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 Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:38 am
   Hoshi rolled his shoulders as he walked down the street, his bag straps feeling unwelcome after not having worn a bag in a long while. He couldn't quite get comfortable. He raised his wrist to his eyes and checked the small, cheap digital watch that was now on his wrist. Still a little while yet. Enough time to get his gun anyway.
Normally, Hoshi abhorred watches. Constantly getting in the way and getting snagged on things. However, he had changed his appearance completely, and with this change in appearance he acknowledged the need for a change of character. He knew that there were probably people who had seen him, or already tagged him for what he had done to Switch. They'd be on the look out for a guy matching his old description. However, Hoshi knew a few tricks of this trade. He knew that those after him would know he could change his close and therefore would be on the additional look out for a person matching his mannerisms. If he were to pull out his token pocket watch now, that would mark him. He needed to adopt a new walk, a new accent, a new way of doing things. If only for the moment.
Even his leather gloves were hidden under black and grey striped woolen ones. His hands beneath were begining to grow uncomfortable. But he bore it with little hassle.
Crossing the street he tried to remember clearly the directions Teschio had given him. He'd mentioned street names and buildings that a new comer to the city wouldn't have understood. For Hoshi, who had studied maps tirelessly before embarking on this venture, it was just a matter of researching his memory and finding a starting point to head off from. He found that at the junction at the edge of the main walk to go off into the rougher estates. It was at this junction that he spotted something else of interest. He froze at the curb and stopped to rearrange his hat as through his shades he watched the figure emerge from the ally with intense interest.
It was blondie. Only somewhere along the line, Blondie had acquired a dark windbreaker to cover his shirt. In his hand he held an instantly recognisable briefcase. Hoshi reached up to cough into his glove to hide the knowing smirk that he couldn't help but allow to reach his lips. His eyes flashed with intrigue. Looks like Blondie had taken out the hit after all, and was coming this way. Hoshi stooped to tie his trainer. Blondie was preoccupied, and didn't notice that Hoshi was taking that little bit too long to adjust a lace that was already tied until it was too late. Hoshi straightened up and slammed a hard fist into the soft spot under Blondie's jaw. The unexpected and strong blow sent Blondie reeling backwards. Hoshi reached up in this moment of confusion and snatched the briefcase tightly in an iron grip, tearing it forcefully free from Blondie's grip before taking off down the street at an incredible speed. As Hoshi rounded a corner, a bullet richoeted off the brick wall level with his head. Dry bits of it crumbled onto the street as he soared round. Hoshi rounded into an allyway without even flinching, too used to such situations. Once in the ally he surveyed its layout for possible hiding places. There was an open skip, a few dark corners, a stack of boxes.
Blondie rounded the corner a few seconds after Hoshi entered the ally. In an enclosed space, Blondie suddenly became more wary, keeping his gun up, he roamed the area with his narrowed eyes, the lens in his glasses flashing ominously. Leaning over the edge of the skip, he fired a few stray shots into the rubbish, the long tube like silencer on the end muting most of the shots. He routed through the first layers of trash then fell back, pressing his back against the wall and inching further into the ally, his gun up and his eyes searching. He was cautious. He shot next at the boxes, and surveyed the dark corners. His face was begining to show signs of confusion. He could have sworn he'd seen the theif enter this ally only moments before. . .
So intent on surveying the ground, the fool didn't consider any possibility of an aerial attack. Hoshi, hiding crouched in a shaded corner of a balcony of the fire escape, stood slowly and raising the plant pot above his head, simply let it drop. It hit its mark, slamming into contact with the crown of Blondie's head. The porcelain cracked and shattered, showering both Blondie and the ground with soil. Hoshi planted one hand on the bar and vaulted over it, falling from a second story height. The very instant he landed, he used the momentum of the fall to power himself forewards into an over shoulder roll, absorbing most of the shock from landing. As he did this, Blondie also fell to the floor. Getting to his feet, Hoshi turned. Blondie was lying momentarily stunned on the floor, blood oozed from his scalp, matting the roots of his fair hair. Hoshi wasted not time, efficient and professional in his movements.
He walked over and slammed the heel of his foot forcibly into the join of the wrist of Blondie's wielding hand. The sharp downwards pressure applied to the tendons caused Blondie's fingers to go limp and Hoshi flicked his toes under the gun, kicking it across the alley way and out of reach. As he did this, Blondie seemed to snap part way out of his stupor. The pot should have at the very least knocked him out, but it seemed he was more resilient than Hoshi gave him credit for. Hoshi had to dodge out of the way, stopping him making his second move as a leg came at him. The kick itself was too wide, Hoshi noted. Either Blondie was too used to fighting all hi battles with guns, or his co-ordination had been damaged by the sharp blow to the head. Hoshi was inclined to believe the latter. He dodged as another sloppy kick was aimed his way and Blondie got to his feet. As he did, a large dribble of blood ran down his forehead and down his long glasses. His upper lip was pulled back into a snarl. Understandably pissed. He swung a punch at Hoshi, who side stepped and delivered a sharp jab to the bridge of the nose. It broke, blood spewing out of flattened nostrils, soaking into the fibres of Hoshi's woolen ******** it.
Blondie grunted with pain, both hands flying up to cup his face. He hacked, and turning to the side spat out a mouthful of blood. It splattered black on the dusty floor. Hoshi reached up and grabbed the loose thick string that hung from his hoodie hood and with one sharp yank, pulled it through entirely, removing it from the lining of the hood. Blondie seemed to recover himself and, angered, threw himself at Hoshi in blind fury.
