganta's place of residence. Thankfully he lived surprisingly close to the bounty station and Yukio nearly slapped himself across the face for not recognising the area after turning in Kurata.
Turning in Ganta was easy as well. Once he was in the small room, Karako trussed him up with obvious relish as the man at the station handed Yukio the money. Yukio gave him the art piece.
"His place is close by, he loves his art. He gets rowdy, hold a match to it." Was Yukio's advice.
"Thank you." Was the man's response. Before long, Yukio and Karako were walking back to the marketplace, their mood better now that the task was done.
"So what now?" Yukio asked.
"Well…" Karako started. "How about something to eat?" she asked.
"That works. We need to relax a bit." Yukio smiled at her and Karako smiled back.
"Good, it's a date."
This is stupid. Arine thought as she hid in the closet of her target's house. Arine had waited a couple hours before she decided that it was prudent to sneak into the woman's house to gain an advantage. However Arine had found the process more difficult than she thought. Opening the window was easy enough, closing it from the inside wasn't. What made it worse, from what Arine glimpsed from within the closet as her target passed by, she was a bit paranoid. She was afraid someone would find her, with Arine thinking of various quips to the woman's rantings.
However quips can only go so far, especially in one's head. So Arine thought about various things like how to take the woman to the bounty station, to how she'd approach the situation. Arine wanted to avoid the club as much as possible, The Sand. So perhaps confronting her just before or after she left? Just after would make more sense she thought. If Arine went after her in her own home, the woman had the home field advantage and various weapons. Arine was in unfamiliar territory and therefore at the disadvantage.
This went on for hours with Arine avoiding heading out to go to the bathroom. Much to her embarrassment, she did break down and, very cautiously, use the woman's bathroom without making much noise or disturbing anything before returning to her closet. The woman was none the wiser. Though re-entering the closet, having thought enough about her situation and of how to deal with the woman, Arine thought about Tomoko.
As much as she didn't like it, whenever Tomoko was there Arine felt herself getting territorial. It was as if Tomoko was an invading presence that Arine wanted gone, yet Arine couldn't figure out why. Something was off putting about the girl, she had decided some time ago. However Arine's issue was the question of what was off about her. The girl was nice enough and Denji was enjoying her company. In fact Arine could tell he was head over heels for her.
It's kind of like… she began thinking until she felt something smooth against her hand. Arine frowned and turned to see what it was. The closet was dark and therefore not very good to look at something within, but Arine quickly recognised a piece of lingerie when she got her hands on it. She felt her face flush as she let the article of clothing fall back into place. Images in her head immediately went to a place she didn't want them to. Just thoughts of her and someone else enjoying such things. She wished Yukio was here, he'd keep her occupied enough that she wouldn't have to deal with this stuff. If anything he'd keep her occupied enough to piss her off.
Suddenly Arine heard the woman speaking as she walked by the closet.
"Okay, just a light coat for tonight I think." She heard muffled through the closet door. Arine backed herself against the wall, hidden by clothes as much as she possibly could be. Arine's fears were slightly put to rest when the woman opened the door farthest from Arine and reached in a direction that put her back to Arine. Arine had been holding her breath throughout the short exchange, and ever a minute after she heard the footfalls leave the closet. Once she felt she was safe enough, Arine let out her held breath, her chest hurting from holding her breath.
She slowly opened the closet door and exited, slowly closing it before bending down low and slowly crouch-walking through the house. Arine heard noises down the stairs, something she didn't want to attempt to do until Mai Kurokami was out of the house. That took another few minutes but she was out soon enough and Arine slipped downstairs and found a window, peeking up to glance Mai turning from her house and walking away. Arine opened a window and crawled out silently, not bothering to leave it closed. From there she followed Mai Kurokami until she was well out of the rich neighbourhood and closer to the sand. It was still a good distance from the club when she struck, quickly walking up beside her and lightly pressing the tip of a kunai against the small of her back.
"You're going to follow me." Arine said as she place the knife tip against Mai. Mai turned, her expression one of fierce irritation and confusion.
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice clipped. Arine simply responded
"Just someone who decided to turn you in." Arine looked around and realised there was a bounty station near here. She turned left when the club came into view and headed down a street that, while clean, had seen better days. From there Arine took a right into an alleyway and found a simple door on the wall. After knocking and answering the password, Arine brought Mai in and simply addressed the man waiting as she found ropes and tied up Mai Kurokami. Arine accepted the money and left the bounty station without the bound and gagged Mai Kurokami and a fuller pocket book. She made her way back to the hotel, noticing how dark it was. In fact, once she got there, everyone else had made it back. From there they each detailed their bounties.
