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1Rook | Crime Empty Rook | Crime Tue Oct 23, 2018 2:28 am

Hika

Hika


D-rank
It wasn't a terribly bad day to kill time. Last night certainly wasn't a bad time to kill a guy.

Oh, no. That wasn't me. The guy upstairs just got strangled to death. I, uh, watched. The noise was so much that I couldn't sleep 'till it was over, but the fact that he was a cutthroat business mogul distanced him slightly from me. The world of money and power was something entirely foreign, one of the few things which I knew being that those with power typically worked to keep it. And that they could work people unfairly just to make a few extra Ryo. This, of course, was simply the culmination of errant complaints I could receive during my child-hood or the travels that have shaped my life thus far.

I could easily remember the time when I met Aki, one of the few that I trusted with my life back then. Her entire family worked on a grand hill full of rice paddies, owned by the mayor of her village - a not-very-notable settlement to the north of the Land of Waves, resting just on the border of the Fire and Snow countries. She and her family worked their hands raw each day hulling each grain, straining their backs and legs stooping and swinging to gather the crops. The excess was sold off to other hamlets, the profits reportedly being put back into the community. Squalor abounded the place, dilapidated homes encroaching on what little natural space remained. The actual trading district on the docks was entirely composed of storerooms, the local government preferring to house its products before its own people.

This wasn’t particularly nice to abide by, but I stomached it for the few days before I found the mayor’s personal residence. Oddly hidden, save for from my own….methods. His skimming was evident, a look around his personal office displaying nothing but a pauper’s haul - riches to one who grew up in such a small town, much like one I had. The conversation, however, was clear as day between himself and his various co-entrepreneurs. They were all taking a cut - the twenty-percent of the haul that wasn’t exported was split in half again to store for further sales when the crop was small.

A quick exposition left the village to its own devices for leadership, at which point Aki gave me the benefit of the doubt and accompanied me on my way to the Land of Lightning.

Reminiscing had left my eyes coupled to where two walls and the ceiling met, that point a tunnel into my own subconscious. I could feel my pupils shift as I seemingly receded back into my own body from somewhere within and yet outside. A few blinks introduced me to the timepiece on the bedstand next to the place where I’d had the first restful slumber in months. This struck me as almost odd, the luxury I was now treated to as if it were standard fare. False documents were not hard to come by. Er, or rather, create. The officials certainly thought nothing of their validity, but rather straightened their stances and uttered words more sycophantic than my tastes would allow for. Getting out of the presence of these hierarchical drones was more comforting than having them accept my proof of identification. Though, by admission, one was based in skill while the result was actually natural for them.

And I’d completely forgotten I had a meeting at the tea ceremony today. We were arranging for a quorum hopeful on the connections that I’d made through….certain key information my associate Verdandi had provided. However, it was…. other associates, willing or not, that one of the up-and-comers of the Mist’s business sector had a hit on him. A common enough occurrence when the suits were just as cut-throat as the shinobi, my opportunity knocked.


665

2Rook | Crime Empty Re: Rook | Crime Tue Oct 23, 2018 3:08 am

Hika

Hika


D-rank
As did room service - a bowl of fragrant rice, miso soup which sat heartily in my stomach but not heavily on my palate, intensely savory broiled mackerel, assorted kobachi, and natto. I did not touch the natto. Not uncommon for the island nations, and it brought a slight smile to my face as I displayed far more proficiency with two sticks than a medical shinobi could accomplish with senbon - within a minute the entire meal was resting nicely with me, and no amount of shame burdened me. Good food was good food - fish of obviously high quality, dashi with the perfect proportion of umami, and slow-pickled vegetables.

It was a shame, that method of eating. I much enjoyed taking my time with how the food felt, tasted, smelled. Business was business, however. Tardiness was not tolerated. Especially by men that were supposed to be dead.

My garb awaited in the darkness of the closet with an immaculate press - part one of my disguise. The shape of myself in the mirror began to form an unfamiliar personage, the last of my day being the acquisition of a particular person’s sample. All it took was an errant wind to stir a strand of this person’s last legacy. I knew I couldn’t do anything to stop this person’s untimely demise - the common guards were in the pocket of higher-ups. Thus it was my business to ascend to such an echelon and participate in deals that moguls from all over the Land gathered in such a place as a Hidden Village to discuss.
My stroll down the main road was not met with any specific reaction, as the man I’d assumed the mantle of was not of any particular note - a man who traded in space on merchant vessels but sold nothing himself. No physical features to distinguish, Word of his death had not yet spread to the villagers; a simple ‘privacy’ sign assured he wouldn’t be disturbed from his...rest. I would have to give him some proper treatment before giving him a proper burial. At sea. Sorry, guy, just can’t have them finding anything….conclusive.

