"What a mess."
That wasn't Emiko's usual greeting to him after he sat down at the bar, so Makoto quirked an eyebrow as if to ask what was up, and if it was something he ought to have anything in particular to do with.
She poured and slid him a random drink, knowing by this point that he was anything but fussy when it came to alcohol consumption, or indeed, food and drink in general. "Trying to figure out how to word this one. It's tricky."
"Aren't they all?" he asked dryly, and gave the glass in front of him a shot. It was some kind of vaguely fruity liqueur, very sweet and strongly alcoholic. He didn't recognize the exact fruit, meaning it was probably native to Wind Country.
She shrugged. "Fair. All right, see that girl over there?"
Makoto glanced where she tilted her head, at a rose-haired woman with a lock of brown off to one side, sitting in a corner nursing a drink and looking moody.
"That's Toshiro Kaori. That's her maiden name--changed it back after a recent divorce." Emiko gave him a meaningful look when he turned back to her. "Mostly it went okay, but she was supposed to get back a brooch that belonged to her grandmother that her ex-husband is holding onto, probably because he thinks he can find a buyer. Gambling debts." She waved a hand vaguely. "Anyway. It's really important to her, since she was close with her grandmother before she died. Kaori can't really afford to do the whole thing with legal teams after the divorce, and he lies to her and says he doesn't have it when she asks herself--only she knows he does. So."
"So you want me to go shake the man down until he hands it over?" Makoto asked lightly. "Hmm. I don't get many chances to be intimidating."
She looked him up and down and then gave him a skeptical impression. "Well, you aren't really. But I'm sure you could apply the right pressure. I don't know if she'll want to come or just ask you to go."
"Let's ask," he said breezily, and knocked back his liqueur.
And then had a mild coughing fit. That stuff was...a lot stronger than it looked at first.
Emiko watched him with vague concern and amusement before handing him a glass of water to recover with. Then they went to talk to Kaori.
"I don't really want to see him again," Kaori confessed over her scotch--not a drink for happy people. "But I should...I'd rather that than have anyone else look for it. No offense. If you can just get me in and make sure he doesn't bother me, I should be able to find it."
"That shouldn't be a problem," Makoto said, and it wouldn't. If the man had even an ounce of self-preservation in him, he wouldn't tick off an armed ninja. "We'll go whenever you're ready."
Kaori downed the rest of her scotch in one go. "Why not, then. I want to see him squirm a bit, at least. That part might be fun."
The trek to where her ex-husband lived was not particularly long, though the neighborhood was a little shady. The apartment complex was somewhat run-down, but less than a block away from an obvious gambling parlor. Kaori made a sour face when she saw it.
"I don't think he'll buzz us up," she said when they reached the front door. "But we can at least try."
Makoto, who already had his lockpicks out, glanced at her. "...You can, if you like. I wasn't going to bother saying we should announce ourselves, honestly."
She stared at the tools in his hands. "Can all ninja pick locks?"
"No." It was likely not taught at the academies in the great hidden villages. "It's more of...something I've found can come in handy. A good skill to pick up."
She looked as if she didn't quite believe him, but the lock was not a difficult one and she didn't seem to come up with any objection in the time it took him to pick it.
"Just so you know," he said as he stowed away his tools, "I am on the right side of the law. It really is just a useful skill to have, as a ninja."
"All right," she said. "I wouldn't know. Um. Are you...do you work for Sand?"
Makoto considered this. "Not really. I'm not a Sand ninja, if that's what you're asking."
She seemed, oddly, to relax at that. "All right," she said again. "Good."
Well. With the political tension going on between Sand and the rest of Wind Country at the moment, it wasn't surprising a civilian in Soon's Haven would react that way. He opted not to mention he was unofficially but solidly on Sand's side, since there was no need to.
The man lived on the fourth floor, and the walk to it was not quiet. There were banging sounds in multiple rooms on the way to the stairs, like things were being built or repaired in them. Maybe one had to do that often, in a place like this. There were also loud voices in a couple of rooms, and sounds he'd rather not have heard. The walls were rather thin.
The fourth floor wasn't an exception to this. Kaori stopped at room 412, took a deep breath, and knocked, hesitantly.
Probably no one inside could even hear.
"Maybe I should just get the lock again," Makoto mused aloud. "Element of surprise, throw him off-guard..."
Kaori looked between him and the door, hand poised to knock again, then stepped back. She shook her head lightly, pale pink hair spilling over her shoulders. "Do it."
He had the tools out again almost before she'd said anything. Like the one downstairs, this lock was not very good. Terrible security in this place, really, but that was probably to be expected.
"There's a chance he isn't even home, I suppose," Makoto said lightly. "It is the time of the night for poker and other such things, after all."
She shook her head. "He'll be home. It's Wednesday; they don't meet on Wednesday."
The lock clicked open and he withdrew his picks. Kaori opened the door as he tucked them away in his inner pocket again.
The place was...surprisingly, not the mess he'd expected from a problem gambler. There was an empty box of takeout noodles sitting on the counter, but other than that it was, well, clean. Small, with dingy walls, but...clean. And not in particularly terrible repair. Huh.
