Tokyo Girl

[Dracos]

At the least, let's get details.  I don't think we've yet been hurt by knowing as much as we can about the situations of others that happen to be nearby...with plenty instances of the reverse.

Dracos eyed the area, half with a tourist's eye, half with the eye of someone else?  Well, something like that.  Either way he kept up with the group as they continued their lightning speed mental pow-wow along the avenues of the city.

[Brian]

Tetsuo has been uncomfortably avoiding Bjorn's question until the overwhemling silence (to him, anyway, being unaware of the psychic chatter) gets to him and he says, "I am Kishimoto, and my brothers were the Kishimoto-gumi.  We served the Yamaguchi-gumi, and my father was graced with the honor of being saiko-komon to the kumichou."  He glances sidelong around to see that no one is in earshot, though he still looks uncomfortable.  "It was my father's own decisions that brought about our downfall.  There were many families in the Yamaguchi-gumi, and my father thought to overthrow the kumichou and take his place.  He would do this with the power of the one who...."  He trails off, a mask of emotions crossing his face quickly, before he stops in front of a vending machine.  He looks angry and pulls a handful of coins from his pocket, buying some Pocari Sweat.

After he calms himself down with a few sips, slouching against the vending machine, he continues.  "The one who maimed my sister was going to be the tool we would use.  Father did not know how to use his powers, but many people had been sent to collect him.  My brothers and I were among them.  This one was to be sold by the Yamaguchi-gumi to the outsiders, but my father thought it would be better to keep him for our own purposes, or use him to find someone more powerful and able to better aid his task of overthrowing the kumichou.

"In the end, my own brothers were more loyal to the Yamaguchi-gumi than the Kishimoto-gumi.  But you want to know about the outsiders."  He chugs his drink, then tosses it at a nearby trashcan, ringing it round the rim before it sinks.  "There was a blond man," he says slowly, "who was short.  He had a card that said his name was Anderson, but I did not believe it.  There was a woman with him, and she was Japanese ... Michiko, I think she called herself.  Though that could be a lie, too."  He closes his eyes.  "One of my brothers told me, when they were gone, and he was drunk, that he'd known Michiko, though.  She was, he said, 'the most expensive fuck I ever had, but worth every yen'."  He furrows his brow in concentration.  "There was a soapland parlor he named...."  His eyes suddenly snap open, and turn to look at Bjorn.  "It is not far from here.  This is what you wished to know?"

[Dracos]

Dracos raised an eyebrow slightly at that.

The most beautiful kind of story.  So we're with the failed traitors of a the yakuza?  I suppose the outsiders are the cabal or some such...but that'd mean that whoever they found was already sold, rather than kept?

Dracos
who blames any stupid crosstalk on the fact it's been ages =p

[Carthrat]

Probably. I wonder how he feels about being passed around?

Hmm. I'm thinking about just what Relm said before. This guide can sink to any low, has no height he can't aspire too, mocks the contest, surrounds himself with protection... Tetsuo might get us leads into the Yakuza, but it'll be hard to probe deeper if we help him and find ourselves on hitlists. And I have trouble thinking he's in with the traitor.

Not like I care about loyalty within organized crime...

[Dracos]

You should.  It may be important.  Anyhow, as I see it, we've got three tasks and an opportunity to do two at the same time.  We should establish some small base of operations here.  If we're not one daying it up to fuji, we'll need a place to eat/sleep and also theoretically just be organized around if we need to split up.  We also need somewhere private that tetsuo feels safe spilling his guts and any details whatsoever about what, if any, connections he still can rely on.  I don't want to go to the unreliable unknown buyers first over finding out what the Yakuza actually knows, if anything.  And finally, we should visually scout out that place.  Dracos mind-dumped in a manner that was entirely familiar to the group at this point, switching from vaguely paying attention to information gathering.

We should probably pick a spot for the base of operations and then split up from there, some talking with Tetsuo and possibly looking up leads with him and some checking out the brothel.  Bjorn, could you ask and figure out with him a good safehouse to work from?

Dracos

[Bjorn]

Let's go to the soapland, Bjorn weighs in abruptly.  It just happens to be right here?  "Coincidence is only contrivance." I don't think we can afford to go slow, play it safe.  The Cabal and Pax are sneakier than us, they have more resources; the longer we spend in Japan, the more inquiries we do, the sooner they'll pick up our tail. There's a clear and sudden sense of amusement through the Dream.  They might be sneakier than us, but I'm willing to bet we've got 'em beat on the sudden shock direct approach.  They're going to find out we're here, so let's make their discovery unpleasant for 'em.

Aloud, he says, "Where is this soapland?"

[Brian]

Tetsuo nods slightly and points at an alley.  "Through there," he says, "and a few miles past.  'Milky Dream Oppai Paradise' was the name."

[Dracos]

Dracos shrugged.  Well rare for me to disagree with kicking in the front door.

Dracos

[Halbarad]

A sense of resignation comes across the link. It's not entirely a bad idea, but you'll pardon me if I stay at the BACK for all of this. I'm still not entirely sure what exactly I can do against armed yakuza at this point.

[Dracos]

Have years of swearing at people taught you nothing?  But yeah, understood.  Hopefully we won't walk into a gunfight.

Dracos nodded at bjorn and Tetsuo as the crew headed down towards the *strikethrough*deathtrap*/strikethrough* soap parlor.

Dracos

[Brian]

Tetsuo leads the way down various poorly lit alleys, ignoring the occasional lady-of-the-night as a come-on is weakly offered.  "The place we are going to," he says in Japanese, to break the silence, "is expensive.  I do not have enough money to get in."

[Bjorn]

Bjorn grins at that, a bit viciously.  "I didn't plan to pay.  I would like to think that by the time I have said my piece, they will most willingly let us in."

[Brian]

Tetsuo nods, frowning.  He mumbles to himself and clenches one hand a few times before sticking it into his pocket.  Phil notices a flash of light that everyone else seems to miss.  Delving deeper, his magic-sight allows him to realize that Tetsuo just grabbed something from very far away, and is now holding it in his pocket.  "Hai, oyabun.  I'll follow the Derufi-gumi."

[Dracos]

Derfumi gumi?  Wha?  I think Tetsuo just magically swiped an order from his higher ups in the Yakuza.

[Bjorn]

"The Delphi Gang," more or less, and what?