Big Eyes, Small Mouth (BESM): In the Shadows of the City - Chapter 3: ______ Festivities

[Karren Gaunt]

"I'll be your third if you'll have me, Kuchiki-San," Aamara offered softly, lips pressed thin and bloodless as she considered this literal trial by fire they were all facing, "I don't know how to use my powers and according to your mirror, my bokken can only hurt certain foes, but... I'll do my best to help however I can with the training I've received while you two sniff out a target. Maybe that will be enough."

The Yakuza heiress sounded subdued, her expression a mask hiding anything she may have been thinking.

[AceWildcard]

Kohaku gave a slight sigh. He was wondering if their boss was a bit dramatic. Yet he understood the necessarity of working as a team and pairing up. He had no real desire who picked who. He knew odds were he was going to have to learn who did what to help in his chances of survival. "I don't really care who picks me in their team. What is more important is that we get his job done. After all if we don't then the consequences have been plainly been told." he said. He goes to finish his meal. As he does he goes to listen in on them to see, or in this case hear, whom he was going to be working with tonight.

[z-Galiana]

Galiana had enjoyed her afternoon in the forest; it had been like going home. She hadn’t really enjoyed herself like that since leaving Peru. Japan was too cultured for her tastes; the land had been smashed under human feet for too long for it to feel wild any longer.

And dinner was deer! Gali had torn into her food with eagerness, even if it was overdone. She hadn’t had deer in a long time and it was wonderful. Still, she was mindful of their task tonight and didn’t overeat. Her munching slowed only when the discussion of teams started.

“So lemme understand, because my Japanese is bad.” Gali dropped a picked-clean bone back on her plate. “Ayami wants to go with people who know what they’re doing, yet the two people who don’t know what they’re doing want to be on her three-person team.” She received a tiny head nod from Ayami. “Anne and Sachiko and Kaori are on one team. Ayami and I and Amara are another, and Shinji and his anime rip-off and Photoclub boy can do the third.” It was apparent whose names she did and didn’t know.

“But I have a better question.” She turned to Sayoko. “Two actually. What is this ‘sanitized’ mean? And it would be better to work in one group, overwhelm and take down the demons as a pack. Why can’t we all work together?”

[SalmonMax]

"Anne and Kaori! Awww...!" Sachiko bemoaned theatrically. She fell over onto her back on the floor and lay still, feigning death.

[Kaori Aoyama]

"Sachiko and Anne will do fine." Kaori said softly. "Sachiko is immature, and thinks everything is just one more exuberant game that she melodramatically Peter Pan her way through. Anne, well, Anne simply attaches herself to the last phrase spoken by the others of us with a spine. She is emboldened by the presence of us because she lacks any real skills or talents of her own."

She raised her water and took a small sip giving her harsh, judgemental words time time dip their bards into her audiences hearts. "But she flies... the world is saved."

"I find my team to an acceptable one. Not because those who come with me possess any tangible merits or skills, but because in any war the weak must be culled." She looked to her team mates and nodded politely. "So, please, eat and enjoy. Enjoy your theatrics, play your games, and have your fun."

Her eyes narrowed and an evil smirk crossed her lips. "Because tonight, you will either grow up and open your eyes to the reality of things, or you will die."

She looked to Sayoko. "Could you pass the rice, please?"

[Fiona Warner]

Anne shoots a glare to Kaori. "I don't know what is worse, the Demons we will face or your ethics."

She looked at everyone else. "Alright, I know we have to engage as seperate teams, but if you've taken down a demon find some way to signal that you've done so, then assist the closest team. If there is a way we can contact each other, figure it out now. We won't get second chances."

"Everyone is getting through this, dammit, even if it means I have to pull everyone through by the bootstraps. I had my cold dose of reality seeing the blood of my classmates. That was reality enough. None of us will join them."

She looked over to Sayoko. "And quite honestly, Sayoko... any of us get "sanitized" tonight..."