The man inside, however, was startled out of his reclining chair, where he was apparently trying to teach himself how to cheat at cards. (With poor form, too. Makoto wasn't an expert at it like some people he knew, but even he could have managed better than that. The Ace of Hearts was visible in his sleeve, for crying out loud.) He stared stupidly at Kaori first, then glanced at Makoto, who took up a position leaning on the wall. He didn't slouch, but you didn't need to do that to look casually menacing.
Although, maybe the parasol detracted a little bit.
The man regained his footing quickly. "Look, I don't have your stupid necklace, and if you think you can bring a kid in here to intimidate me--"
"Kaori," Makoto said, tone completely even, "you should probably go and look for that brooch while I...deal with this." She nodded quickly and disappeared into the adjacent bedroom, where she seemed to think it was.
He might not have been used to being a hired thug or intimidating people himself, but he had certainly seen others do it. The trick was to put the target off balance, usually using the threat of violence and danger without actually using any. Although, if you had to, you certainly could.
"Now listen here," the man started, but he didn't get very far before Makoto stepped away from the wall and very deliberately flashed his knives.
"This doesn't need to go badly for you," he informed the man coolly. "This can go very quickly, in fact, and very smoothly. All you have to do is not interfere."
There weren't any weapons in sight, so the man was probably not combat trained in the slightest. Indeed, even seeing that Makoto was well-armed seemed to make him quaver, despite the fact he had several inches and probably about twenty pounds of advantage.
Not that that would have done him a lot of good.
"And just for the record," he continued pleasantly, as he dimly heard Kaori moving around and searching for something in the other room, "I am not a child, I am a fully trained ninja. I am carrying more weapons than you can see. Understand?"
The man swallowed hard and sank back down into his chair slowly, looking like he wanted to protest but thinking better of it.
Makoto did not move, simply keeping a level gaze trained on the target as searching and rustling sounds came from the side room. Eventually, after about ten minutes of this, Kaori emerged clutching a piece of jewelry.
"I knew he had it," she said triumphantly, not even glancing at her ex-husband. "All right, let's get out of this dump."
Her mood had shifted radically, from the almost timid, depressed one of earlier to a full confidence. It really must have been an important keepsake, or perhaps it was simply symbolic of something. He didn't know enough to say, nor care.
"Gladly," he replied, turning his back on the man. He followed Kaori out into the hall, but couldn't resist turning as he closed the door to add to the hapless target, "oh, by the way? You are very bad at cheating at cards. Practice more."
Then he slammed the door on the gaping visage, and left with an alternately beaming and giggling client.
That wasn't Emiko's usual greeting to him after he sat down at the bar, so Makoto quirked an eyebrow as if to ask what was up, and if it was something he ought to have anything in particular to do with.
She poured and slid him a random drink, knowing by this point that he was anything but fussy when it came to alcohol consumption, or indeed, food and drink in general. "Trying to figure out how to word this one. It's tricky."
"Aren't they all?" he asked dryly, and gave the glass in front of him a shot. It was some kind of vaguely fruity liqueur, very sweet and strongly alcoholic. He didn't recognize the exact fruit, meaning it was probably native to Wind Country.
She shrugged. "Fair. All right, see that girl over there?"
Makoto glanced where she tilted her head, at a rose-haired woman with a lock of brown off to one side, sitting in a corner nursing a drink and looking moody.
"That's Toshiro Kaori. That's her maiden name--changed it back after a recent divorce." Emiko gave him a meaningful look when he turned back to her. "Mostly it went okay, but she was supposed to get back a brooch that belonged to her grandmother that her ex-husband is holding onto, probably because he thinks he can find a buyer. Gambling debts." She waved a hand vaguely. "Anyway. It's really important to her, since she was close with her grandmother before she died. Kaori can't really afford to do the whole thing with legal teams after the divorce, and he lies to her and says he doesn't have it when she asks herself--only she knows he does. So."
"So you want me to go shake the man down until he hands it over?" Makoto asked lightly. "Hmm. I don't get many chances to be intimidating."
She looked him up and down and then gave him a skeptical impression. "Well, you aren't really. But I'm sure you could apply the right pressure. I don't know if she'll want to come or just ask you to go."
"Let's ask," he said breezily, and knocked back his liqueur.
And then had a mild coughing fit. That stuff was...a lot stronger than it looked at first.
Emiko watched him with vague concern and amusement before handing him a glass of water to recover with. Then they went to talk to Kaori.
"I don't really want to see him again," Kaori confessed over her scotch--not a drink for happy people. "But I should...I'd rather that than have anyone else look for it. No offense. If you can just get me in and make sure he doesn't bother me, I should be able to find it."
"That shouldn't be a problem," Makoto said, and it wouldn't. If the man had even an ounce of self-preservation in him, he wouldn't tick off an armed ninja. "We'll go whenever you're ready."
Kaori downed the rest of her scotch in one go. "Why not, then. I want to see him squirm a bit, at least. That part might be fun."
The trek to where her ex-husband lived was not particularly long, though the neighborhood was a little shady. The apartment complex was somewhat run-down, but less than a block away from an obvious gambling parlor. Kaori made a sour face when she saw it.
