Out Searching

http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t42692-taking-a-quiet-look
http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t42496-a-high-stakes-deal
http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t39435-honor-amoung-theives#338679

     Hiroaki was at the Chunin ordering an abundance of food. He was starving from the training exercise he had forced himself to do in order to add a little more muscle onto his body. He knew that if he were to be able to create more muscle that meant he had to add more meat to his bones to support that. "I'll take some beef, rice and whatever else you can muster back there", he would say to Akihana. She did a lot of the cooking there in the restaurant. Hiroaki was impatient to get more food into his belly. He would pound his utensils against the table and keep chanting, "Come on, Come on, Come on!" and "Food! Food Food!". Every time a meal was put out in front of him, he would devour every bit of it save the bone. Well, for the most part anyway. There were moments when Hiroaki was eating so fast that parts of the bone had gone down with the rest of the meal. Those were the moments when his face world start to turn blue and he would bang furiously on the table. He was unsure whether Akihana could tell if that was him chanting for more food or if she knew that he was choking. At one moment it got to the point where he had held onto his throat and started to fall from his chair, but in the end he was always fine.


     What Hiroaki had learned from his moments of near death were that he needed some water to guzzle it down or rather, his favorite, a huge Sake bottle. He was sure he could hear Akihana from the kitchen shouting that he should slow down his eating instead, but he would have none of it. "I will be the strongest swordsman here!", he shouted. He would cough into the crevice of his arm shortly after. "I've seen Seiichi and some others roam around with blades of their own. I will surpass them.", he said as if it were a fact. His face started to change into a red now, a complete 180 from what it had been prior. The alcohol had seemed to be taking a hit on the man. "I-I will. Damn it!", he went on. He shoved more beef into his mouth, depleting the dish. It was uncertain that the food would soak up all of the alcohol in him, but surely it would help a little. He munched and munched on the remainder of the food that was in his mouth.


     "I need...I need more", he said. His stomach rumbled in disagreeance. He looked around the restaurant which was lively as ever. There was nothing leaving the kitchen, but the people around him would surely have something on their plate... Hiroaki shook his head. He couldn't steal food from the people in the Chunin. 'That would make trouble for Akihana', he thought. He didn't want to do anything that would put the miss in such a disposition. Hiroaki peaked his head through the kitchen window in search for more food in there. He could see Akihana pacing about inside of the place, but he didn't see much food. "Uh oh. Don't tell me I ate out the place", he said. He fell back into the chair he had been seated at and groaned in disbelief. "I can't believe it! What have I done to deserve this!", he complained. He slammed his forehead against the table in agony of there being no more good food left to eat. "Akiiiii...", he drawled out. 


     He got out of his seat without a word and went towards the door. He assumed that Akihana would stop him to question where he was heading. If she had stopped him he would tell her, "I'm off to get more ingredients for the place." Either way, Hiroaki would exit through the door and head around back in preparation for the long journey he had a head of him. If Akihana offered to come along with him he would kindly refuse her offer the first time saying, "It's much too dangerous for a pretty face like yourself". If she kept pressing him, he would eventually cave in and let her join with him. They would then prepare for their trip together in the back of the Chunin restaurant. He would pack his weapons, bag and other miscellaneous things that he believed were necessary or he simply just wanted to have along with him. He would slam his finished bag onto the bench and then stop in realization shouting, "Oh!". 


     Hiroaki would blush at his product that he had never got to show case to Akihana until now. "Umm. I made this for you.", he would state. He would then pick up his bag and take to the main road. He didn't want to stay and have a conversation about the bench as he felt it would be too embarrassing and didn't want to suffer from Akihana's rejection if she read too much into it. He knew that she was a smart and capable woman and didn't want to risk it. Once Akihana would catch up to him down the road, a good block or two away from the Chunin restaurant, he would stop suddenly. He would then look at the ground in a new kind of embarrassment and take a peak to Akihana's eyes. He had hoped that she would catch on and not say anything. He was completely lost as to where he had to go for the right supplies that she would need to cook up a storm at the Chunin restaurant. He sort of just left in a frenzy hoping that the location of the ingredients would smack him right on the head. That was obviously a miss thought out fantasy.