Uncoordinated, and careless with anger, he was easily manipulated. Hoshi span around hooked one arm under one of his outstretched ones, and spinning around him, hooked his arm under the other. Bending his own arms, he pulled Blondie's arms out to the sides, locking them at the shoulders, preventing any movement from the elbow up, and keeping his hands too far out to the sides to be of any use. Stretched between Hoshi's tightened fists was the cord, which curling his arms backwards, he wrapped around Blondie's throat.
"Nothing personal." Hoshi whispered, tightening the cord, over the mans frantic splutters for air. "Just business."
Hoshi kept his feet apart to keep better balance as Blondie bucked and kicked, trying desperately to throw his weight back into Hoshi in an effort to overthrow his balance. But Hoshi held strong, keeping Blodnie's arms in a firm lock as he applied a steady forecfull pressure to Blondie's windpipe. After a few minutes of frantic flailing, Blondie began to tire, all energy drained from the lack of oxygen to his system. He slumped heavily back into Hoshi, occassionally gargling, his limbs merely twitching now. A few moments later, he went completely still. Hoshi held him like this a good few minutes longer to be sure before, loosening his hold. There was not final defiant kick out. There was only silence and dead weight. Hoshi lowered Blondie gently, stepping back to avoid getting any of the blood from his head of face on his clothing.
Looking down he noticed the face of the corpse was pleasingly stoney in colour, the lips blued where the blood had settled. The eyes were wide and glazed, still retaining that slight glint of final desperation.
Hoshi regarded it with fleeting interest, a small smile playing across his face as he removed his woolen gloves and used the clean one to mop up any of the blood that had soaked through onto the leather gloves underneath. Wrapping the bloodied glove up carefully in the clean one, he placed them both in his pocket to be disposed of later.
And with that, without so much as a backwards glance, he left. He didn't even bother with the briefcase. That wasn't important. What was important, was removing the competiton.
Due to being sidetracked by the little misadventure, Hoshi had to jog to get to Gubbs' appartment for the appointment that il Teschio had set up for him.
He reached the appartment only five minutes late. The door was open, and he walked boldly in despite never having been in this room before in his life. As he did so, he was suprised to see a woman in the room.
He was only five minutes late, surely his appointment had not been bypassed so easily. No. Il Teschio was an important man, and Gubbs was smalltime, selling for that little extra pocket money. He wouldn't piss off a big fish.
I need a new one.”
Hoshi's eyes darted to the holster that woman had tossed onto the desk. He could see the man they reffered to as Gubbs sat behind it, leering up at her with wide perverted eyes. It seemed his quiet entry had gone unnoticed by the both of them.
"Excuse me." His voice was low and deep, rich with an accent that was not his own, but still convincing. It sounded vaguely Russian. "I am here to be collecting a parcel for Teschio?"
His manners seemed slightly nervous and withdrawn. He came across as a messenger little more.
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Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 11:34 am
Glaring down at Gubbs her temper with him was running short. He told many people that his nose had been broken in a fight and that was partial true if you counted a fight as Kyo breaking his face open for trying to grope her. It was a profession hazard. The scum of the city and a good portion of them were men. They all seemed to think they had some sort of right to casually touch her that way. With most she just had to prove her point once but Gubbs almost acted as if being stubborn like that would win her over.
When a voice spoke somewhere behind her, Kyo turned to see whom it was letting her eyes flick over him as if he were a fly on the wall but she saw took in everything. A blessing of a medical worker even small details would not be bypassed as she looked away from the messenger. However she passed no judgment on what he truly was, any one who wanted to live knew looks could be deceiving. Even with she, few would guess what she was capable of by looking at her petite form as she only stood at five foot four with her vivid blue hair cascading down her back like water.
Stepping to the side she said politely, “If Teschio sent you then by all means. Don’t keep him waiting on my account.” Sending a murderous glare to Gubbs as if daring him to argue while she spoke briefly she took those precious few seconds to make a second assessment before casually turning away to check her messages. The phone was set on silent. No vibration. No sound. So Kyo hadn’t heard the past couple she had gotten. Flipping through the there was a couple about a party, some offers on new drug mixes they were testing, then some from Dante. Warning her about Hoshi, she couldn’t have cared less. What could he do to her? Kill her, death had lost its potency many years before. However the last message caught her eye, a fight was going to happen. Part of her was overjoyed and yet another part of her mourned what she had lost. Before all this she had a full scholarship to become a real doctor and yet here she was buying a new holster in some back ally apartment.
Having forgotten both men for a moment she snapped her phone shut with more force than it was required making it a wonder she didn’t break the poor abused thing. Looking to see Gubbs hadn’t moved she snapped at him, “Now! Move it!” she almost growled at him the polite tone she had spoken with Hoshi gone as she mumbled afterward when he got up, “Dear god it’s like talking to a perverted preteen.” Sitting on the edge of the desk she swung her feet lightly wondering to herself. Did she really want out of this business? Did she have a choice after finding out she was ill.
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Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 11:38 am
  
What a day.
He frowned up at the cheerful afternoon sky that looked down on his through the small slither of open air permitted between the flat rooves of the obstrusive office buildings of the station. It seemed to mock his misery with its brilliance.
What a week.
