[Land of Fangs] A Rough Night

Mission:

Long days at the resturant called for long nights at the bar. It wasn't the best habit he picked up since he'd been working for Maku, but it was fun, passed the time, and got him some extra money on the side. He had to get something extra because the pay that Maku had chosen to give him wasn't the best someone could ask for. It hardly payed for his lodging and meals. So, Seiichi started to pick up cards.

He wasn't the best player at poker, but he could get himself around. Dealt two cards, the dealer holds the rest, how hard could it really be? With a pot as big as 500 Ryo, who could turn down a hand or two? Not him. He sat at the table and watched the cards fly past. Each just as colorful and decorated as the last. Kings and queens and jack, the ones and two and threes were is favorite though, they were lonely numbers but beautiful cards. Though, for their beauty they never won him any money. Not usually, unless a queen or king was accompanying them to the end.

Smoke hang heavy in the air from a pipes and sugars. The guys that liked to hang out around the table also liked to smoke. It was a nasty habit that Seiichi never got into. He hated the taste that it left in his mouth and the feeling on his teeth when he woke up the next morning. That combined with hard liquor would be enough to make him gag, so he just stuck with his shots of warm Sake.

Sake was best after it touched the flame he learned. Made the liquid nice and smooth. And when the cards were rough a smooth drink always made the road feel better. But this night he seemed to be getting lucky. He had already won two hands and was being smart about the bets. Keeping just enough to make sure he could eat the next few days and putting the rest back into the growing pot.

Before the end of the night he had already won about 500 ryo, that wasn't even including his drinks. A great night but it was about to get sour as he headed down stairs. Leaving the building wasn't tough, it was getting past the bartender. You see, a new gang was in town, they liked to come into his place and be more rough than the normal folk liked. It seemed like every night he walked town to leave the bartender would ask Seiichi to tell the guys to leave. He would explain how he had to live there two, staying under the radar was one part of this.

"Hey you..." One of the larger men in the group said as Seiichi was about to walk out the door. "Why don't you set that cash down right here." He pointed his table, "Before you leave." He finished.

Seiichi had it in his mind to beat the shit out of the man. But... Oh... Zipping around Seiichi plowed his fist into the gentleman's head. He fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Once the other guys around him saw what had happened they lunged into the attack without noticeably thinking about it. Seiichi thought if they had thought, just for a moment, they would have just left him alone. But it was what it was.

Two men from both of his sides attacked. The one on the right attempted a round house kick to his belly while the other was about to swing a pool stick. The leg bade contact first, Seiichi grabbed it as he shifted with the impact and twisted, throwing the man into the oncoming stick. They were tangled up with each other for a moment before getting back on their feet. Another came at him with a fury of blows. Seiichi was lucky the men here weren't skilled fighters, if they had been this would be a whole another story. The drinks were kicking in and Seiichi found himself stumbling a bit with each strike.

The original guy was still on the ground. One of his bodies was knelt down next to him tending to his face as he lied there. Seiichi let them be. He dealt with the fury of blows by simply leaning back and kicking the man in the stomach with a front kick. When he leaned forward he grabbed onto him and threw him into the other two as they struggled to stand back up.

"Alright..." Seiichi blinked out of his momentary rage. "Lets talk about this guys." He said as he stumbled back to the bar. The bartender was there just cleaning glasses and watching the fight. This kind of thing was the normal for him now, but he watched Seiichi with curiosity. "You come in here every night and cause trouble. Whats the deal?" He asked rhetorically. "I mean, your only hurting yourselves. No one is going to higher a bunch of drunken low-lives that can't get their act together. Not to mention the women." Seiichi pointed to an empty chair. "The women hate violent men, at least the kind worth being around." One of the men tried to speak but Seiichi went on, "Women... what do we need them for anyway?" He could feel and see the dizziness seeping into his body the more he stumbled about. "Uh..".

The next morning he woke up in his own bed. Sitting up he could feel his head pound as his heart pushed his fluids back to the top of his body. He reluctantly shifted his legs to the ground and pulled on a pair of slippers, they were nice leather slippers that he had actually had for years, all broken in; they fit his feet like a glove. He worked his way down stairs and brewed himself a pot of nice hot coffee and took a seat at the table. There he found his Ryo all 1500...

He rubbed his eyes. "Unless Ryo learned to fuck.." He had triple what he earned. He sat there and looked at the pile of money as he sipped his coffee. Where could it have came from? He wasn't going to argue, 1500 Ryo was 1500 Ryo. He just wished he could remember.

Finishing his coffee, jumping in the shower, pulling on a nice deep blue robe and setting back off to the bar was the plan of the day. He wanted to investigate this, but he would do it without notice.

He walked back into the bar, smoke and the stench of alcohol stained the room. It would take years for the building to loose its smell, in doing something about it people minds well just tare the whole place down and start over. It was a run down looking building in the daylight. Old wood all marked with knives and kunai scars, chairs that were bent and broken, tables tipped over, blood stained the ground near the entrance...

What happened here? he thought as he walked though a battlefield. The bartender was there mopping up some of the red that stained a spot nearest the bar.

"Oh, Seiichi!" He said joyfully. "Thank you so much for getting rid of those guys. They were a real pain in my backside. A real pain... Now that money, make sure you don't spend it all in one place alright?" He looked at him. Seiichi's hair was messy and his eyes still had crust in them. "You look like crap man." He patted Seiichi's back. "Come have some coffee." He drug him to a stool and say him at the bar.

The man poured a large cup of coffee that looked more like molasses as it shifted.

"Extra black." The bartender said.

Seiichi just looked around. "Thanks man." He said as he tried to sip the darkened, no, extra darkened liquid. "I really showed them huh?" He said through a grimace. The coffee was more bitter than he'd like but he didn't dare ask for cream or sugar. Living on the street for so long he didn't bother with some of the niceties. Asking for cream, the next thing he knows he'd be demanding it. That wasn't his style.

"Oh, yes you did." The bartender moved theatrically. He explained the night in detail. His arms moving and demonstrating each punch, his legs lifting to show that someone kicked or stepped wrong. He pressed his fist to his head trying to demonstrate the wave Seiichi's fist had made in one guys skin. He explained that he beat them up pretty good. The bartender had given him about 500 ryo.

That accounted for a 1000 of the ryo he had in his possession. But, where did the other stuff come from.

"Oh.... and when you took their money!" The guy burst out in roaring laughter. "You said.." He tied to contain himself to allow for speech. Seiichi couldn't help but smile, "You said that this was for wasting your time... and you took their money..." The man continued to laugh.

Seiichi allowed himself a bit of a laugh himself. He didn't remember a thing. But at least he made someones day. The only regret he had was that he didn't give death at least one of their lives..

[EXIT]

TWC: 1556

3 Stats (+3 Strength)

[1000/1000 Sealing Release & (137+556) 693/2000 Jupiter's Favour ]

Approved