     With Akihana taking the lead, as there was no chance of Hiroaki finding the place unless she explicitly said it was at the market district nearby, they would continue on their journey. All he had known of around here really were the places he had wandered too which again was the market district, the forest over, a few of the houses around the Chunin Restaurant, and the water around the island. 'I should really take note of different routes around this island', he thought to himself. He would make sure to remember how to get to the place where they were going in-case he ever needed to repeat the journey.


(WC: 1081)

Hiroaki was a bundle of energy.

And quite a surprising one at that. In a little over a month, the boy was almost completely unrecognizable for how much he had blended into the group. The blonde still recalled the quiet, reserved coughing child Mar had brought into the restaurant and introduced to them all but no trace of that shyness remained now, at least around the restaurant or people he trusted. Now Hiro was loud, eager and always in a rush. It was a feature of his young age, the kunoichi reasoned, putting down another tray full of ribs in front of him. He was so adamant to become better than his fellow teammates, so eager to prove he had what it took, it reminded Akihana of another boy who had shoved platefuls of food in his mouth to burn into muscle many years ago.

“Slow down Hiro-kun,” she cautioned as the boy tried to fit an entire rib into his mouth. “Soemthing’s going to go down he wrong way if you keep eating like this.” No that her warning had any affect, much like the mother’s role she was used to filling for their ragtag group, her advice was rarely heeded until her warnings came true. While she was in the kitchen, she heard the boy choke and was just about to go help him when one of the servers came to his aid. Hiro would survive to see another day. The restaurant though.. she couldn’t say for sure. Hiro appeared to have come to a similar realization, poking his head in through the kitchen to see that they were indeed fast running out. Oh well, she had needed to get some shopping done anyway. With Maku gone for extended periods of time, Akihana had taken to the role of full manager, taking care of everything from employee management to ingredient hunting to daily operations. It kept her busy enough and sometimes she worked too late into the night which suited the kunoichi just fine.

"I can't believe it! What have I done to deserve this!", he complained. He slammed his forehead against the table in agony of there being no more good food left to eat. "Akiiiii...", he drawled out.

“We can go shopping tomorrow,” the blonde tried to console him with a smile but he had other plans. Already, the ball of erratic energy that was the young ninja was on his feet, and with a decent amount of ake in him, albeit a slightly watered down version on Akihana’s direction. The kid wouldn’t know the difference and his faculties wouldn’t be as impaired as they could have been otherwise. Patience was another thing the young ninja lacked right now, making it clear to her that they were going now. Quickly issuing instructions to the staff to take over and close up once the current diners had left (there ws no point in staying open when they were nearly out of everything anyway), Akihana set out to follow him, coming to a stop shortly after as he revealed the pretty blue bench outside that the kunoichi had admittedly not noticed before.

"Umm. I made this for you."

“Oh,” surprised cultured the kunoichi’s pale, heart shaped face as she contemplated the boy and then the bench. Her golden eyes studied the structure, spotting the letters at the bottom which had probably been painstakingly crafted on the material. “Th-“ she began only to notice that Hiro was nowhere in sight. Her chakra, usually so muted and discrete, reached across the area, searching for his unpredictable blip on her radar and sure enough, he was just a block away. The kunoichi employed a simple shunshin technique, appearing by his side in the blink of an eye, the fond smile still on her face. He would understand his mistake soon enough. In her head, Akihana counted down from three.

Two.

One.

Right on queue, Hiroaki came to a stop, realizing he had no clue where he was going.

“Are we done being cool and tough now?” the blonde asked, amusement dancing in her warm butterscotch eyes as she reached out to take his hand, turning him into the opposite direction that lead to the jetty. “There’s nowhere decent on the whole island for fresh meat, we’re taking a boat to the mainland,” she informed him, the slight smile still tugging at the corners of her lips. Together, the two set out for the less populated area of the jetty, one that catered to smaller boats instead of the huge ships that came into Fang country daily.  They would need a small boat, just enough for the two of them and their cargo, a feat thatw as easily accomplished as the boat keeper knew her very well.

“Miss Akihana, why I heard it would be cloudy today but you’re out and about. What can I do you for today? Mr. Maku need something?” Akihana had first met the retired captain when she had gone with Maku to get some ingredients from a farm in on the mainland. Maku had clearly won great favors with the man, favors which were now extended to her.