He exhaled and grimaced at the strength of the taste of nicotine on his tongue. He was starting to remember why he had given this up. Well, had supposedly given it up. He examined the ash at the end of the cigarette and tapped it off again, his frown seeming engraved on his pretty features. His eyes were slightly shadowed by lack of sleep. He hadn't slept well at all, not since starting at the station this week. He'd been working towards this since he was twelve, and now he had it, now he'd emerged from training - passing with flying colours - it suddenly all seemed harder than he could cope with. Not so much the job itself, hell, they hadn't put him on the beat yet. He'd been sat in the office day in day out handling paper work. He could deal with his own workload. Trouble was, he wasn't just doing his own workload anymore was he?
His 'colleagues', even in his mind the word sounded saturated with bitterness, had seen to that. Now he was not only doing his own stack of paper work, but everyone freakin' elses. And he went along with it.
He shook his head and groaned to himself, dragging again on his cigarette.
He'd never had much of a backbone when it came to peer pressure. Whilst in his own imagination he could see himself standing up and throwing the stacks of paper back in their smug little faces, in reality he could only offer them nervous smiles and happily accept their so generously proffered bundles of extra headache. He rubbed his eye with the heel of his palm. And they never got off his case. He'd never known grown men to be so bloody well childish about alternative sexuality in his life. Jesus! It was like being back in his highschool gym class.
Eurgh! Stop looking at my d**k you twisted ********' perv!. . .Don't go near him, he's an a** bandit, he'll have you bent over before you can blink.
Purlease! How most ugly straight men did love to flatter themselves by desperately believing that any gay man must be attracted to them by default. Though true, his current co workers were no way near as blatent and crude in their teasing (most of the time) they did bully him. If it was talking to him in a lilting voice, wafting limp wrists at him, or commenting on how 'faaaaaaaaaaabulous' his hair looked that morning it was still bullying. And why didn't he report it? Because he was a social coward that's why! Ever since his school days and his bullying, Minoru had an intense fear of being disliked. And he didn't speak out or report any of the snide scallywags for precisely this fear. He whimpered to himself and tapped the toe of his shoe on the ground to shift some of the ash dirtying its surface. He just wanted to go back home, curl up on the sofa with Rufus and watching shows like Jerry Springer to reming him that his life really wasn't all that bad. Rufus. That was another topic of fun in the ol' office. They were convinced that Rufus was not in fact a dog, but Minoru's incredibly hairy lover and were constantly cracking childish jokes about it. After bringing in Rufus at the start of the week to proove that he was indeed a dog, Minoru set himself up for a whole new level of taunts that he would never live down. All he could do now was put on a fake grin and pretend to laugh along with them, whilst trying to bury his attention in their bloody work and not pay attention to what they were saying.
He looked at the half a cigarette and began to feel guilty, and mustering up all the will power he could, stubbed the cigaretted out on the wall and placed the butt in the nearest trash can. He was a bit of a freak about litter. Couldn't abide it. Another thing that got him taunted at work.
Sighing and resigning himself to having to face a pille of papers, that would have probably mysteriously doubled in size in his abscence, Minoru siddled out of the ally comprised of the side of the station and the adjoining office block and into the sunlit forecourt of the station. The station itself was an impressive place, as any ground of law enforcement should be. And despite the irritating excuses for human beings in uniforms that he worked with housed inside, he felt a great swell of affection for the place. Like all his ambitions solidified into one great reality. He smiled, then grimaced, feeling the nasty coating the smoke had left on his pearly whites. Reaching into his pocket, he fished out two pieces of gum and put them in his mouth. No greater sin on this earth than bad breath, his mother had used to say.
No greater sin, a part from murder.
Suddenly his enthusiasm and readiness to face the rest of the day deflated. His shoulders slumped and he suddenly felt too down to be able to put on that damn fake smile that dominated his face most of the working day. The corners of his mouth ached in protest.
He walked slowly up to the steps, as if subconciously trying to delay the inevitable moment of walking into that office to high pitched croons of painfully camp 'Hiyaaaaaaaaaaaaa's for as long as possible. Even that didn't work.
"Oh hay there Motorola."
Grimacing under the fake lisp, Minoru looked up and saw the leering face of Officer Stanner. One of the ring leaders. He was exactly the type of macho dickhead that used to pick on him at school, and even in the adult world, that hierarchy hadn't seemed to change one tiny bit.
Minoru looked up managing that small smile, despite his face twitching unpleasantly under the strain of it. He felt like backhanding the guy.
My name is Motobuchi and you bleedin' well know it you egotistical ******** he kept his hands at his sides and said; "Hey Stanner, what's up?"
Trouble was, his voice did sound effeminate. It was quite obvious that he was gay, even without being in-your-face-camp. He hated himself for it in that moment in time.
The smirk that curled on Stanner's lips was entirely expected, but hurt none the less.
"Yah, just wanted to let you know that the paperwork I handed you has to be on the D.C's desk by clocking out time. You won't let me down will you?"
"Oh. Sure. I got it covered. Don't worry about it."
"Good man." Stanner beamed, giving him a hearty pat on the back.
p***k Minrou thought.
"So you headed back to the old grind?" Stanner asked, wiping his nose with his thumb. An unattractive gesture.
Emboldened by this sudden moment of extreme irritation, Minoru perked a carefully plucked brow.
"No. Not now. I am taking offical break time. Needs must and all that." Offering the stunned Stanner a sideways smile, Minoru turned around and promptly marched off of the compound, trying to stop his knees from crumpling beneath him - giddy with the delight of standing up to the guy for the first time.
Trouble was, now he was on his break, what was he going to do with his time?
Patrolling the streets in your uniform was often not the best idea. Still, it filled him with a pleasant sense of empowerment, and he needed a fix of authority before he came back and had to face the music.
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Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 11:54 am
Hoshi was amused by this womans, for lack of a better word, balls.
