Starring:
Date: June 29, 2012
Summary:
Goh is confronted by Kirigakure shinobi after allegedly stealing some pickled vegetables.
Poster's note: Profanity filtered in obvious places.
"Foul Play in the Markets"
Kirigakure
It's been a hairy situation for Goh. Having arrived in Kirigakure, the blonde had opted to set up shop and begin selling his amazing vegetables. That was a good few days ago now, and although he had sold a few items, it was far from a runaway success. Which in turn made him try harder, putting up signs and pieces of advertising to try and help him out.
Two days into his tenure here is when the trouble really started, as the wanderer had discovered that some of his items had been STOLEN! From underneath his very nose! Of course, being a foreigner in such tense times in Kirigakure, Goh had little help from those around him. So he was forced to take matters into his own hand, tracking down the thief and stealing his own products back.
But… it was far less successful than he had hoped it would be. He had been sprung, and with random calls from the original thief, it seemed that civilians everywhere were now after Goh! The blonde, not even bothering to explain the situation, fled for his life.
This event only happened fifteen minutes ago. Goh believes he has lost the chasers as he veered off into the boneyard gardens, the pickler huffing and puffing as he leans against a large tree. "Man… this Village is rough." Still, he had his stuff back. So that's good at least!
It's about lunch time, the sun high up in the sky.
Kiku is walking the Garden with her mask on. Her normal armor was taken off, revealing that she is indeed a young woman of age. Of course, she doesn't get bothered by boys cause A, all the boys know that mask is Kiku. B, she's a Kaguya, so likely to kill you as kiss you. And C, they have to deal with Keisuke, whose a Kaguya swordsman whose even worse then Kiku. So the girl sits on a bench, waiting on another teammate to show up. It seems that she is likely going to be working with this other girl a lot.
Kiku blinks a bit as she sees Goh, and a large crowd rush past the Gardens. A frown covers her lips as she gets up. Her eyes lock on his, before she closes them. If Goh wasn't looking at her eyes, he would see somebody with a skull face and no eyes walking right towards him…
There was a cry for foul play happening in the market place.. .Stolen goods, stolen this and that, the blonde haired trickster thief, there was far too many rumors spilling out in the market place at the moment, it was something an annoyed Kunoichi was quickly going to remedy, especially since her favorite shops were temporary closed until the menace was captured. Aoitsuki soon came next, catching glimpse of a blonde dashing down the street and veering off in a bone garden, she doesn't chase after him and instead began to wall off into the bone yard, hands snugged down within her kimono sleeves; She too has the apperance of an elegant graceful woman, long locks of blonde hair, very fair skin and a beauty to be beholded…
As she approaches the Garden however she does spot a familiar shinobi, though not having nearly as much armor as the last time she had seen her. "Kaguya-san?" Aoi spoke out to the other girl, attempting to get her attention as she approached Goh… she seemed a little zombified.
Sucking in as much oxygen as he can, Goh looks around carefully. Thank heavens he lost the angry mob! Pocketing the small ceramic jar, the blonde stands up straight. Collecting his breath, he takes a step before noticing the shinobi approaching him. Obviously a shinobi, given the mask. They had sent ninja after him already?! That was quick. "Oh. Uh, hi there." He greets, lifting a hand to wave meekly. As she approaches, he takes a backwards step, obviously a little put off by the mask.
"Now now, I can explain everything. Seriously!" And then Aoitsuki appears from the side, causing his attention to shift in that direction. As opposed to Kiku, this person looked far more peaceful and less… blood-thirty. Which itself could be a worry in Kirigakure! His ears prickle when the family name Kaguya.
"Kaguya? As in, the funky bone-clan?"
Kiku opens her eyes a little bit, and turns her head towards Aoi a little bit. Her pale blue eyes takes a moment focus, and then she nods her head. The woman draws a small knife made out of bone. "Kaguya Kiku. The one who stepped out of her grave. The one who failed to die.", she says with a small smile on her lips. The girl doesn't look that big. Of course, its also the fact that Kaguyas make their own weapons from their bodies. "Would you like to explain yourself?", she asks in a quiet voice. "I can use a new…subject for my training.", she says.
"Funky? You're one to talk. I can smell pickling ingredients all over you from a mile away," a deep voice rings out as Keisuke steps into the area. How long the Swordsman has been following is unclear, as he seems to always come out of nowhere. "And, yes, would you mind explaining why the cucumber you're causing trouble in my village?" His voice is rather monotone and stern, this one obviously not the friendliest man in the world. Maybe he's still adjusting to being the Family Head and all, or maybe he just doesn't give a carrot about politics. A brief nod is given to Keisuke and then to Aoitsuki before he returns his attention to Goh, those intense blood red eyes staring the blonde man down.