“Just a small boat please, Hiro-Kun and I need to make a quick trip to the farm and get some fresh beef, I’m afraid we’re all out a the moment.”


“Ain’t no problem, Miss Akihana. I can give you my best girl Lula, she’s a modified rowboat with a sweet motor in case the lad’s arms can’t take a bit o’ rowing,” the man joked at Hiro, making Akihena lay a calming hand on the boy’s shoulders so he wouldn’t react badly to the jest.  “Just, mind yourselves out there. I’ve had two boats and three swimmers come in from the mainland this morning and they say it’s awful crowded down there.”

“Crowded?’

“Bunch of people in uniforms,” the man nodded, eyes towards the distant shore. “Shinobi uniforms, looks like bunch of pebbles on their headband things... Village ninja never do no one good, I’d avoid the mainland if I were you, Miss. “

“We’ll try to be careful,” Akihana reassured the man, sending Hiro to untie the boat and bring it around to their docking area. Once the young man had done so, Akihana waved goodbye to the old man and neatly stepped onto the bright blue boat that was presumably Lula, leaving Hiro to navigate the waters until they reached the sea border of Flower Country.


1,079

The moment Hiroaki had transformed as they entered the area with the docked boats, Akihana knew something was up. The transformation jutsu Hiro had hurled himself into was rough but quick, making him outwardly look like Mar, an engineer now well respected in Fang’s small community due to all the things he fixed for free in his workshop. However, the hoodie covering Hiro’s face told another story. He must have gotten in trouble at the docks, she assumed as she carried on her conversation with the retired sea captain. Never having lived with a number of missing ninja in their proper environment before, Akihana had found that somewhere along the line, they had all gotten in trouble.

It would have been smooth sailing – both literally and figuratively – had Hiroaki’s condition not started to act up. The boy vehemently refused to see a doctor and Akihana had not wanted to be among the people that pushed him. He knew, through the others, that she and Denkiteki were practitioners of medical ninjutsu. He knew where to find them when he was ready. And it was imperative he be ready. The day Hiro would learn to trust her enough would be the day she would treat his cough, making it disappear forever and leaving the child hale and hearty. For now though, the cough broke his hastily constructed jutsu, making him run to the boat for fear of being caught. Akihana tried not to smile at his panic, a brief glow from a silver boat catching the captain’s eye. The Ephermal jutsu was probably one of the most useful things she ahd learned from Maku and the old man would stare serenely out to the sea as Hiro ducked and yelled for her to join him quickly.

Akihana would board the little vessel gracefully, waving to the captain who waved back, the Genjutsu making him see only her and nothing out of the ordinary. The jutsu would dispel once she was out of range, the captain returning to his usual activity. Finally, they were far out enough at sea that Hiro took the oars of the boat again, steering it according to her directions.

“You know, you could just say sorry for whatever you did, the Captain isn’t a bad man,” she suggested lightly. No matter what Hiro had done, she was sure if he apologized and somehow let it slip that he was now a member of the guys from the restaurant that gave the captain a hearty helping of freshly baked fish, no crime would be unforgivable. “How long can you keep running like this? Sometimes it’s easier to live with who you are than to run from it, no?”

The medic would let Hiro ponder on this as their boat charted a swift course through the currents, leading them safely into Flower Country’s tiny jetty. And as the captain had warned, there were indeed a group of ninja in uniforms having some sort of a row. Her young companion didn’t seem to want to stop but Akihana held up a hand, halting in her tracks against her better judgment because there was someone in need here.

After hearing the shouts and cries for a few minutes, the kunoichi was able to determine a few things. There were five shinobi and three civilians in the group. The oldest of the civilian was being called a drug lord. Said drug lord appeared to be very concerned for his son’s safety which Akihana could immediately relate to despite his profession. It appeared as though he was trying to pay the Shinobi to protect his son from an outside threat but they were refusing their help because of what he did. Some of the Lightning Ninja were even outright threatening the father, son and whom she could only assume was a civilian guard.

“This is ridiculous, you are ninja no? You take money and do the job. I have money; I can pay you to protect my son!”

“We don’t protect your kind, Sugar King. After how many kids have died because of your product, maybe your son deserves it?”

