Missing Merchant Mystery Mission [P/IO/NK]

B Rank: Find the Merchant

Keina's Stats:

Jami Udgorn, child of one of the richest men in Haven. Jami's father left the country a fair while ago for some unknown reason, but he is not missing.

Jami, however, is missing. He failed to attend multiple meetings. He missed out on several pleasure appointments.

And the missed even that most worries those close to him?

He missed dinner two days in a row.

Jami NEVER misses dinner. His three butlers sought out help.

This is where Keina and Masashi fit in. Keina had some small interactions with the older Udgorn a few years ago. It was seriously basically nothing. She went to a bar, he was there talking to some people, she ordered a drink and listened in. She'd spent no more than a minute talking with him later that night.

But apparently that was a "notable relationship" with someone she had never met, the guy's son. So she had been a shoe in for the mission. Masashi was placed on the team because the pair had shown mission synergy in the past. The pair of them had a very different set of abilities, covering a range of possibilities, which was a pretty effective combination.

Well, that was what Keina was told. The "why we assigned you this mission" stuff always seemed vague and bullshitty. Keina's belief was they pulled names out of a hat and then justified it to the person. Maybe that was the case because Keina went by the office to receive missions, rather than have orders mailed to her mailbox. Her mailbox was at the post office, so she did not check it super often. Going by the mission center was easier, since it was barely a separate location than the gym she went to basically daily. Plus side: she often learned about missions before her allies, though she stopped messing with people about that awhile ago.

So that is what set up today, with Keina standing outside the place Masashi lived. Across the street. Down the pathway. He would find the letter, if he did not have it already. Or well, maybe someone would find the letter for him, and get his attention, because that seemed to be how his household might work, considering what Keina was looking at right now.

Regardless, Keina was making a bet that Masashi had not left yet. He was notoriously good at getting places early, and they were supposed to meet at the gates.

They were supposed to meet an hour and a half from now.

Even Masashi wouldn't get there over an hour early, would he?

Keina would leave in an hour if he had now showed up, just in case he had left earlier to do other things and then head to the gate.

Or if he was planning to be that early.

For now, Keina could distract herself by reading and rereading the "letter" that had been received shortly after Jami was reported missing. She did not have the original, just a copy, but Masashi was supposed to have the original.

Considering that Keina's copy was completely incomprehensible, she was hoping Masashi's copy had not been transcribed by an elderly doctor.

[527]

Masashi's Stats at the time of the mission:

Masashi was enjoying a cup of tea on his balcony when his butler advised him that he’d received a mission report in regards to a missing persons that needed to be completed. He accepted the letter from his butler and opened it. It was a plea for assistance from the Udgorn family; their son had gone missing. Masashi had heard of them simply because they were around most major social circles. This wasn’t the type of person that Masashi personally would associate with, but what can you do. The mission was to locate him and bring him home and that’s what the Uzumaki Chuunin would do. Looked like there was only one other person assigned to the mission with him. His mentor Keina would be leading it, which suited him fine. Masashi preferred to be a support role in most cases.

He was to meet her at the gates and they would be making their way over to Jami’s residence to see if they could find any clues that way. Masashi was in no hurry; the Udgorns were known for generosity in the village, but Jami himself was as close to scum as you could get, so he didn’t particularly care if they found him or not. The village wanted him found, so he would follow orders, but that didn’t mean he would need to make it a priority. He would thank his butler, put the letter down, and finish his tea. After that he sat in his chair for a few minutes, enjoying the view before getting up with a sigh. He would finish getting cleaned up and changed into his normal gear.

By the time he finished getting ready, a second letter arrived. This one had more information related to Jami; his itinerary, who he was supposed to be with, any potential enemies. ‘All very useful information to have to help sort out where we can look for him.’ Masashi thought to himself. According to this he had a business meeting in the morning of the day before he disappeared, a lunch with some clients followed by some “appointments” which could have meant anything, but a couple were listed at bars and massage parlours, so Masashi could only imagine what those were likely related to. He had returned to his home and disappeared at some point between then and the following morning. ‘Seems like his home would be the best place to look first.’ Masashi thought to himself as he pocketed the not and made his way outside, 45 minutes before the Uzumaki Chuunin was scheduled to meet his mentor.