She spoke like a fighter, and this was a pleasant suprise. Hoshi had come to this city very much under the illusion that, as with most big cities, all women entangled with arms deals and the such would be very sexually orientated. Little more than whores with artillery. At least this fine specimen handled herself with dignity. He studied her for only a moment, choosing instead to look around the appartment, very much under the mask of a person who was a little jumpy and not comfortable with his surroundings.
She was obviously in some form of authority. How so, he didn't know. Perhaps she was caught up in the little war that was raging through the streets of this fair city in some way, perhaps she was something else all together. Whichever, the way she spoke to Gubbs, the way she regarded him as little more than the scum he truly was in the grand scale of things gave the impression of someone that knew the ins and outs of the industry. Anyone green to it would see the guy who provided the guns as being pretty far up the rungs of the social pecking order. Not so, and she knew it. She practically oozed experience.
Hoshi's shades allowed him to regard her form in more detail than if his gaze were open to her notice. She was only an inch or so shorter than himself. Without his slightly heeled boots, Hoshi was revealled for being as short as he trully was. So he knew on a personal level that size did not always account for everything. Under the lines of her clothing he could see the definate curves of a finely built body. She has the muscles of a fighter. This intrigued him. Were he not under a guise right now, he would have instigated a slight fight, just to see how good she was.
As Gubbs hurried out of the room on the woman's request, Hoshi took a nervously step forwards and raising an arm, like a child in school hesitantly asking a question, he piped up; "And please to be bringing ze package for Teschio also."
His manners were faultless, his tone that of someone not wanting to offend. Someone inexperienced. Hoshi was an excellent actor, he needed to be in his line of business.
Left in the room with the woman, silence descended. It was stifling. He could tell she would be curious of his presence and was keen to give nothing away. Still. If she was in any posistion of authority like he theorised, perhaps he would be coming into contact with her again. His his pocket, he ran the tip of his glove over the sharp edges of one of his business cards.
"Zis man. He vill take long, no?"
He made his voice shake, looking at the woman, his lips parted ever so slightly.
He was trying to coax her into conversation. Into potentially giving him some hint as to what she really was.
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Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 3:16 pm
Looking up at the ceiling, Kyo resisted the urge to sigh as Gubbs hurried out of the room but a small smile flicked across her lips softening her features as the other man raised a tentative hand and made his request. Though he probably didn’t know it, the man had already earned a bit of her respect since he had politely kept a professional distance from her and had not tried to touch her in any way. It was a nice change of pace not to be assumed of as Gubbs whore when some poor soul who didn’t know her came in.
Thinking about the pending carnage of the upcoming battle she casually started to braid her long hair with quick knowing moves. It tended to get in the way when she was working otherwise. The off shoulder sleeves of her shirt shifted a bit showing the end of a deep curving scar. Smiling and letting out a small laugh that lit up her eyes when he spoke again, “Not if the man has any sense but knowing him he will take his sweet time just to piss me off. I swear he’s going to regret the day he ceases to be useful.” Putting a band in her hair she was generally cautious when laughing because as Dante had put it, her laugh could light up the world but it made the fact she wore contacts to hide her two tone eyes obvious. Like the skies her eyes were a window into her soul and how she felt just as she looked to Gubbs with obvious hatred that darkened them when she smiled they glittered like diamonds.
Instincts told her to be wary of this man but as always she never listened. If today was her day to die, so be it. She didn’t care as long as with her dying breath she could get someone to take Kai out. “You can relax you know. It’s just Gubbs.” she said casually as if that explained everything, and in a way it did. He was too low on the food chain to decide who was useful. Nothing short of self defense was acceptable. Adjusting the braid she let it fall down her hands resting lightly on the table but where she could get her gun in short seconds if she had too.
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Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 5:39 pm
(And then Kyo convienently gets the text I told Dante to send her. ^____^ I wanna watch this. *gets popcorn*)
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Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 6:19 pm
Naoko almost punched Casilda. Her day got worse. Here was the youngest member of her gang popping up in a crowded street with people nearby wondering about their plans tonight. She darted her hand out and caught Casilda's lips inbetween her thumb and index.
"No. There is no killing tonight." She quickley refuted what Dante had just said. She gave him a hard glare that told him that she should not be in these plans. But she knew it was no use, and Casilda already knew.
"Sorry Casilda, but I will not risk the future of this gang on a stupid escapade. This man is a professional. And hopefully, we will not be killing him tonight." While she talked, she backed Casilda up into the convienent alley right behind her. She was still holding firm onto Casildas' lips.
"Do I make myself clear?" Naoko said it clearly and looked straight and unblinking into the kid's eyes. She nodded Casilda's head for her. "However, I need you to do a favor." It was less a favor and more of a command, but she was polite becuase she wanted to make Casilda feel that she was important to the gang. And it was important that she felt important. Makes a better worker. Another forced nod.
"I need you to scour the roof tops in this area for another two hours. The guy might come back to the scene. You get one glimpse of him and you call Dante, you hear? NO, and I mean NO, moving in without confirmed backup. Got it?" A nod. Naoko knew what was up with Casilda. Her sister was unfortunate, but probably unavoidable. Probably.
"After two hours are up, call me to request another task. Depending on the situation, I might call you. Snipers are nasty." She nodded for the girl one last time and nodded herself to Dante.
"The Doc is a boy. Don't forget it." She held her head down, pulled her cap further over her eyes and shuffled througth the growing crowd until she knew she had disappeared from their sights.