The look on her face got deadly serious as she finished her meal. "This is on your concience too."

[Kaori Aoyama]

"I am simply being honest with you, Anne." Kaori said calmly while scooping rice into her bowl. "My observations can always be altered, but that depends largely on you, now doesn't it? As an aside, I see no relation between my honesty and my ability to discern right and wrong."

"I will 'lead' my team." She said it flatly leaving room for argument. "When we have felled our foe we will signal the task is complete and we will return here. The rest of you will be on your own." She looked to Anne, knowing she'd have some issue with that idea, plus the arrogance to assume that because she could fly, Kaori couldn't stop her. "I will not accept argument on this matter, Anne, Sachiko. We are being tested and the parameters of that test are simple. Three demons, three teams. Each of us most handle our part and let the others handle theirs, lest we cheapen their training. We must do our part, and let them to their part. And do not think, Anne, that because you can fly, I can not reach you. If you wish to alter my perceptions, start now."

[z004]

"Four," Ayami corrected softly. "Sayoko said there were four demons."

She didn't like seeing so much friction with the newcomer, but her mind was more on the encroaching darkness and the oni wandering the woods than on the interpersonal relationships forming at the table. "Which means we'll have to have three teams of two and one team of three."

[Kaori Aoyama]

"Four." Kaori repeated. "I stand corrected. Thank you Ayami, and you are also correct, one team will be large than the other. I will accept the larger one, I feel that Sachiko and Anne require the most observation."

[Fiona Warner]

Anne gets up. "And it is you that is being observed as well, Kaori, I want to see if you are just a weapon or is as human as the rest of us."

The look on her face was stern. "Because if you've lost your humanity then how can you understand the battle we're getting into - if that is so, you're no good to me."

[AceWildcard]

Kohkau tried to not show anger at the insult by Galiana, but it showed on his face. His right fist ball up into an fist. "How dare she call me that!" Kohaku was thinking to himself. "I may not be the kindness, or most social in the group, but I am still a person. That women thinking I am nothing more then some lame ass generic character is an insult if not down right rude."

He wanted to snap back and cause more disscussion on the topic, but reason overcame the rage in him. He could tell that it would just add more infighting. Plus there seems by the way certain ladies were talking right now, things were going to get worse before they got better. Plus right now time is against them. He just remain silent and let Galiana have her moment. He just hopped that someday he would get his.

[Shosuro Toshi]

Shinji quietly ignored Kaori's insulting tone. The best prepared she might be, but that did not mean she should overestimate herself. She was here for training too, right? Of course, Shinji realistically knew he had no point in going out there. Tezara had the fighting ability... and at least he was honest and intelligent enough to recognize his limitations, right?

[Kaori Aoyama]

"No good to you?" Kaori's eyes narrowed and for a moment the entire table though that the sword maiden might reach over the table and throttle the British snob. "Anne, we are not tools to be used and discarded at your leisure. You mistake my discipline and my honesty for a lack of humanity and I assure you that you couldn't be further from the truth. I am no weapon, I am a young woman, who, like all of us here, has lost her family, her home, and her livelihood. The difference is that you and her," She motioned to Sachiko. "Seem to think this is some sort of a game or that the threat isn't real because you have people like me, a weapon, to fight in your stead."

"Think back to what you've said Anne. You've attached yourself to me and the things I say, to Galliana and the things she says, but not once have you offered up anything that has wholly been your own that would contribute anything of any merit. Anne, you can accept my honesty as high school bullying if you wish, but this is no game. We need to be warriors. I need warriors at my side, not fools and the ignorant. I don't need someone who can fly, I need someone who can fight."

She stands up and faces Anne on a more eye to eye level. "And we have thirty days to make you one. You will hate me. You will come to know agony. You will come to know fear and your body will become a road map of pain. I will take no pleasure in this, but in the end, you will be ready to face darkness, not fly from it."