There were admittedly very few things that penetrated Akihana’s aura of consideration and empathy, but hearing someone say a child deserved to be harmed was definitely one of them. Motioning for Hiroaki to stay where he was, she moved a few steps towards the group, increasing her display of power by a mere few octaves. Nothing would be visible but everyone would be able to sense a greater chakra presence radiating from the blonde.

“My apologies,” she spoke, her voice gentle as usual but now with a note of firmness Hiro would not have heard before. “I must have misheard, because surely no one would say a child deserves to be harmed. That must be a mistake right?”

A few uncomfortable mumbles went around the circle before the Jounin of the group stepped forwards. “Identify yourself, woman. Where is your headband?”

Reaching into her picnic basket, the blonde would pull out the new Akatsuki headband the trio had fashioned earlier, the black steel glinting in the sunlight, the red cloud reflecting off the sheer surface. Another round of confusion as no one recognized the symbol, but they didn’t need to. The headband had done what she had intended it to, they were all backing off now. Except for the old man.

“Ma’am, it’s my son. Dirty Dave’s gonna send someone to hurt him because of a deal gone wrong. I told him to come after me and not the kid but he’s, well, dirty. I need someone to protect my boy and these scum shinobi won’t do it.” As if to emphasize his point, he gestured to the white faced boy beside him. The child could not have been more than eight years old.

Looking at the boy, Akihana took a few steps in his direction before kneeling down to his height. “Hi there,” she spoke softly, letting her calming chakra encase the frightened boy. “I’m Akihana, and that’s our friend Hiro-kun. We’re so sorry you had to see all this today. Would you like to come shopping with us, we’re going to a farm and they’ll have lots of animals for you to play with.”

Wordlessly, the child nodded and tentatively took her preferred hand. Akihana guided him gently towards Hiro, the father and body guard following along. She would leave the discussion of the details to Hiroaki, the drug lord could bring him up to speed.

For now, there was simply a frightened child to look after.


1,095

     On the boat ride, Akihana had mentioned that he didn't need to worry about his mistakes in the past and that he didn't need to run. Hiroaki had begged to differ. In no way did he want to reconcile with the old man. What did he have to gain from doing as such? If Hiroaki needed a boat in the future, a boat he would have. He was smart and quick on his feet. He wouldn't express his opinion with Akihana as he knew it would be a most unpopular opinion with her. He simply stared off in silent thought of all that had happened. Her last words of living with who you are stuck on replay in his head. He knew who he was, a dead man, but that did not matter. He would continue to work with this group of people and maybe -- just maybe find some happiness in it.


     Flashing forward to where Hiroaki had encountered the group of shinobi and the angry mob. He began to question who was really on who side. Perhaps he had been wrong on who was trying to kill who. He was too out of the loop of the event to really comprehend the extent of what was going on with the exception of him knowing blood could very well soon be drawn. Akihana looked upset at the whole display. She had stepped forth from their little group bubble to enter the crowds own gathering, without a sign of fear. "Oi, Oi.", began Hiroaki. He didn't want her to get caught up in any of this. It wasn't her problem. She would ignore him to continue on towards the mob of people. She would tell him to stay put, to which to some degree he would, but he wouldn't let Akihana be out of reach. She was his ally.


     Akihana would plant her feet firmly and say how they couldn't possibly be thinking about harming a kid. She said it in a tone that suggested consequences would be made if that was indeed what she had heard. They got into a whole big dispute, Akihana and the lot of them. Hiroaki had slowly inched forward by her side, keeping his hand near his sword in-case anyone tried anything. The Jonin looking shinobi clearly had seen this or -- 'Maybe it was something else', thought Hiroaki. It was as if the Jonin had sensed some kind of incredible threat. Hiroaki looked at Akihana. 'Her? Could it be she is on a level higher than their own', he thought. Hiroaki saw Akihana pull out a headband with clouds on it, red clouds. This certainly drew the eyes of Hiroaki as his understanding had taken hold of him. He wasn't hanging out with a group of random mercenaries, entrepreneurs, and the like. He had been hanging out with the Akatsuki. 