Naoko wasn't immortal, and she knew that quite well. Truth be told, with the right training and some self control of those throwing stars, Casilda could very well be the next boss. She needed to learn a lot and if not, she wouldn't be able to survive in this violent world, let alone control a portion of it.
Lets talk business.
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Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:59 am
Hoshi's eyes took in everything she had to offer him. Behind the forgiving cover of his shades, his eyes glistened with sparked interest as he spotted the deep curved scar that travelled over her shoulder. He could only guess how fresh it was. He wanted desperately to ask her about it, but didn't. He was sure that she would take offense from a lowly grunt making enquiries into her personal life.
Hoshi had always found scars something of interest. Battle trophies most of them. That or little reminders of a moment in life, now far past, but forever immortalised in the flesh. So much more real than tattoos, which were just false imagry of no real significance to your life than some vague whim, an imagined connection or simply that you were there when it was being carved into your flesh. No. Scars were far more telling.
Hoshi had only one scar himself, though he had been in plenty of tight scrapes and recieved many wounds in his time that had thankfully healed over without marring his flesh. The one scar he did have was on his left shoulder blade where he had been shot once. It served as his life lesson to forever remind him to check a score was dead before turning your back on them. He rolled his shoulder absently. It felt the same, worked the same, but the flesh there was torn and pitted. It had been a large illegal round and had torn a hefty chunk out of him. It had been a wonder, they'd said, that his main nerves were still intact.
The woman was fiesty. He could see that. She spoke with a confidence that was rare in many. When she uttered her threat to Gubbs, about making him regret, her words were more promise than idle aggro. She seemed like the sort of person to carry out a threat rather than just spout a load of obscene garbage in an attempt to frighten a person off before they had to act themselves. That amused him somewhat, and made him more eager to learn of her purpose in this whole sordid affair. If she was a loose cannon like himself, she could cause him some damage on the profit side. It would be a shame to kill her, she seemed to have that spark that was rare in an age of guns - where people rarely had to fight themselves so much as let the modern age do it for them. That's not to say he wouldn't. And he was sure it would be fun trying to take her out. More fun than Blondie to say the least, who hadn't allowed him to be creative at all.
Still - if she belonged to a gang, perhaps he had a potential business contact sat right in front of him, all confidence and blue locks.
As she laughed at him, unease and self conciousness first flitted convincingly across his features. Well, those that were on show. With his hood, hat and shades, only his nose and mouth were on show, eyes and forehead hidden. Even his ears were lost. Good, he had some very specific piercings that would be best left hidden.
He chewed his lower lip nervously and offered her a polite smile as she told him to relax. He rolled his shoulders, his hands stuffed deep into his pockets. He looked the very opposite of being able to relax.
"I know zat he is not being to be a feared of." Hoshi said, part way confident, nodding his heavily draped head towards the door that Gubbs had exited through. He rolled his shoulders and shot a nervous glance towards the doorway, running his tongue over his lips gently.
"But I am hearing zat zere be trouble in zis city." He cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable. As if he expected a rain of knives to hail down on his head for even mentioning the topic.
Leaning forwards ever so slightly, in an attempt to keep the conversation purely between them too, he said;
"You are knowing ov ze war?" He shook his head. "Dangerous time. More zan before. Lots to be a feared of down zere." He indicated the street by pointing at the floor, through the carpet.
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Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 9:56 am
Absentmindedly adjusting her shirt, that scar annoyed Kyo beyond all belief. The man had paid for it with his life but where a city boy had found a sickle she’d like to have known. Whoever sold it took him deserved to have their innards torn out with one of the things. Looking back to the messenger who stood before her, Kyo doubted who he was, but kept it to herself. Either he knew the man he claimed to work for, or he would take care of it himself. There were certain people on the food chain you did not want to f** with and Teschio was one of them as far as she was concerned. Dante had warned her about a man named Hoshi and she wasn’t to fight him, well that was up to him, she would listen to Naoko but if someone attacked her she would do whatever she could to kill them orders or not.
Looking to him while he spoke, he was a reminder of all the reasons why Kyo hated hoodies and sunglasses. She wore them often enough on her own but it his more of the form than she would have liked when trying to ID someone. Hides the eyes, the hair. Even a simple hoodie can make you mistake a passing woman for a man which can be dangerous in a crowd, only someone with some experience would even think to enter an unknown area with enough of a disguise to be able to disappear into the roads, and that bothered her.
Instead of crossing her legs which would have limited her movement she pulled her knees to her chest gathering her energy for the pending battle. She had been down this route before. Sprinting with a body in your arms or across your back was hard work. It made you an easy target and people liked to take advantage of that. Fighting with limited movement was one thing when you had no choice but she tried not to put herself in that position any more than necessary.
Leaning in a bit to hear the man she smiled worthy of the devil, “I suppose if you want to let yourself live in fear there is plenty to worry over. What many fail to realize, when it comes to this war, there is more than simple death happening.” Her tone darkened considerable as she thought about it. She wasn’t trying to scare him, it was true. Before if another gang caught you, you were dead. These days, people were being kidnapped, raped, tortured. Yes. There were worse things hidden in the city’s underbelly than death.
What bothered her most was she knew some of these guns couldn’t have come from LA, or even the US she was starting to question. The last battle she had spent the time defending the dying and pulling shrapnel out of her dying friends. Shrapnel.
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Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 2:51 pm
Casilda had grinned at Dante. It seemed she hadn't killed someone in ages. Though her glee was immediately gone when Naoko took hold of her lips. "Mff," Casilda manged to make the sound before she shut up when Naoko started to speak to her. She wanted to nod her head, agreeing to Naoko's questions, but it seemed the boss did it for her. How nice, hmm?
