Once Upon a Shrine...!

[Bean Bandit]

A little less than an hour had passed, and Motoko and Tsuruko had managed to make their way to the shrine, discovering, to their chagrin, that they had indeed been headed to a similar area as the pair they'd been tailing, as the redhead and the purple haired woman strolled casually under the torii, and into the shrine. The two sisters paused as they decided what to do next, waiting near the entrance steps...

***

A quick Taxi ride later, and Rei and Minako were disgorged a little ways down the street from the shrine, though in full view if the stairs. They ALSO could see two women near the bottom, both obviously related, and Minako found them distinctly familiar...

***

Also a short time later, Swordfish soared over the city, no one apparently noting their passage, and looking for a place to land.

Asuna looked out the window and frowned. "I don't come here often enough...I wonder why the military is moving through the city?"

[Carthrat]

Carthrat inserts some of her rapidly dwindling funds into the payphone, quickly dialing Nenene's number..

"Nenene-san! It's me, Carthrat! Have you had any luck so far?"

[Bean Bandit]

"Wha-Oh, you. Yeah, the Aino girl called me a little while ago...she was coming out to meet you. Haven't seen her yet?" the voice over the phone responded.

[Carthrat]

"No," replies Carthrat, glancing at her watch. "Look, it's been a while and I havn't seen her. Did she tell you where the shrine was, exactly?"

[Bean Bandit]

"No...You haven't found it yet?" Nenene replied, somewhat incredulously. "Well, it shouldn't be too hard, Shrines are usually on the most elevated ground in the area."

[RyderHakubi]

Taking a look at the group in front of her, Ryder's mind raced to try and remember who they were...

Damnit!  I know I've seen them... Grr, I really wish I hadn't have waned in my otakudom... That's it, I'm hitting the DVDs when I get back... If I get back...

Through all of her internal monolouge, all she really did was wait for Rei...

[Asrana]

Tsuruko frowned, trying to not shift nervously as she and Motoko paused.

"Alright...they're either friends or foes, I doubt the former..." she murmured, slipping the sword bag from her shoulder into her left hand. "We could go past them, and try saying something that a friend would catch...if we can, we should just try to hurry away if they don't react, until Bean's operational..."

[Bean Bandit]

OOC:May! (Will keep these labeled until everyone meets, for Sanity's sake)

IC:
Motoko frowned. "There IS a problem, though." she observed. "This Shrine only has a miko, and Nako-chan is very young. If they threaten her or her mother..." She let the statement trail off a bit, but her expression made it clear that she considered leaving the girl to her own devices unacceptable.

She hesitated, listening to the approaching traffic noises, which were growing abnormally loud. "Something's wrong..."

[Bean Bandit]

OOC: Ryder!

IC:
Rei paid the taxi and waved him off, then stopped short as she saw Minako staring at the two women by the steps. "Friends of yours?"

[RyderHakubi]

OOC: Ryder!

IC: Rei's comments shaking Ryder out of her daze, the displaced otaku smiled and replied, "Not really... They just looked REALLY familiar, if y'know what I mean."

[Carthrat]

"Right. Look, you try and get down here as soon as you can, too. I have a feeling we'll need all the help we can get..

Lates, anyhow. Gotta run, and all."

Carthrat hangs up the phone, and glances around, looking for something so conveniant as a map, or, failing that, asking nearby pedestrians if they know where a local shrine is until one answers properly..

[Bean Bandit]

OOC: Carthrat!

IC: A far off rumbling finally grew almost intolerably loud to Ritsuko, as the first of two armoured personnel vehicles rolled down the street, heading north from her position...

[Carthrat]

"What the.."

Taken aback by the presence of military vehicles in freaking suburban Tokyo, Carthrat waits a moment until the vehicles are out of sight.

Um, lesse.. Japan.. military.. ah, yeah, JSSDF. Right. Isn't, that, like, supposed to respond to threats or something? Feh. Better run.

She goes for a jog north, figuring it has to be somewhat important to call in the awesome military might of Japan..

[Bean Bandit]

OOC: Ryder!

IC:
Rei nodded. "Right. Well, come on...let's go in." She replied, beckoning to Minako. "The sooned we get this over with, the sooner I can go back to school...

That said, she began walking to the shrine steps...

[Bean Bandit]

OOC: Carthrat!

IC:

Upon further examination of the armored vehicles, Ritsuko could JUST make out the lack of a military insigna, and a strange looking, blue half pentagon, with words inside it, and a half globe attached to the other side, where the military symbols SHOULD have been...