The first thing he would do when he got outside was bend down and pick up some dirt, which he would infuse chakra into, converting it into three batches of explosive clay. He would put the newly formed balls of clay into a weapon pouch before making his way out of the compound and towards the gates for his meeting with Keina. Notoriously early, as was usual for him.

WC: 501

-15AP (creating explosive clay x3)

THIS POST MARKS MONTH ONE ACTIVITY CHECK POSTS, ONLY COUNT POSTS AFTER THIS FOR MONTH TWO



Keina looked somewhat dumbfounded as Masashi more or less walked right past her.

Sure, she was across the street, in the shade, and he had turned pretty quickly away.

But still. Rude much?

"HEY! MASASHI!" she yelled out. She would jump over towards the chuunin. Literally jump. "Not cool, mate, walking away from your mission squad like that?"

After some banter that was nearly sure to follow, which can surely be played out in later posts, Keina would ask Masashi is him list of materials was at all legible, showing him the... crap that she was given.

Assuming Masashi shared the details, Keina would give them a look over, and then come to a similar conclusion to the chuunin. "Dude's a total sleeze, and there's a 50:50 chance he was kidnapped vs snuck off to spend a few days at a brothel. Maybe we start with the easier option, that involves minimal investigation?"

If Masashi were to instead choose the side of assuming kidnapping, Keina would let him lead the way on starting the investigation.

Otherwise, Keina would start leading Masashi to the dirtier side of town. After suggesting he remove anything that gave him obvious ties to being a ninja and suggest he damn well do his best to suppress his chakra.

"Ever been down this way?" she asked, a mischievous smile growing on her face, as they entered a part of town where every building looked like a business, but there were no windows or signs. If he asked her a similar question, her answer would be something along the lines of "It's a good place to have a meeting where anyone looking on assumes they know what you're here for."

"It's a neat place. Got some good bars. Not much else I'd want to come down here for, though. Even if I were that type of person, I don't know the area well enough to tell you what businesses I could. Um. Make a purchase at."

Keina let out a light chuckle, wondering how Masashi was taking all of this.

Eventually, which means about two blocks in, they came across one building. It was pretty similar to the others, simple building, no first floor windows, no signs. Difference being: it was significantly larger.

Now, given that it was broad daylight, the "club" had not yet locked their door, and were operating, officially, as a bar and restaurant. Pushing open the door, Keina led the way in with Masashi. She took a seat at the mostly empty bar, picking a stool a bit to the side.

"Gimme a sparkling angel shot with salt, please and thank you. And get him whatever, he's paying."

The bartender looked at Keina, and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, let me get some stuff from the back. Not been asked for a sparkling in awhile," she said.

"No problem!" Keina replied, waiting patiently for her drink to arrive.

Before it could though, a man stepped out from the back area. "Ah, customers. Welcome! Would you prefer, perhaps, a private room? Or maybe one which is not so private?" The man wrung his hands together.

[512]

Almost as soon as he’d turned to make his way down the road, Keina’s voice called out to him in some form of outrage. He’d not expected her to be waiting outside his home and her shout startled him. He looked around and saw her land in front of him before berating him, in what he hoped was a playful manner of course. Masashi chuckled at her. “Sorry Keina, I’m not used to you being early for a change. I figured we’d end up meeting at the arranged meeting point.” He paused for a moment. “You do realise that you can simply come to the door and wait inside while I got ready, right? My staff wouldn’t kick you out, they know you’re not riffraff.” The grin was clear on his face as he bantered with his good friend. They’d know each other for quite a long time, and they’d been through a lot together. Masashi valued Keina as a friend and was quite fond of her.

She was all business right now though, she passed him the note she was given which as far as Masashi could tell, was a very poor replication of the notes he’d been given. He winced, inwardly and outwardly “that’s quite the summary you got here” he said with a chuckle. He would then pass his mentor the letter he’d been sent, which likely contained the same information but legible. She read over the letter he gave her and made similar comments that he had made earlier. She made suggestions about places to begin investigating, recommending that they start in the seedier areas of town. “You’re in charge.” Masashi said to her with a smirk. “I’ll follow your lead.” And off they went to the “red light district” of Hoshigakure.