     Hiroaki had heard of the Akatsuki before. They were a renown group who had gone from hopeless ideal chasers to a terrorist group and so on. Their reputation and the information on them has constantly been changing or well -- sometimes all traces of them would disappear throughout history. They were a group that tried to keep their whereabouts unknown until they wanted to make a point out of things. He smirked at Akihana. 'Thatta girl', he thought. If he was on the side of the Akatsuki, he had made the right choice. They were a capable group of people and from the look of things, Akihana was not the type of person to go about killing people randomly like members of the past that he had heard stories about along his journey.


     The crowd that had formed slowly dispersed when she had revealed her headband. Hiroaki knew the power that came with the title alone. He wondered if he would ever live long enough to achieve such a power. 'Probably not', he thought. His illness, his bounty, and everything else of the like made him a target. 'The best I can do is lend my strength to Akihana', he thought. Akihana who of which had approached the boy and his father, hearing the two of them out. Apparently there was an assassin out to kill the boy. Hiroaki couldn't blame someone for wanting revenge, yet again. He too knew what it was like. But what Hiroaki thought did not matter because Akihana had always took up the majority of his mind. Akihana, who promised to help protect the boy, had lead his hand over to Hiroaki who looked begrudgingly at the kid.


     Seeing that Akihana had been eyeing him, he quickly shifted his expression into a smile, yet he grabbed the kids hand with strength as underneath his expression, he was still annoyed. The kid would shout, "Ow!". Hiroaki would quickly glare at the kid and say, "Shh" in a menacing tone before returning to his happy expression. Akihana, Hiroaki, the boy, the boy's father, and their miscellaneous bodyguard would all head away from their summer home which obviously was not fortified enough to even be bothered with staying in. They continued to go to their destination of obtaining ingredients. 


     "Mister, why do they want me dead?", asked the boy. Hiroaki wanted to tell him it was because your father is a piece of shit, but he stifled the comment. Instead he said casually, "Who doesn't want someone dead." He was sure that Akihana would glare at him at this comment, but he knew it was true no matter what how much she disagreed. They walked to the shop and inside there were all kinds of different foods. The smell of it all hit them hard and good. Hiroaki coughed into his arm. As they entered the store, the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Someone was a little too close for comfort behind him. He threw the kid with one arm at Akihana and quickly drew his blade. There was a masked man behind them who was clearly loaded with weaponry. "A CHILD FOR A CHILD!", the madman shouted as he lifted his shirt up. Underneath his shirt, a multitude of explosive tags could be seen. Hiroaki dropped his sword and summoned 3 shadow clones, all of which tackled the man out of the door before a huge explosion commenced. 


     Hiroaki sighed in relief. They were a second away from all being turned into dust. He looked back at the kid that was in Akihana's arms. In a quick spout of anger he picked up his katana and pointed it at the kid's father who was nearby. "You piece of shit. I expect to be paid", he said. He then re-sheathed his katana. Assuming the shop was still willing to stay open after the mess of things, he would resume shopping. Hiroaki would be in an angry mood, not liking the fact that Akihana could have been put at risk. 'Akatsuki or not -- we all bleed', he thought. He coughed into his hand.

(WC: 1162 | TWC: 3277)

After a little bit of tugging and grumbling, the boys started to settle down, as Akihana knew they would. Being around young boys for most of her life, the kunoichi was somewhat aware of their dynamics. Hiro might not like the child right now but at least he had grudgingly taken on the duty of protecting him. Grudging relationships, she knew, had great potential.

"Mister, why do they want me dead?"

"Who doesn't want someone dead."

“Well, I certainly don’t want anyone dead,” the blonde followed Hiroaki’s statement quickly with her own calming one. The child did not need to grow up watching his back, wondering which of his father’s ill turns of fate would be coming to haunt him. The elderly man too looked as if he may have been regretting his life choices now that his own son was in danger but it was hard to say. Would he go back to his usual activities after this or would he try to turn his life around. If he chose the latter, Akihana would certainly offer her assistance. The kunoichi knew for a fact that everyone in the world deserved a second chance, especially if they intended to do good out there. “And don’t worry sweetheart, Hiro-kun is one of the most accomplished swordsmen I knew, we’re in very safe hands.” This worked to calm the boy down as they made their way to the bakery first.