Politely she lowers head and bows, sitting back to finish her meal. "You will never again question my integrity."

[Fiona Warner]

Anne growls and in a moment, all logic leaves her mind. "Damn you woman! You are completely off base! COMPLETELY!"

"Just because I still have a home, family, and anything doesn't mean I got the easy end of this damn bargain! I still lost something. I've lost someone I loved, I have seen the blood and guts of classmates we lost. Don't think for a second I take this any less than anyone here, Kaori."

"Question your integrity? How about your sanity?"

The look on her face wrote the novel. Anne was a millisecond... a hair trigger... from coming to blows. The only thing holding her back was the fact she needed Kaori as much as Kaori would need her.

[Kaori Aoyama]

Kaori only sipped her water while Anne unleashed her outburst. "Your emotions will be the first thing we work on, since they seem to so swiftly get the better of you. No matter what comes our way, even each other, we must endeavour to remain calm."

She motioned with a slowly swept hand towards Anne's vacant seat. "Sit and eat. You will need your strength."

[Fiona Warner]

"You know what... I don't trust you. Not in the slightest." Anne says. "You've got this idea of who I am in your head and want to treat me like trash. That's perfectly fine. Back the reputation out there. Or your words are as weak as your empathy."

"I got Sachiko's back, and after all this I got yours. I'm sure Sachiko will be there for me as well... I'm not so sure about you anymore."

Indeed Anne wasn't. Kaori acted like she would be the one that would discard the weak before any "sanitation" would occur.

[Justin OOC]

Sayoko nodded. "I am here, am I not?" She passed the rice dutifully and went back to eating. "I will be here come the sunrise, when you have either succeeded, or failed. Your fate will be mine, such is the nature of my bargain."

[Fiona Warner]

Anne sighed. "Right, Sayoko. I've already ate up. I'm ready if Kaori over here is. Sachiko... you aren't eating as fast as I thought you would."

"Let's get this done. Is there anything we need to bring back as evidence of beating these demons?"

[Kaori Aoyama]

"I am ready as well." Kaori cleaned off her face with her napkin. "Thank you for the meal and the company. If you'll all excuse me, we must be on our way."

[z-Galiana]

Dear Moon, but these guys were not impressing Galiana. The werecat finished her food with a gulp and rose, already stripping off her clothes again. “Anne and Amara, Ayami and Kaori, Sachiko and Photoclub boy, and Shinji and his anime rip-off and I will do the fourth. I will signal our success with a roar. After we get ours, I’ll swing back around while carrying Shinji—I run fast—and aid someone else.”

Her body rippled and settled into her cat-form. She gave a leisurely stretch and turned mismatched eyes on Shinji. “Let’s go. We have much to do.” Without waiting for them to argue anymore, the werecat left. She kept her pace slow so that the slight boy could catch up to her.

Privately, she was disgusted. They couldn’t stop fighting long enough to do what needed to be done. Honestly, Gali figured that she and Shinji would kill all the demons and come back to find them still arguing. Stupid humans. Can’t see what must be done over the mass of their own egos.

It was hilarious that the cat was of this opinion.

[AceWildcard]

Kohaku sigh in relife. "At least that is over." he mutters softly to himself. He did not know if anyone heard it nor care. He was glad it was over. "I am leaving as well. There is not sense in staying here where I can do nothing on the situation at hand. I will be heading out now unless anyone objects to that." Kohaku said bluntly.

[Shosuro Toshi]

Shinji wasn't sure what to say, but... so be it. He got up and pushed in his chair. "Alright. Let's go, Tezara." He went out and followed Gali, and with a quiet look, Tezara glanced at the others still gathered and followed her master. Shinji looked at her, beautiful and capable, and sighed quietly. "Not much I can offer... guess I should stay out of the way."

[Kaori Aoyama]

"Very well." She looked to Galliana. "Well said. Ayami, if you would follow me, please."