When she was released Casilda smiled.
"Sure thing, boss," she told the woman before she had gone out of sight. Then looking to Dante she nodded at him. "Later," she said before going to ladder she had gone down moment before and climbing it up to the roof.
Casilda would follow whatever Naoko said even if she wasn't her boss. Casilda had a high respect for Naoko; She had taken her into the gang when her sister had died. She had also gotten her out of some nasty situations. The fact that she was going to do a favor for the boss was one of the greatest things to her. She wouldn't let Naoko down.
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Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 5:40 pm
Kiyoko sighed again as she stood up from the bench. She turned to see that the park she was in is also kind of near familiar places, near where she lived, and near the police department. 'Why is everything so close...' She thought. Secretly, she wanted something else than the city she was in. "I should go back to the station to see if there is anything interestng to do..." She said to herself boredly.
On her way, she noticed someone there, familiar of course from the police station. Kiyoko saw that it was a policemen, one that she knows of. "Minoru!" She shouted out as she soon approached him and get his attention. He was of course apart of the police. Kiyoko try her best to know all of them, but Minoru was kind of different since he is sometimes withdrawing, but is a nice guy. Either she is too naive to know or people just hide things away from her to what they do to him, which is bullying, but it was mostly the young macho type of police that works there. They had always annoyed her to an extent, which some don't even know she works with the special forces and she could be a threat, yet she is underestimated by those overbuilt men.
Giving a bright smile as usual, she greeted him. "Minoru, are you patroling right now or on break? It's kind of dangerous a bit since there was a recent murder, but others are taking care on that and I am not allowed since they told me to have a day off..." She explained, feeling a bit talkative at that moment.
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Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 1:14 am
Jenson entered the apartment of a man called Grubbs without knocking and without looking up past waist level of either of the two occupants. He stared at his bunny slippers with a morose expression, he would soon have to buy new ones, as these ones would have holes in them in no time. There was a female and a male in the room, neither of them significantly old or prepubescent young. Jenson could tell, depsite the bagginess of the pants that the male was rather small, he gave a quick rough measurement of the pant leg and waist and reasoned that a larger man could not be wearing those jeans so loose.
The female was aggressive, both were strung like a notched arrow, ready to let loose. It was an interesting expression that he really was not expecting to run into. His eyes slid up to engage in the room, a mild and vacant expression on his face. His hands were in his pockets and his tall lithe frame was relaxed and somewhat slouched. It would take a keen eye to tell that though his muscles were all as relaxed as they could be while still keeping him in a standing position, he was as ready for movement as they were. He wondered absently what weapons he had on him today and realized that he had forgotten.
"Is the man who lives here in today?" Jenson asked, his eyes sliding from Hoshi to Kyo and back. Their faces were interesting enough, one for it's unique feature and the other for complete lack of feature. "I'd like to buy a bullet..." he mused.
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Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 4:34 am
She was like a coiled spring - in the literal sense. She had brought her legs up to her chest, in a posistion that was not normally favoured by someone at ease. It was creating a barrier to her internal organs, to her most critical areas. It was a defensive stance, but also one that was good for springing into movement. Hoshi pretended not to notice, but inside he was smiling.
Was she really so uncomfortable around him? Either he wasn't doing his job right, or she was just an incredibily paranoid person.
Paranoia was a double edged sword in this business. Whilst it could grant you a deeper insight into things than those who weren't - prepare you for double crosses, alert you to the presence of someone dangerous- being a little on the paranoid side could be of great use. However, it could also easily spread to the 'everyone is out to get me' complex. In this state you could alienate, even offend those that would be great friends but even greater enemies. Being too paranoid could get you killed, being just the right amount could save your a**.
Still, it didb't exactly bode well for him that she was so perceptive. He was playing the bumbling messenger at the moment, if she kept her guard up so high he would have to be very careful not to let himself slip.
He thought immediately to the bloodied woolen gloves currently residing in the pocket of his hoodie. Any swift twisting movement would dislodge them. That would be all he needed, evidence like that to fall flat on the floor. He'd have to kill her and Gubbs, and Teschio wouldn't be pleased. Gubbs, despite being lower than gutter slime on the social scale of things, was a good and reliable supplier. He was scum that cared more for his own a** that anyone elses, and that made him stable. He knew that if he double crossed he would be worm meat, and therefore he didn't.
Teschio.
Hoshi felt a slight pang in his chest that was hard to isolate. He wasn't used to the sensation of missing someone's company. True, Teschio was a Big Fish in the grand scale of business. Though mostly situated in Chicago, he did work all over the place, even back in Italy - mostly in the North, such as Palermo, where the bigger families roosted. Hoshi didn't work under Teschio. In all honesty, Hoshi didn't work under anybody. Teschio was an old friend. He sorted out jobs for Hoshi on occasion, but when they did meet up, it was mostly for social gains. The only time Hoshi took orders, was on a job. After that his loyalties dropped. As was his code. A law unto himself.
Hoshi nodded blankly to her answer. He, personally, understood completely. He knew first hand what could go on in such wars. He'd been drafted to carry out a couple of monstrosities. That worst of which being slaughtering the family of a backstabber who had gone into hiding. His only orders had been 'make a mess, don't get caught'.
And a mess he had made.
Even with the children.