Usually, Akihana made trips to this particular shop on her own; the owner was well acquainted with her and always gave her the freshest raw materials for her own baking. Today, she looked up from the cash register to see Akihana walk in with a group but didn’t ask questions. Under normal circumstances, they would have stood for a while and chatted but the baker saw the need for professionalism, instead only asking Akihana if she would like her usual. “Yes, please,” the kunoichi replied and the baker disappeared to the back of the shop. And just in time to, for she was safely out of harm’s way when the assassin struck.

It took only a second for Akihana to realize what had gone wrong. Why hadn’t she sensed his chakra as he’d entered the small shop? How had Hiro managed to get a feel for the man and known what was up? It was as she caught the kid her companion flung her way that she realized the assassin was not of a chakra inclination. He was a civilian who had been hired to take out the boy because… whoever his employer was hadn’t banked on the assassin surviving the attack either. The blonde held her charge close, his little head buried in her dress as she encapsulated him with calming energy while Hiro deposed of the would be murderer. The explosion was loud enough to make the boy cling to her tighter but Akihana ran soothing fingers through the child’s hair, letting him know everything was okay.

When it was all over, the shop was a sight. Half the displays broken, freshly baked foods everywhere on the floor, cake icing had exploded over the counter and a line of sausages now lead the trail of broken glass out towards the street. The baker returned and did a double take at the state of her shop before narrowing her eyes. She seemed to be thinking the same thing Hiro was as he went to reprimand the old man.

"You piece of shit. I expect to be paid"

“Please, please,” the man choked on his words in his rush to get them out. “I have money; I was offering to pay those ninja too. Here.” And immediately, he produced a scroll, his bodyguard unsealing it to reveal several thousand ryo inside. Akihana didn’t much care for the cash but she supposed it might do Hiro some good. “I have enough for all of you and the bakery, I will pay for it to be rebuild, please, all I want is for my son to be safe.”

“Well, you son is safe now,” Akihana reassured him, letting the boy go. The kid immediately dashed to his father, holding his hand tightly. “But it may do you well to remember other people have children too.”

The man had the courtesy to look ashamed of himself. “I…“ The conflict on his featured was clear, but it was gone a minute later. “I believe my son is not safe. Dirty Dave… He will come for us again. There’s no way he’ll let this go unless… I can have some form of insurance against him.” Exactly what that insurance was, he revealed a few minutes later, confirming what the medic had already suspected.

Their shopping would be really delayed now.

“Very well, let me see what I can do,’ she murmured, holding up her hand and gently tapping her left elbow. Underneath her fitted sleeve, something would wiggle, that something sliding down her arm and into the well of her palm a moment later. Both father and son stood transfixed as Akihana’s slug looked up at the world through thick eyelashes.

“Icing, would you please take a note back for me to the restaurant?” the slug nodded and vanished in a flash, a tiny scroll wrapped around her body. The slug would teleport to the main branch in Fang country and find the only member of the group there, Eliwood. The note would simply read as follows:

We’re out here in Flower country doing some shopping but our bags are heavier than expected. Can you please come lend a hand?

Love,
Akihana & Hiroaki

937

Watching the restaurant was a job that Eliwood could certainly get behind. It was quiet and nobody would be showing up this late. Aki and Hiro left in a hurry, and the monk was the only one left around to hold the place down. After all the servers had finished cleaning up for the night he smiled and sent them all home. "Thanks again everyone. What would we do without you?" He'd say as he closed the door. Now alone completely Eliwood would lay back in one of the booths and clean off the Sitar mar had made for him. He had been getting a lot of use out of it lately. The hypnotic music he could produce with it was captivating to the young musician. It was the perfect replacement for the beat up guitar he was carrying for so long.



Eli was tuning the strings when a poof in the room caught his attention. A little slug had appeared carrying a note. One would think the monk would have gotten used to the use of summons as messengers, but it was still jarring. The slug would belong to Akihana and so he assumed the letter would be for him. Placing his instrument off to the side of the booth, he'd slide out and walk over to the little creature. The note was definitely in Akihana's handwriting. Apparently they had bought too many supplies to carry and needed his help, pretty basic stuff. He was used to this type of request around the restaurant.



"All right little buddy. You want to bring me back to Aki?" He'd ask the slug, receiving a delighted nod in return from the summon. With that Eliwood would place his hand on the Icing's back which would instantly transport him back to the summoner.