Naturally there was some good-natured ribbing from Keina which Masashi responded to by laughing. “While I have an interest in what some of the establishments offer, I do have to think of my family’s reputation sometimes. There are plenty of ways to enjoy one’s self, especially when you have a private estate to yourself.” It was Masashi’s turn to adopt a mischievous smile of his own. “You’re welcome to spend the night yourself should the mood strike you.” At the end of the day, she was a beautiful woman and would be a welcome companion to Masashi, and he would like to think that any changes to their friendship wouldn’t affect the core foundation of their relationship one way or the other.

The area itself was not one he normally frequented but he was here for business not pleasure, so the Uzumaki Chuunin wasn’t particularly self conscious about it. Eventually they made their way into a restaurant…of sorts, where Keina immediately found a seat at the bar, got the bartender’s attention, and ordered a drink for herself, at his expense. Masashi rolled his eyes and placed some ryo on the bar for her drink. “Water, please.” Masashi would say to the bartender. As they waited, another man walked over. Masashi chuckled and leaned over to Keina. “I’ll let you handle this.” He said with a smirk. He then leant against the bar and waited for Keina to take charge.

WC: 535
TWC: 1035

Hand to heart and mouth agape, Keina feigned shock and appall while being called out for never being early. "I mean yeah, I probably could have just come inside, but it's nice out here!"

A very uncharacteristic crack of thunder could be heard in the distance.

Keina coughed a fake cough.

"ANYWAYS, about the notes..."

Keina was given the sheets and would look them over. Then, after a short discussion, they decided to investigate on the side of "playboy getting a bit too much play" than the kidnapping angle.

After some idle, and some not so idle, chatter, Keina's mischievous smile went full bore. "Did you just ask me out? No, no you asked me over, going right for third... wait is it third of fourth? Ah whatever. Going RIGHT for it, after just admitting the only thing keeping you out of the brothels was needing to keep up image for your family?" Keina gave him a light punch on the upper arm. A punch that could be felt but would leave only a light bruise, if it left a bruise at all. "You're a brave one, I'll give you that," she said. At the same time...

She had no idea if he was joking or not. Absolutely none at all. Nor was she sure which outcome she would have preferred? It was in the middle of them poking fun at each other, but the delivery had felt... a little different? Different than the rest of the messing about, that is. Keina's smile drifted down a little. Overall, she was still enjoying this time with the chuunin, and it was easier to imagine that it was not a joke.

But what if..?

She did not have long to ponder though, as she had to quickly assume herself a new role. Having ordered the drink and talked to who was presumably a manager, Keina would answer his question. Masashi had also not yet gotten the water, and Keina had placed her hand next to the ryo when the bartender slipped behind the doors.

Keina would smile, and say with a mischievous note to her voice, "Private, please, with a window! Ooh, and a balcony if you've got any."

"Right this way, I will have your drinks delivered to the room post haste," he said, leading the pair towards a staircase going upwards in the corner. Keina got up to follow, grabbing the coins from the bar as she stood.

"Sup, Jackie?" Keina asked once they were upstairs, outside of earshot of the bar below. "This is Sam" Keina said, motioning towards Masashi.

"Nothing much, Korra. Nothing much. Right this way:" he said, leading the pair into an interior room with no window, no balcony, and only a couch, then following them in and shutting and locking the door behind him. "So, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"We got hired to look for a misplaced rich boy, Tomi Udgorn."

Jackie's face turned sour. "I see," said the elderly man.

"We're currently running off the theory that he's playing a sexy game of hooky. Wondering if you might have any hints in that regard?" Keina placed the ryo she had grabbed onto a nightstand within the room.

Jackie's face turned a bit less sour, but he did not speak. Keina added a few more of her own ryo to the pile, about doubling it in value. Jackie snatched the coins from the table. "The Grand Madams Emporium of Fine Delicacies, Treats, and the Exotic. That's his usual haunt."