The concierge attending the entrance wasn’t surprised to see me. Likely, the lack of expecting anyone else turned his mood more towards the annoyed than anything. A tad of...persuasion turned me to the correct meeting space. The plain halls of the building and open doors to the other conference rooms indicated that they were intending on secrecy here. Unassuming for the purposes of business deals. Yet the most meticulous plans could unravel with the simplest of tricks. An eye there, a voice here. It was truly a shame that there were few ninja that also became merchants and company heads.

It might have seemed something that ought to have been complex, but this was my area of expertise. The portal to what came next was before me. Only a wood panel stood between me and a tool to use for whatever came next. That was always the hard part, wasn’t it? You never know what you're doing, even when guiding things against my will sounds like a good idea.


535|1200

Hika

Hika


D-rank
Even you couldn’t have expected that they were the ones who ordered the hit, right? This was supposed to be something I could walk in and out of, no issues, because I’m the one you decided to focus on, right? A little demeaning that I can’t be trusted to lubricate the situation even when it wasn’t 'straightened out'.

I could handle something like this more easily than you can imagine. Or is it something I shouldn’t expect any more than telepathy going over well with a random bystander? It still gets to me….maybe I can pay him back with this. A versatile opportunity will be rewarding no matter how I decide to approach it. This won’t be something easy, fixing that transgression.

As the door creaked, I was greeted with a mixture of frowns and surprise. Something I suppose I should have expected, but not a large setback. The placard-names and faces matched the short dossier I’d managed to compile, but the late night had kept me from, er….studying.

Their faces were antagonistic for only a few moments, as my empty seat’s vacancy persisted for only that long - taking the cushioned chair for myself was an unimpeded task, the rest of them already leaning back or forward in their chairs. Save for one, a rather plain-faced fellow who gave me a gaze that grinned thrice as much as he could will his mouth to. The rest of them were soundly asleep, but I’d surely amend their memories later to fit what my employer required. He began - “You’re not very subtle, are you?”

I let out a chortle in this raspy baritone. “I assure you, all rights will be transferred soon enough. These rabble will be assuaged by my agents, eh? No recalling anything ‘cept what I tell ‘em to.”

His expression leaned toward the deadpan, unsure as to what I meant. “You’re not convinced. Boys, rouse that one at the head of the table.” It was, of course, a verbal ruse. The speech was merely for show, to insinuate I had people in every nook and cranny waiting for orders - a move that was interestingly at once benign and laden with threats. If I could knock them all out save for one, what was stopping me from having the remaining conscious person disposed of in another manner? I’d heard that in some circles this was considered a ‘power move’, though I wasn’t audacious enough to risk blowing my cover with the most powerful of them all.

As the chairman rose from his slumped position over the desk, he mumbled a few unspeakables semi-incoherently as his eyelids fluttered over his glazed orbs. The first few seconds were filled with fear at the others’ limp bodies; his anxious mannerisms turned quickly to an amicable posture, a few choice words to his subconscious giving him just enough of a push to view me as a trusted ally rather than a rival to be snuffed out. His utterances bordered on the obsequious as I willed him to sleep again. “I trust you won’t need another demonstration. I can handle myself. Surely enough that the half-assed routine that all of these lot pulled couldn’t off me.” His facade began to crack as I knew the old bloke wasn’t in his prime, not nearly able enough to fend off assailants that even he couldn’t perceive. So what if I rig this sort of game? It’s the only way to interact with the influential and powerful. Not like anyone else minds rigging the game of chance for who I encounter and what I experience.

It wasn’t long before we’d set another meeting date with ‘my trusted partner’. The princess of the Dao Empire had more than kept up her part of the bargain when she’d given me access to all this knowledge - targeting the benefactor of my mark was the perfect way to control it. Money makes the world go ‘round, after all.

But I’m a gentle sort. These sorts of deals are what I do - never the ninja.

“So, I noticed you didn’t have your name on a placard like all the other big-wigs here. What’s the deal there?” Of course I knew the answer; I didn't bother giving his reply my ear. It wasn’t like I was going in blind - though in some respects it might have been more fun to navigate the situation as such. My thoughts to my own mind were as obvious as his - and this was the end of the line for where he got his own way.

“"I'll be dealing in proxies from here on out due to that, ahem, incident. They've been sent out to various minor countries and the Great Lands to secure more deals for me....I think we can work something out with a deal I know you've got. Goin' the way of Kusagakure, I hear.”

Poor old bloke. Just like the Princess of the Dao Kingdom, he was no more privy to my wiles than a commoner to the workings of ninja. As the chairman had been lulled back to slumber in a swathe of delight, so too would he bend to a surge of emotion - this time dread. Not at myself, but at his financial situation. It was no secret that a mercenary corporation was in the heart of Kiri but too sparse of members to hold any real presence. The failings of one organization can leave a stigma on how one conducts other dealings, after all. Swaying his mind to secure his sponsorship for a sort of re-up was something he couldn't have noticed if he wanted to. He may be tested in combat, but he was amongst the niceties of politics, business, and the facade of good faith.

He was in my world now.


1000 | 2300

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