Hoshi had the uncanny ability to turn off his feelings when it came to jobs. He couldn't say he took any pleasure out of killing children, after all - they couldn't fight back enough to make it interesting, but he would do it if the price was right. That made him a rare breed. Not many hitmen tended to kill children. And even Hoshi had the rule that he would not kill anyone under the age of five.
He figured however, that his current guise would not figure out her hidden meaning. Many messengers were a cowardly bunch, slithering around in the shadows. It was what theywere good for. You didn't want a messenger that would get into a confrontation and get busted. To a messenger death was the worst thing they could contemplate.
"Vorse." He added, though he didn't seem to agree with the statement.
"I am hopefully not to be seeing much ov zis. I collect package. I go. I am hearing zat zere are bad things are happen." He rolled his shoulders again, shifting his feet nervously, loosing the tips of his bulky trainers behind the baggy ends of his jeans. "Groups, you understand? I hear ov Crimson Dragons making plays. Zis city is to get very upheave."
Hoshi had only just finished this sentence when he heard the door shift across carpet. Though his instinct was to immediately look over his shoulder, he fought it. A messenger would not be so persceptive.
When he caught movement in the corner of his eye he decided that would be the best time to react. He turned his head lazily to the side and let his eyes slide over the figure presented to him.
His first impression was that, despite being slouched, the guy was ********' tall. Put the second impression was far more interesting. The guys posture oozed complete ease. His muscles loose, his pocyire slouched and casual. He was not as tense as walking into an environment with someone as tensed as this woman should require. This made him interesting. Why was he so uneffected?
Hoshi swiftly commited the man's face to memory. Silver hair and glasses whilst keeping a youthful complexion. Such unique traits narrowed him down a hell of a lot. Hoshi could see himself making a phone call to Teschio later. After picking up this package, he would go, change costume, hire out his flat, and then go and make his phonecall.
Hoshi mask of the discomforted messenger slightly out of his depth never shifted despite this new addition to the scene. He rolled his shoulders and sucked on his teeth a second before nodding his head in the direction of the door that the man, Gubbs, had disappeared through over five minutes ago.
"He iz here. In zere."
He looked the man up and down more obviously this time, as any young wannabe thug would access potential competition.
"Currently to be getting other things. You vill vait turn, yes?"
He didn't sound amazingly assertive.
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Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 5:04 am
The streets were understandably busy, but not as crowded as they would be further near the center of town. The Police Department wasn't exactly on the outskirts, but it wasn't right admist the hustle and bustle. Roughly a ten minute walk from the center on a good day. Minoru was both grateful too and slightly unnerved about wearing his uniform out in the streets like this. People parted for him as they wouldn't do if he was wearing civilian clothing. It was good not to have people shouldering their way past you every other moment, but it was also creepy to be set so much aside from the rest of the population. He also noticed the way people looked at him differently when he was in uniform. Normally, he was a nobody. He wasn't really worth a second glance. But when he was noticably a police officer, that all changed. Some looked at him with admiration; mostly the older generation or women with young children. Tha vast majority looked at him with caution, as if he might turn on them for no reason. The other minority, looked at him with narrowed eyes of mocking hatred. And this scared him. Minrou couldn't, and wouln't ever be able to understand why some people hated the police. Of course, he could see that those in the wrong could hate police for catching them, but so many people in one city couldn't be in the wrong surely?
He turned his head casually to the side, though his insides were writhing with unease as a large bald man shuffled past, looking over him with sneering disgust - as if he were a stain on the carpet. Making sure he was a good few steps past the man, Minoru allowed the shudder to run down his back. He chewed nervously at his gum.
He didn't know what exactly to do with himself. He was bored just sitting in an office day in and day out, but he wasn't sure he'd know how to react if something actually happened. Would he even be of any use? Or would he freeze. He supressed a sigh. All he did know was that he didn't want to go to the office right now. Not to face that group of leering gargoyles in blues with their always-interesting new takes on his race/sexual orientation/hair/size the list goes on.
He was just working himself into a little bit of a panic when he heard his name being shouted. He twitched ever so slightly and looked around him before seeing a small figure walking briskly over towards him. He recognised her immediately and a wide cheerful smile played across is face. Like this, it was easy to see why so many women found Minoru attractive. He was pretty, but also had that youthful boyish charm to his features that many men lost as they grew older and more rugged.
As she drew closer, he tucked a hand into his pocket and grinned.
"Hey there, beautiful." His voice was bouncy and infectiously cheerful. When Minoru was happy and smiling, he managed to make everyone around him just as cheerful. Not that anyone at the office would know that. He was too bloody miserable around that place to ever crack a real smile.
"Oh!" He purred happily, running his eyes over the sports jacket combo that Kiyoko was wearing. "Loving the threads. Very tom boy kitsch." He shot her a cheek wink; "I may have to borrow them for the weekend."
He was only joking around, sometimes he played up to the girls to make them laugh. It was just the sort of person he was.
Minoru liked Kiyoko. She had been on the force far longer than he had. Not suprising. He'd only been out of training a week or so.
He'd been quite fortunate to meet her actually. She'd been there on his second day in office to greet the new innitiates. They'd gotten on really well. Minoru had always managed to get on better with women than men, they tended to be far more open minded. After that initial meeting, he'd met up with her for coffee once or twice. This would only be their fouth meeting, but Minoru felt like he'd known the girl for far longer.
He shrugged light heartedly at her question about what he was doing out.
"I decided to take a break from paperwork." He said casually. He wanted to add And everyone else's paperwork. But he didn't. Minoru was proud enough a person to never admit to the fact he was being taken advantage of. Not even to someone he liked. "Office is a bit stuffy. Wanted to stretch my legs a bit." He laughed pleasantly. "Heck, Kiyoko. I'm still fresh at this. Do you really think the higher ups would trust me to patrol alone just yet? Though, we are getting assigned our pairs tomorrow. Next week we start patrols."