And then Keisuke came, swelling Aoi's silence; Casually she moves forward to take a stand next to Kiku, arms crossed along her chest as she prepared for some sort of explaination. " Your behavior has stalled quite a bit of business in the marketplace at the expense of many customers… Myself included… So an explaination is definitely necessary," Aoi followed up with an order, her eyes remaining on Goh while offering a knowing gaze with Keisuke, if things didn't pick up soon enough Aoi was a little worried Kiku might scalp the guy… "Be quick…" The pressure was on!
"The one who failed to die? I would hate to succeed at that sort of task too." Goh muses with a small grin, trying to turn the situation into a more light-hearted one. He eyes the knife carefully, before taking another step back. "Yeah, there's a whole bunch of people who think I stole something from the markets. But for real, it's not even true! Now, if you guys could just let me go, I can head back to my stall and we can all move on from this ugly mess. Aheh." His hands dig into his pockets.
At the sudden new voice that comes in, Goh wheels about to look at the new arrival. His eyes widen a bit, as he has to look /up/ quite a way to get a good look at this imposing figure. "That's… a nice sword." He doesn't say much more than that. Though the tone would suggest that he's seen the thing before. "I haven't even heard of you before. They're going through Swordsman like no tomorrow." A shift of gaze goes to Aoi too, before he sucks in a breath.
"Look, I already explained. And that's the truth of the manner."
Kiku not happy. Her face shows it a bit as she puts the knife away. "…I didn't get to kill anyone on the last mission.", Kiku says to Keisuke. She looks at him a bit, and looks at Goh. There's a sudden look in Kiku's eyes, and a small curl on her lips. "He is a thief.", she says. The girl keeps moving forward a bit unless Keisuke orders her to stop. One can feel a deep malice from Kiku. Oh boy. "You know, I had a death laser dropped on my head by the Jigoku. That did not kill me…", she says with an evil smile. Well, she assumes it was the Jigoku, since everyone told her so. She had a hard time seeing anything having the thing dropped on her…
"Well, I've had this sword for several years, and I'm normallly away on missions until recently," Keisuke responds dryly, eyes narrowing as he looks down at the man. He is clearly unamused by the blonde man's antics. "I don't care who you've explained what to. I suggest you give me the entire story from the beginning, or I'll simply assume the villagefolk are telling the truth and throw you in jail." With that, he tosses what appears to be a fragment of bone down at the back of Goh's feet, and it quickly grows and turns into a small armchair like one would see at an interrogation table. "Have a seat and give me your story… now." A brief glance is given to Kiku as she speaks, though the Swordsman says nothing in return to her just yet.
Goh answer just wasn't good enough, if anything it was even more irritating that all he said was I didn't do it please let me go. " Hum…" Aoi mused quietly, her expression was still quite blank as she looked over Keisuke pop out a little arm chair for the guy, every now and then her eyes looked towards Kiku. " You really have a thirst for blood, don't you?" Aoi commented to Kiku, though it certainly wasn't an insult, she peered intently at Goh, a light sigh escaping her lips. " Stick to the topic," she almost barked at him… right now it seemed like he was trying to weasle his way out..
"Death laser?" Goh comments, as if confused as to what that even is. "You're nuts." The blonde mutters, looking at Kiku. "You're going to try and kill me just because of this small thing?" As the chair erupts from the ground, he seems to have a little bit of hesitation sitting down on it. "Erm, maybe I'll stand. Thanks. Just… yknow. I usually have a chair policy. I like them to be made out of wood… or something that can't be manipulated to kill or restrain me." He coughs. "Either or."
With Aoi running out of patience too, he relaxes as much as he can. Though his muscles are tensing a little bit.
"Look. I've been trying to sell pickled vegetables here, which is why you're smelling that amazing scent. Feel your mouth watering? That's why. And then some potato stole my wares. Totally jelous of my awesome ability. So I stole them back. I'd do anything to get them back!"
His head tilts a bit. "I must have seen a look-a-like then, or something. One of the old swordsman, Yasushi, had a sword that looks just like that. Maybe they're twins? I dunno much with swords."
Shaking his head, he continues. "Anyway! If you could just let me be on my way, I can head back to my stall and you can… I dunno. Maybe practice killing someone else." He throws a look to Kiku, almost out of nervousness.
"Thank you.", Kiku says pleasently to Aoi. Of course, thats a compliment to a Kaguya. She looks at Goh. "SIT!", she barks at him. "Or die.", she says back in her normal voice. "If you have nothing to fear, then sitting in the chair will not harm you.", the woman says. Her muscles are tense, and she's itching a bit. The woman moves back towards Aoi a bit. She stands there, preparing to attack. She is breathing a bit more readily now. Just waiting for the order.