"Thanks!" Keina said, walking towards the door that Jackie unlocked and stepped out of the way of. She turned away from the staircase they had used to enter, said bye to Jackie, and went down a side exit out into the alley. A quick stop in the alley to talk with Masashi was required. "So, I've not NO idea where that place is, but..." The jounin looked at her current attire and sighed. "I don't think they will be letting me in with jean shorts and a t-shirt. Unless than name is a huge misnomer."

[683, ~1500 TWC]

The manager at the bar acquiesced quite quickly to her requests of a room. Upon being introduced, Masashi would nod in recognition. They sat down in their room with the manager, and Keina explained the reason for their visit; that they were looking for the wayward son of Mr. Ugdorn. Some ryo changed hands and a location was provided to them of his most likely location.

The Grand Madams Emporium of Fine Delicacies, Treats, and the Exotic was the fanciest, most exclusive “brothel” in the village. It only catered to those that were super rich, or among the village’s elite. That also meant that they’d set up several ways to ensure that their premises are private and secure. Normally that would mean that short of infiltration, any standard team wouldn’t be able to get in. Masashi however, was not a random shinobi. Masashi would not normally frequent an establishment of that type, the thought of paying for companionship was…distasteful. However he had no problem using the power of his family’s title as a means of entering the building, if only to complete the mission.

As they left, Keina was explaining concerns to him about locating the establishment. “No problem. I’m aware of where it is and what’s required to get inside.” He said with a grin. He would also hold up a hand to forestall the inevitable question. “No, I have not been inside, but I am fully aware of what it is and how it works.” He also gave Keina a sidelong glance. “I wouldn’t worry about what you’re wearing. I can deal with that when we get there.” With that, he lead the way to The Grand Madams’.

The establishment was a medium-sized structure, not too big, not too small. They wanted people to know they were there, but not to stand out unnecessarily. It had a walled courtyard that lead up to the front door, a door that had a pair of large men standing outside. “Stay close.” Masashi said to his mentor as he took the lead at this point, walking up to the front door. The first of the two men held out a hand “That’s far enough.” Masashi adopted an affronted expression. “Excuse me, you must be new here, or have failing eyesight to accost me in such a manner.” The man appeared troubled and looked to his fellow for assistance. The second guard looked over and immediately recognised him, which Masashi knew was supposed to be part of their training to memorise faces of the village’s elite. “I’m sorry your Grace.” He said to Masashi. “He did get recently hired. It won’t happen again.” Masashi sighed. “It had better not” was the reply as the first guard went to open the door.

The second issue they faced was not a moment later. As Masashi and Keina went to enter, the second guard held out his hand, this time, in front of Keina. “I’m sorry, but you’re not allowed in.” Masashi immediately took a step backwards, put an arm around Keina’s shoulders in a possessive manner and turned to look at the man for a second time. “She’s mine. She goes where I go.” The man looked like he was going to object but Masashi immediately cut him off. “We’re not going to have a problem, are we?” The man visibly shrunk back. “N..no, your Grace.” Masashi sniffed. “I didn’t think so.” And proceeded to walk inside, his arm still around Keina’s shoulders.

Once they were inside, Masashi murmured to Keina “let me know when my arm has overstayed it’s welcome.” As he said that, he would look around for one of the building’s managers, who would be able to help them track down their wayward sleezeball.

WC: 623
TWC: 1658

"So, how much of that am I supposed to believe?" Keina would say. "I believe the part about you knowing the place. Not sure I believe you about never going there... And I have this strange sense of worry about the way you said you can deal with it."

Keina looked towards the fellow ninja, but let him lead the way to the location.The building having a courtyard was certainly different for this area. As they walked in, Masashi told her to stay close. She was confused, but kept a simple emotion on her face: mild boredom. She figured that face could be played off into basically anything, so Masashi leaving her in the dark was only slightly bad.

And then Masashi handled it. And apparently it was Keina's shoulder, as that was his method to get Keina in despite her lackluster attire. It... worked. Though it bothered Keina that this people just recognized Masashi with no effort at all.

Was there seriously a group of people trained to recognize rich folks that lived in Hoshigakure? That just felt wrong.