As she mentioned about the murders, Minoru's eyes widened in shock. His mouth opened a little bit.
"Really?" He breathed in shock.
Sure, he was aware that murders happened all the time in L.A. God, he knew that first hand.
He felt sadness squeeze his chest with icy claws, but swiftly shook it off. But that was pretty basic. Stabbing, clumsy gang land shooting, a beaten wife driven beyond breaking point and eventually clubbing her b*****d husband to death with an iron. All horrific stories of the darker sides of human nature, but none of these incidences had ever been described as dangerous.
He blinked at Kiyoko, still stunned by her choice of wording.
"Why dangerous? It wasn't a cop that got killed was it?" He ran his fingers through his hair out of habit, nearly knocking his cap off his head and only just catching it clumsily before it fell onto the pavement.
Shooting her an embarrassed smile, he readjusted his hat.
"Or is it just looking like something proffessional?"
Minoru had been told tales by some of the senior acting staff of Hitmen in the city years ago. Long lines of murders with no clue as to who had done it. No clue as to who could go next.
A real headache and a tonne of paperwork.
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Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 8:26 am
Dante watched the display between the Naoko and the girl with amusement. Raising a hand to Casilda as she was ordered off he turned to Naoko commenting as she walked away, “She may look like a child but she hasn’t seen childhood for many years now she deserves to be involved.” With his phone in hand Dante was quickly sending out a list of text messages that would gather the people together in little under an hour. That would keep Casilda out of the main force of the war, give Kyo time to get there, and let all hell break loose. Heading down the street Dante managed to blend in though whenever a particularly good looking woman would walk by he turned to stare. Of course perhaps that helped him blend in more, it was hard to say. Taking out his phone Dante loved to text more than actually speak but nonetheless he grinned worthy of the Cheshire cat as he text both Naoko and Kyo, ‘Come to the mall with me?’. The mall was literally what it sounded like. Large, two stories, abandoned. It would be fun for the battle site plus it would push Naoko's buttons.
Kyo made effort of keeping her muscles relaxed so they wouldn’t stiffen while she was there but Gubbs was starting to piss her off. With her phone lightly in hand every couple of minutes she would go through and delete a couple messages. Whereas before they had been to her, now they were mass messages of people on all stages of the ladder, thrilled for the upcoming battle. Personally she didn’t want to go but she would. She didn’t like to kill people but she did. Life wasn’t fair. She knew that but it didn’t make it any more fun.
Through small talk, Kyo managed to keep the silence from getting to her though she knew she needed to leave and change and the Messenger earned bonus points for not asking stupid questions like to here a battle story or who exactly she was. However since the conversation wasn’t keeping her attention her mind couldn’t help but wander a bit to stories she would rather forget. Other than the scar on her shoulder, she had three more. One on her lower back and though she tended to keep them hidden by the way she walked and moved her hands, she had one on each palm. The odd thing about them was they went entirely through to the other side.
She had meant to give at least a vague answer when he asked his last question but the click of the door silenced anything she had meant to say. Taking in the man the same way she had done the Messenger she let her eyes flick over him casually as she took in more than people would guess as she remarked, “There are many places to buy bullets that are cheaper than this.” Her smile was enigmatic though in all honestly the small was for the most part about his slippers. She thought they were cute. Flipping her phone to delete the latest array of message she caught the one from Dante, and was going to kill him herself if he was serious. The mall was stupid and dangerous on so many levels and sent her to a level of pissed off she didn’t like to function at. Masking her emotions had never been something she cared for as her eyes radiated anger and she let out a sigh that edged impatience at being kept so long by Gubbs. “Give the p***k about two seconds he’ll come to place your order.” Slipping off the table with lithe movements of a predator she walked to the door Gubbs had gone into and went in without knocking closing it behind her and as she suspected the a** had not only been listening at the door but was now trying to appear busy. Unlike the front room this one looked a bit larger but she realized that was because one of the walls had been broken down. An assortment of boxes and chests were along the walls and since he had the common sense to stay out of her way, she helped herself. Grabbing a knew holster she also tossed in some more medical supplies for later that day.
Kyo had known it was going to be a bad day but this was over the top, even by her standards. Though she had been avoiding getting to close to him she had to walk directly past him to get out the door. Of course the man must have been slow on the uptake as she walked by him he tried to wrap an arm around her waist. Turning in his arms she used her palm to break his nose and he promptly released her as he fell. However tempted she was to box him one of just have ‘accidentally’ killed him she knew it wouldn’t fly. To hit someone with a closed fist like that risked breaking your hand, as for accidents. Those things just didn’t happen. Seeing a twine wrapped package next to the one he had for her she looked back and he nodded those were the right two as he glared muttering about her being a b***h.
Leaving the room she left him sitting on the floor, “He needs a minute.” Setting the Messengers item on the table she walked out the door but didn’t go far, less than a black down the road she sat on some steps. Going into her bag she found the Kool Milds she was suddenly craving. Flicking the zippo she glowered at it when the thing offered no flame. Trying it twice more when it didn’t work she leaned her head back against the building. Her hearing was almost completely back though she couldn’t quite pin point when it had started to go and when exactly it was gone. Some time between Gubbs and leaving. She knew that much. “God damn lighters.” she mumbled tempted to rake a hand through her hair before she remembered the braid.
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