[Fiona Warner]

Anne stopped in her tracks. Now suddenly everything got turned around on her again. Everybody was assuming everything.

"Wait... what the hell is going on here?"

Anne was about a few moment from now to just ask Sayoko to just do what she had to do to... She felt that now there was no choice in this matter. And she couldn't trust anyone here.

Quite frankly Sayoko killing her seemed like a far better option than becoming a Demon's meal.

[SalmonMax]

Sachiko sat up again and fluffed out her hair as if nothing had happened.

"Wait, are we still with Kaori? I thought someone said I was with whats-his-face now."

As Anne started to leave she hopped up to her feet and asked Sayoko, "Hey, is there anything around here we can use for a weapon? Or is this a bare-knuckle brawl?" She did a little shadowboxing move to illustrate the principle.

[AceWildcard]

"I am going out there and do the fucking mission. I am sick and tired of hearing the bullshit going on. Teams or not, this is getting out of hand. If we do not have the abilities to deal with the situation it would make itself apparant. It's better then talking and doing nothing while time is ticking and we die from other means. I rather die fighting then have to stay here listening to an meaningless arguments and whining." Kohaku said.

[z004]

Ayami nodded to Kaori, but spoke to gently Anne, "Go with Amara, Aceworth-san. We must be able to focus on the task at hand and not...personality conflicts." Inside, she was already beginning to shake, glancing outside to the darkness that she was supposed to go demon-hunting in with a girl she didn't even know.

"And yes, Sachiko-chan, go with...." It took her a moment to pull up the boy's name, but she'd made it a part of her duties to know the name of every student in her class. She'd tried to memorize everyone at the school, but she simply hadn't had the time, or really the memory, for it. "Kohaku-san." She blinked at his obscenity, but decided that with all the friction already in the room, now was not the time to make a scene about language.

She also hesitated, waiting for Sayoko's answer to Sachiko's question. She had learned basic self defense, but - demoms. She only had a mirror, not an actual weapon like Amara had been bequeathed.

[Justin OOC]

"Your wits, and talents, and whatever you can improvise from the forest."

[z004]

Ayami winced and glanced at Kaori, then down to her sword. "I...don't suppose you have an extra sword? Or a bow? Otherwise, I'm going to be completely useless." She shivered and added in a pained but truthful voice, "Except as bait."

[AceWildcard]

Kohaku had enought. He goes to set out for the door. "I can't recall who was suppose to be my partner and personally don't care. Come now if you don't want to eat my dust. To the best hunter the spoils of victory. Kami's willing that would be all of us for the night." He said in a calmer voice. It was more sober then before. He knew he would most likely had a chance to die out there. Everyone had that chance. This wasn't some game. It was life and death. He just hopped he wasn't the only one to realise that.

[Fiona Warner]

"You're not bait, Ayami. Don't think of yourself like that."

She sighed. "Okay, Amara... When you're ready let's get out there."

[SalmonMax]

Sachiko gave Kohaku a skeptical look, then shrugged. "Weapons from the forest, alrighty then. Maybe I can find a badger and tie it to a stick or something."

She paused long enough to give Ayami a nod. "Don't worry. If you get in trouble, I'll come save you. Or someone will. Just do your best!"

Her sage wisdom spent for the moment, Sachiko hurried outside to hook up with her partner.

"Hey," she greeted him. "Let me know if you see a badger anywhere. Or a stick."

[AceWildcard]

"Where is that from?" Kohaku reply to Sachiko. "Plus I am thinking stick are everywhere in a forest. Badgers not so much. Still if I see anything I will tell you if I find you. That's if you are not running from whatever demon is hunting you."

Kohaku goes towards the door and opens it. He stares out at the deep darkness of the night. He knew that it was not his first time walking out in the woods at night. But that felt like a lifetime ago. It seem like before it seems fate was against him and wanted him dead. He laughts at that. He goes out into the night to seek his target.