And then they were inside. "Leave it for now, I've got an idea," Keina said to Masashi's remark before throwing her own arm around Masashi's shoulder and them slumping hard into his side.

Awkwardly, Keina dragged him towards a corner so that she could lean against it. She slipped one arm through the sleeve of her shirt, and worked the other arm around her back and under the shirt. A few seconds later, she was handing the piece of pink clothing to Masashi, telling him to hide it literally any way he could, before returning her arm to the outside world. She pulled her shirt as forward as it would go, almost stretching the back neck stitching, and then resumed her awkward grip and lean around his shoulder (and directing him to put his arm to her shoulder again), and finally awkwardly drag/walked towards what looked like a bar.

"H- Hi hiccup, to, two of yur, um, oh jus' gimme summit tasty. An' uh, I'm 'ere to uh, to.. some o- one cal- to' my fan see man here ta- they had a, w-what wus it?" she would say, glancing lazily towards Masashi. Obviously, this entire statement was spewed out with wild hand and head movements, and with Keina "losing balance" multiple times, though not enough to cause anyone to fall over, since she was leaning so heavily into Masashi. She would cut in right as Masashi opened his mouth, or after about a second of hanging her mouth open looking at him, with: "Oh ye! This wus tha, um, coroporol, nah wai, tha- that's mili- mil- army dude- no um, d- drunk... copro... guy, yea? Yea, totally. He was um.. wanted someone to- um..."

Keina looked around, and her eyes went wide. It was as if this was the first time she had bothered to look around the place, even though she absolutely had scouted it out as much as she could from being slumped at Masashi's side.

"Woooah this place is fuckin FAncy. Can-can I be talkin' bout this sh-, um, this stuff down here? Um cause like, i-if not, like um. We shud l-li, we shud go ta th-the room and, um... B hiccup Big daddy, wha was 'er name? Bullhorn? Is that li-ke a, like, toy?" Keina said this last part looking up towards Masashi.


[570 words]

His arm remained where he’d placed it as Keina steered them to a corner of the room so she could divest herself of an article of clothing, passing it over to Masashi, who promptly placed it against his hip, and the manipulated Fabric he was wearing did the rest; it created a small pouch around the article, small enough to not be easily noticeable, but looked like it had always been there if it was noticed. As he did so, he leaned his head down to whisper “Funny, I never took you to be a girl that wore pink.” Even if she didn’t turn to look at him, she could definitely hear the shit-eating grin that was on his face as he teased her. When she was ready to go, they made their way over to the bar. Or rather, Keina dragged him over to the bar. Clearly she was thirsty he sighed inwardly; it was a good thing he’d decided to carry some cash around with him.

She played the drunk really well; The Uzumaki Chuunin couldn’t tell if his mentor was simply a good actress, or if this was from being in that state plenty of times. Not that it really mattered, he’d play along for now as she was clearly having a good time. He looked down at her with a smile and say “I daresay the bartender here knows to be discrete when it suits him.” He would say to her, sliding some money to the bartender, significantly more than the cost of the drinks. The barkeep would not and smirk, pocketing the money. “Drinks upstairs if you don’t mind.” Masashi would say to him. “I’m going to put this one to bed. I take it a room’s already been prepared?” The Barkeep nodded. “Yes, Room 14 has been made available to you.” Masashi passed him some more Ryo. “I’m also looking for someone, Jami Udgorn, heard he may be enjoying himself here. Please find out for me. There’s more in it for you if you can confirm that he’s here, and what room he’s in.” With that, he turned around, picked up Keina, and carried her upstairs. “It’s much easier to walk when you’re not leaning all of your weight into my side.” He murmured to her by way of explanation.

Room 14 wasn’t the most expensive room in the establishment, but it was still opulent. Not as impressive as his own suite at home, but that was to be expected. Masashi closed the door and carried Keina over to the bed, dropping her onto it unceremoniously. “All there’s left to do is wait to find out if he’s actually here. If not, we’ll go check out his home for clues.”