The green haired monk found himself in the usual shop where they bought ingredients, Hiroaki and Akihana were there, but no bags of goods waiting to be carried. The overall atmosphere of the shop felt tense. There was a commotion coming from the street outside, and Hiro looked about as pissed as a person could be.



"Uh... well hello. I got your message. You need a hand boss?" He would ask sounding a little confused.

(WC 375)

Throughout her conversation with the self proclaimed Sugar King, Hiroaki made it perfectly clear he was one unhappy camper. His goals were in line with his age and the hand life had dealt him. Money, staying away from other people, showing no mercy because he hadn’t been shown any growing up, these were all telltale signs that did not bypass Akihana. But now was not the time. Perhaps when this was over, she could talk to the boy, ask him about his life and why he felt he had to live it the way he did. Despite his age, he acted sometimes like a very old man, gruff around the edges and not wanting to make bonds out of fear that he would not live long enough to see them through.

Was that Hiro’s problem? Did he somehow think his life, his potential as a human was limited in any way? If that was the case, the blonde would have to talk to him sometime soon.

For now though, she would turn her attention to Eliwood whom Icing had brought along. “Why thank you, aren’t you sweet?” Akihana complemented the Slug that appeared on her arm, dropping her head slightly to give it a tiny kiss. The slug visibly blushed before crawling her up sleeve once more, safely in the crook of her elbow where it usually stayed. By now, Hiro had already brought the green haired monk up to speed.

“We don’t have to harm anyone,” she clarified when Hiro spoke of dealing with Dirty Dave. “We just need something he prizes, something he wouldn’t want people to know about let’s say. And that thing can be returned to the Sugar King who will then have assurance that his son will not be harmed.” The kunoichi grew quiet for a moment before adding. ‘And we really do need to stop by that farm on the way back; the restaurant is totally out of meat.”

"This punk, Dirty Dave has to be around here. I can practically smell him",

And so Akihana and Eliwood followed Hiro’s acute sense of smell which he claimed could detect their target. And true to the boy’s words, not much later, they were standing outside a shabby apartment building that seem to hosue lower income civilians. Perhaps David was a man of modest means, or perhaps this wa a trap.

“Okay guys, let’s do this the smart way,” the blonde began, turning to the two boys. “You two distract the man wherever he is while I enter his apartment and look for something we can use. Just keep him busy for ten minutes and I’ll be out of there. We can reconvene at the marketplace we passed a while back.” Taking a deep breath, she looked at them both, particularly Hiro. ‘And remember, stealth is the word, the less attention you attract, the better.”

Hopefully, the monk would get the indirect message in her tone. He was in charge of keeping their youngest member in check while she was away.


(505)

The moment he arrived he knew something was up, and Hiroaki confirmed this with an arm around the monk's neck. "A mission you say? Well I guess it beats carrying bags of meat." He'd say with a laugh before turning to greet the shopkeeper, "Always good to see you again."

Hiro filled Eliwood in on what it was he was actually summoned for. He didn't know what their connection to this 'Sugar King' was, but if there was money to be made he wouldn't complain. While they were walking out towards their destination, led by the young swordsman's nose, Akihana would mention that they actually did need food supplies as well. He thought he had escaped pack mule duty, but at least Hiro was here to lend a hand. Eliwood wondered if the boy would be as helpful as Seiichi when it came to heavy lifting. He laughed and thought, 'Too bad Mar is not here, the man has the strength of a gorilla.'

The group stopped outside of a building that looked badly in need of repairs. It must have been built for housing, but the bard was not sure how any human could live in such conditions. He would rather sleep on the ground than in a place as grimy as this. Was this really where their target was staying? He was expecting something a little more opulent. 

"You two distract the man wherever he is while I enter his apartment,"


Causing a distraction was something Eliwood found himself doing quite a bit lately. He figured it was better than actually getting his hands dirty. Akihana reminded them that they were not to draw much attention to themselves, and he felt the warning was pointed more towards Hiro. She even eyed the monk in a way that he interpreted as telling him to watch over their newest member and make sure to keep him out of trouble.

'How hard could it be to wrangle this coughing mercenary? ' he thought to himself.

"Alright then Hiro. Got any ideas for how to draw this Dan guy out from his hidey hole?" He'd ask.

(WC 353)
(TWC 728)