[SalmonMax]

"I won't have time to run," replies Sachiko cheerfully as she follows him. "I'll be covering your retreat. Might have to go save Ayami or Anne or someone too."

She thinks for a moment, then adds, "Do you think it's weird that Sayoko was all, 'you're the only ones who can fight the demons,' and then now she's saying that we'll die if we mess up, even though most of us aren't even trained?"

[AceWildcard]

Kohaku chuckles at the comment. "Never know Sachiko. Have to see on that. I think she giving the hard knocks of life approach. Either we do this by our own skills or we fail. She a hard taskmaster, but I think she is pushing us to see our limits and to break them so we get stronger." He said plainly to Sachiko.

[z-Galiana]

“Don’t guess anything. You should do what you can.” Galiana sounded grumpy as she trudged, head down. “Ah!” She darted to the side and came back with a stout stick in her mouth. Dropping it at his feet, she continued, “Use that for now. We’ll get some nails for you to put in it tomorrow.”

As Shinji gave her a startled look, Galiana focused her body again. The change didn’t take her back to a young girl, but instead into a large form. The hunched beast looked like a mix between her cat-form and a bear. Crouching, the creature tossed her head toward her shoulder. “Get on,” she said in a voice that sounded like it came from the rocks of the earth.

“What?” Shinji squeaked in surprise.

“Get on my back. We need to move fast.” Her tail lashed hard once. “And, if you ever tell anyone about this, you’ll wish you hadn’t.”

[Shosuro Toshi]

Shinji picked up the stick tentatively, but nodded and got on. "Tell anyone about what? We got demons to deal with... here we go."

[Karren Gaunt]

"You're not bait, Ayami. Don't think of yourself like that."

She sighed. "Okay, Amara... When you're ready let's get out there."

A shrug and nod by the Yakuza Heiress marked agreement, Amara finishing what was left of her meal and retreating to her room to get ready. She honestly didn't care who she worked with, and Anne, secrets and all, was still a friend. That had to count for something.

Change into her PE uniform. Strap on her weapon and it's sheath. Put her hair in a ponytail so it would stay out of her eyes. Focus on the here and now, not the deadline of ten hours for them to find and kill four demons. They could do this. They had no choice thanks to the lackluster planning of their... mentor.

Amara forced herself to not dwell on that, and emerged from her room again, ready as she was ever going to be, "Pick a direction, Aceworth-San, and I'll follow as best I can on foot. If we keep in shouting distance of one another when one of us gets attacked, the other can counter-attack and help take down our target. Somehow."

She smiled wanly, allowing a gentle spark of disbelieving mirth liven her features. She had been raised in an atmosphere of violence, but to apply that thinking to demons instead of rival criminals...

[Justin OOC]

(I have gone ahead and moved you all forward six hours. I have split you into the 4 two person teams, and adjusted the power of the demons appropriately. Only one team has found their quarry so far (decided at random by the dice) the rest of you are free to do as you will. EACH of you has been given a tiny token, that when pressed between your fingers, will transport you back to the cabin in the event of an emergency, or completion of your task. The entire area you're in is roughly 50km across, and I sent you out in the cardinal directions. It is dark, and only starlight guides you, unless you have or brought some means to see better.)

[Karren Gaunt]

*Later*

There was a loud pop as a pillar of air outside the cabin was suddenly displaced as the laws of physics gave way to magic and someone moved from *there* to *here* without moving through the intervening space.

The new arrival, one Akemi Amara, glowed both emotionally and physically, a cathartic excitement made only more obvious by the polychromic shimmer of her still active aura. A touch bloodied, still afraid for her Mother, and worried for her Gaijin friend who was supposed to be following close behind, the Yakuza Heiress was never the less victorious.

First blood by her hand. Her Father was right. Revenge was *terribly* underated by most of society.

She exhaled contentedly, green eyes shifting around to take in the building and who might be in it, bladeless bokken hanging in one hand, starting to feel far more a master of herself than she had since this nightmare began.