"I don't think he'll buzz us up," she said when they reached the front door. "But we can at least try."
Makoto, who already had his lockpicks out, glanced at her. "...You can, if you like. I wasn't going to bother saying we should announce ourselves, honestly."
She stared at the tools in his hands. "Can all ninja pick locks?"
"No." It was likely not taught at the academies in the great hidden villages. "It's more of...something I've found can come in handy. A good skill to pick up."
She looked as if she didn't quite believe him, but the lock was not a difficult one and she didn't seem to come up with any objection in the time it took him to pick it.
"Just so you know," he said as he stowed away his tools, "I am on the right side of the law. It really is just a useful skill to have, as a ninja."
"All right," she said. "I wouldn't know. Um. Are you...do you work for Sand?"
Makoto considered this. "Not really. I'm not a Sand ninja, if that's what you're asking."
She seemed, oddly, to relax at that. "All right," she said again. "Good."
Well. With the political tension going on between Sand and the rest of Wind Country at the moment, it wasn't surprising a civilian in Soon's Haven would react that way. He opted not to mention he was unofficially but solidly on Sand's side, since there was no need to.
The man lived on the fourth floor, and the walk to it was not quiet. There were banging sounds in multiple rooms on the way to the stairs, like things were being built or repaired in them. Maybe one had to do that often, in a place like this. There were also loud voices in a couple of rooms, and sounds he'd rather not have heard. The walls were rather thin.
The fourth floor wasn't an exception to this. Kaori stopped at room 412, took a deep breath, and knocked, hesitantly.
Probably no one inside could even hear.
"Maybe I should just get the lock again," Makoto mused aloud. "Element of surprise, throw him off-guard..."
Kaori looked between him and the door, hand poised to knock again, then stepped back. She shook her head lightly, pale pink hair spilling over her shoulders. "Do it."
He had the tools out again almost before she'd said anything. Like the one downstairs, this lock was not very good. Terrible security in this place, really, but that was probably to be expected.
"There's a chance he isn't even home, I suppose," Makoto said lightly. "It is the time of the night for poker and other such things, after all."
She shook her head. "He'll be home. It's Wednesday; they don't meet on Wednesday."
The lock clicked open and he withdrew his picks. Kaori opened the door as he tucked them away in his inner pocket again.
The place was...surprisingly, not the mess he'd expected from a problem gambler. There was an empty box of takeout noodles sitting on the counter, but other than that it was, well, clean. Small, with dingy walls, but...clean. And not in particularly terrible repair. Huh.
The man inside, however, was startled out of his reclining chair, where he was apparently trying to teach himself how to cheat at cards. (With poor form, too. Makoto wasn't an expert at it like some people he knew, but even he could have managed better than that. The Ace of Hearts was visible in his sleeve, for crying out loud.) He stared stupidly at Kaori first, then glanced at Makoto, who took up a position leaning on the wall. He didn't slouch, but you didn't need to do that to look casually menacing.
Although, maybe the parasol detracted a little bit.
The man regained his footing quickly. "Look, I don't have your stupid necklace, and if you think you can bring a kid in here to intimidate me--"
"Kaori," Makoto said, tone completely even, "you should probably go and look for that brooch while I...deal with this." She nodded quickly and disappeared into the adjacent bedroom, where she seemed to think it was.
He might not have been used to being a hired thug or intimidating people himself, but he had certainly seen others do it. The trick was to put the target off balance, usually using the threat of violence and danger without actually using any. Although, if you had to, you certainly could.
"Now listen here," the man started, but he didn't get very far before Makoto stepped away from the wall and very deliberately flashed his knives.
"This doesn't need to go badly for you," he informed the man coolly. "This can go very quickly, in fact, and very smoothly. All you have to do is not interfere."
There weren't any weapons in sight, so the man was probably not combat trained in the slightest. Indeed, even seeing that Makoto was well-armed seemed to make him quaver, despite the fact he had several inches and probably about twenty pounds of advantage.
Not that that would have done him a lot of good.
"And just for the record," he continued pleasantly, as he dimly heard Kaori moving around and searching for something in the other room, "I am not a child, I am a fully trained ninja. I am carrying more weapons than you can see. Understand?"
The man swallowed hard and sank back down into his chair slowly, looking like he wanted to protest but thinking better of it.
Makoto did not move, simply keeping a level gaze trained on the target as searching and rustling sounds came from the side room. Eventually, after about ten minutes of this, Kaori emerged clutching a piece of jewelry.
"I knew he had it," she said triumphantly, not even glancing at her ex-husband. "All right, let's get out of this dump."
Her mood had shifted radically, from the almost timid, depressed one of earlier to a full confidence. It really must have been an important keepsake, or perhaps it was simply symbolic of something. He didn't know enough to say, nor care.
"Gladly," he replied, turning his back on the man. He followed Kaori out into the hall, but couldn't resist turning as he closed the door to add to the hapless target, "oh, by the way? You are very bad at cheating at cards. Practice more."
Then he slammed the door on the gaping visage, and left with an alternately beaming and giggling client.