WC: 456
TWC: 2114

She was glad Masashi had done something other than just stuffing the thing in his shorts (or pants?), but honestly, was the commentary totally necessary? And it was said with such a verbalized grin, too. Simply insulting.

Keina remained quiet, continuing to act her part. However, in continuing to act her part, she may have "stumbled" a little and been about to land her foot a LITTLE too roughly upon Masashi's.

But that was in the past! Keina had given her performance and...

Masashi had completely missed the point.

Well, that was good news for Masashi, at least. Keina was now rather convinced that he had no idea what went on in brothels, besides the obvious part. And that meant he very likely HAD NOT been down here before.

So he was probably being truthful about that.

Well there was always the possibility he came down, had some fun, and left without questioning any-

Nope, not right now.

Absolutely not right now, considering Masashi had just picked her up.

She was shocked, surprised, positively flabbergasted!

Ok that last one was going a bit overboard. But she was surprised, and the surprise led to her face becoming a little flush. But after a moment's thought, she could use that. She slumped in his arms, head drooping down towards the ground. She put on a goofy grin, and focused on looking towards the bartender without letting her eyes focus.

The reddening around her face, the strange expression, and, if he paid enough attention, the dilated and dilating pupils, would be nearly sure proof she was drunk!

...in the very small chance he was not already convinced.

Keina was upset though, and she had a feeling Masashi would be when he figured out what he'd just set himself up for, if word got out.

But she kept silent until they were in the room.

"We have to work on that," Keina said as Masashi plopped her onto the bed. That mattered considered, she was glad she was not that well endowed. That would have hurt!

"That thing where you completely missed what I was going for. And by doing so, more or less claimed the spot of being the person that's into shit." Keina looked towards him, sitting up and pulling her shirt forwards so it wasn't so tight. She had a "shit eating" grin upon her face as she said this. "Literal shit, by the way. If that bartender knows his kinks, he's got you pegged for one fucked up fellow, now."

Keina turned to face towards the side of the bed and left one leg hanging over the side while the other bent upwards, foot under thigh.

After a few moments, she stood up, and walked over to the wall, slowly hitting it, very lightly, with her forearm. Rhythmically, there was a very quiet thumping in the room now.

"Get your gold ready, your bartender friend is coming. Helps that this room is basically right above him. Find a piece of paper to slide it under the door or something."

Keina would wait for him to round the top of the stairs, when he was back in sensing range, and then thumped a little harder, a little louder. Still quiet, the bartender would be unlikely to hear it unless he was really trying, but it was worth it, just in case.

Then, right before there was a knock at the door, Keina screamed out. Not a word, not a cry for help, nothing of the sort. Just a single phoneme, punctuated by a crack in her voice. "Ah".

The knock did not come right away, only after a few more seconds, after which the man spoke up.

"I have located him, sir, if you would please?"

[625]

Masashi chuckled. “Then I guess it’s lucky for you that I’m not, actually. And the bartender is likely very familiar with anything and everything to do with this establishment. He’s not here to judge, and even if I were it would be bad for their business to start spreading rumours around about what a particular guest may or may not be into, sexually.”

Keina then got off the bed and started Thumping on the walls, almost like…nevermind, before telling him that they would be having company soon. “Good thing I brought a decent amount of ryo, I’ll be a pauper after this is done.” He said jokingly. The amount of Ryo he’d actually spent so far was a pittance.

About three seconds before the man knocked at the door, Keina cried out, almost like…nevermind. Masashi looked over at her with an amused expression, but said nothing to her, as it would ruin the reason for the outburst. It was at that point that their contact spoke up and told them that he was successful in locating their target. “Thank you, I’ll be right there.” He said to the door, quietly taking off his jacket and throwing it over Keina to hide the fact that she wasn’t…nevermind, and had his manipulated fabric shift so that it looked like he wasn’t wearing a shirt as he walked over to the door. He opened it slightly and passed the man several bills. The man nodded and passed him a slip of paper before turning around and leaving. Masashi closed the door again and walked over to Keina, reading the slip of paper.

“He’s in room 18.” He said to Keina. “How do you want to do this?” He asked her, referring to the plan of action in terms of getting the son home.

WC: 300
TWC: 2414