Yukio said he had to find a fraudulent artist and track him down, waiting a long time before he could go after the guy. Denji and Tomoko talked about how they got a sexual deviant with a small plan that worked brilliantly. Arine recounted her adventure in the closet of Mai Kurokami. Aika mentioned her bounty in passing. When pressed all she said was
"He tried to ask me out at the library, I said yes, followed him, trussed him up, and got the reward." With a shrug. Then she asked for everyone's attention for a final hunt in the Hidden Sand. "We've made some good money here but I have something that could set us for a long, long time." Aika said with a grin. She reached into her cloak and pulled a bounty paper, holding it out to the group. The picture on it was a girl with a frown on her face with long, deep green hair and cold green eyes like pieces of chipped glass. The name below read Anri Nomura. She was wanted as a serial killer around their age. The page made a reference to… Acid?
"Who is that?" Denji asked. Tomoko looked incredibly concerned.
"This is Anri Nomura. I did a bit of digging, asking around, etc." Aika revealed. "Apparently she has a very rare kekkei genkai where she can use acid. She went on a rampage roughly a year or so ago and the Kazekage himself had to intervene and take her down." Aika simply shrugged. "She's recently escaped prison and has been on the lam for a while. There's reason to believe she's hiding out in the village though she could also be outside."
"So that's our new target?" Yukio asked, his voice tired.
"Yeah, roughly. Tomorrow we'll go searching." Aika revealed. "But for now, we sleep."
Denji couldn't sleep. Something wrong with the universe was preventing him from sleeping and he hated it. Nothing he did was causing him to get sleepy. One side, the other, more blankets, no blankets, his pillow was too warm or too cold, nothing was letting him sleep. Maybe it was just one of those nights. Yukio talked about how some nights he just couldn't sleep, no matter how much he tried. Denji must've been experience one of those nights because he suddenly had the urge to get up and walk out of his room, with Yukio sleeping. He headed down the hall, barefoot, to the side balcony of the hotel. When he opened the door, however, he saw Tomoko standing there, silent. The door opening hadn't even registered with her, she kept still, as if in a trance. It wasn't until he spoke that she turned.
"Tomoko?" he asked, causing her to jump and turn. Her hair wasn't kept up so it hung loose around her shoulders. In the light of the half-moon she looked really beautiful.
"Oh. Denji." She responded, her voice shaky. "I didn't hear you."
"Yeah, you looked like you'd zoned out." He said, smiling as he closed the door. Tomoko still seemed tense. She moved slowly as he joined her, leaning on the railing. "So what're you doing out here? Can't sleep?" he asked.
"Yeah." Tomoko let out a shaky breath. Denji looked to her. She seemed more than tense. Nervous, anxious. Scared.
"You okay?" he asked. Tomoko swallowed, audibly. She took a shaky breath before answering.
"I…" another breath "I don't know."
"Don't tell me you're scared of that Anri girl." He prodded. "I mean yeah she can apparently use acid and is a serial killer but…" Denji snorted "she can't be that difficult."
"That's…. that's not it." Tomoko looked to him, and Denji looked back. It was then that he saw something in her eyes. Something was really bothering her.
"Are you sure you're…" he was about to ask when he realised she never said yes. "I mean are you at all okay?"
"Denji…" Tomoko took another, really shaky breath. "I mean…" she swallowed again and Denji was getting worried. Really worried. "I'm not."
"What do you mean, what's wrong?" he asked, reaching to put an arm around her but she backed up a step, almost to the other side of the small balcony.
"It's just…" Tomoko looked away. She stopped looking at him, her hands gripped tight together. "I-I mean it's…"
"Tomoko…" Denji said but then she shook her head.
"That's not my name." she said, her voice shaky, almost on the verge of tears.
"What… what do you mean?" Denji's arm dropped and Tomoko, or the girl who's name wasn't Tomoko, had wide eyes, as if she had realised what she said and realised there wasn't any going back. "How is that now your name?"
"It's not… this isn't even what I really look like." The girl before him said. Denji frowned.
"Well what is it?" Denji asked. He could feel himself shaking. He was nervous. What was she saying? "What do you mean? Some kind of transformation jutsu?"
"Yeah…" she rubbed her arms. "I… I've been wanting to tell you but…" she took a breath, her teeth were chattering despite the warmth.
"But…" Denji didn't dare to say more. The girl before him looked at him with sad eyes as she took another shaky breath and said
"Just… let me show you." She said with a sad sigh. She closed her eyes and Denji couldn't believe his eyes. Her black hair, from the roots, changed over to a deep evergreen colour. Her face and body became somewhat thinner. Then she opened her eyes, which had changed from a cool blue to cold green glass. Denji didn't move, he couldn't. He simply stared at the girl before him as she changed from Tomoko to….
"You… who..." Denji stammered.
"My name isn't Tomoko. My name is Anri Nomura."
A/N: Long chapter, took me even longer to write. Sorry for the sort of last quarter seeming choppy and not as good but I needed to get the bloody thing done.