"As you wish," Keisuke says, lifting an eyebrow. He waves the same hand he threw the fragment down with, causing the chair to split apart into several large bone spikes at Goh's back. Still, he goes silent for a moment to listen to the man's story and ponders a bit. "If you mean Yasushi, yes. I suppose his name is easily confused with Kibushi's, but Kibushi is just a grunt Chuunin. Yasushi once wielded a blade somewhat similar to mine, except made of bone. This was before some of the Seven Swords were created. Kubikiribocho was given to me at Kirigakure's inception." He waves a hand to Kiku for her to ease up a bit, as she is going a bit overboard. "You have a simple task ahead, pickler. Find the man who stole from you and bring him to me. If he confesses after some… persuasion from my apprentice here, you will be free to remain. However, if you are caught stealing in my village again, you will be learning how to pickle vegetables with one arm. That's as fair a deal as you will get from me."
The meeting was rather conclusive, and Aoi at least became satisfied with the revealation. She yawns quietly and begins to move along regardless, taking a few steps forward to look over Goh and finally stepping back. " I suppose we just have to wait and see what happens, Don't want to chop the wrong person's arm off after all. We are impulsive but smart," Aoi commented to Goh, he still seemed to want to talk talk talk, minorly annoying. " I recommend slicing the lips from his face instead," With that she began to look off from the bone garden, hopefully something else out there enough to garner her attention
Goh flinches a little when Kiku suddenly erupts, looking at her with a stunned face. What the heck was this person? "You need to relax, girl. I'm not going to do anything if you yell at me like that." He sort of looks at her carefully, before looking back up to Keisuke. This situation was unravelling faster than he would have liked. Although Keisuke appeared to have a degree of control, which is likely why he was elevated to that status in the first place. "Aaah, that's right. Yasushi. Sorry, I get some of the names confused sometimes! And yeah, possibly. It had a weird effect in that it could swing on its own accord… or something. I didn't really see it in action thankfully, but I did talk with him quite a bit during that whole… period of battle." He coughs a bit.
"I can try and find the guy, but he's probably weasled his way clear of the Village right now. I may have… Erm… well, intimidated him a little bit too. But I'll hunt him down for sure."
He flicks a thumb up. "I don't steal what isn't mine in the first place, so it shouldn't be a problem. You guys enforce the law here, so it was just unexpected it happened in the first place."
With Aoi leaving, he winces—holding his hands to his mouth. He seems to swallow a little, gulping. That thought sounded just as painful.
Kiku turns around as well. "I would start with his manhood, then his tongue, and then his lips.", she says. The woman turns around, and walks a bit. She points to a patch of red chrysanthemums. The woman looks to Aoi. "That is my least favorite spot of this place.", she tells Aoi. She walks over, and kneels down in front of them. Keisuke likely knows why. The ground a short distance away looks like its starting to settle after having been disturbed. "I come here after missions to help clear my mind."
"I'll keep those options in mind," Keisuke replies to the girls as he glances over to them. The blades of bone seem to disentigrate behind Goh, the Swordsman's intense eyes staring him down for a moment again. "Don't disappoint me by proving yourself a thief, else I'll remove all the mentioned pieces." That said, he turns and looks at the patch Kiku is referring to. "If you focus on your death, you will have no life. Move on or remain weak, Kiku." He then walks over to the fountain and steps out onto the water, moving into a meditative position. Of course, he doesn't look peaceful when he meditates, only calculative.
"You shouldn't stay in a place that makes you feel Ill will…" Aoi replied back to Kiku, she does glance at the area though, the honestly didn't care much for the garden at all, it ws a little… Creepy despite the many kaguya that loomed about the area. " If Keisuke-sama is right then you should definitely let go of your death and embrace a new life," Aoi voice was sincere, however her expression was uncaring, or at least indifferent. "Some people would kill to have a second chance, though I don't know your circumstances…"
Goh frowns a little bit, before lifting his hand.
"Look, uh… what did you say your name was? Ki-something? You seem to be a little agitated, so I'll cut you a deal." He grins a bit, turning to face the masked woman. Something about the way she was dressed certainly made her more intimidating.
"Let's see if we can work some of your… agitated-ness out. No killing, of course. If I win, then you'll have to promise to be a little nicer. And maybe even purchase some of my pickled veg. If you win, then… I dunno, I can leave the Village for a good long while. Though I guess then you won't have the wonderful smell of vegies floating through the streets." He frowns, "That's no good."
He shifts a look to Keisuke too. The guy just looked incredibly grumpy. But given the pressure he would be under, it's no great surprise. Most of the Swordsman he has come across are like that.
Kiku looks at Aoi. "This is where I was being buried. I stepped out of the ground as dirt hit me.",she says. The woman takes a moment to shake her head a little bit. The woman shrugs her shoulders a little bit. "I didn't die. My bloodline had kicked in, and it was the first sign that one day, I might be able to grow the bone out.", she tells. The woman turns around, and looks at Goh for a second. "Time is counting down, and if your theif has left the city, then you will be held in place of the theif. By your own confession, you stole back what you claim was yours. If you do not bring the theif here for justice, and he doesn't confess, then you are the theif in question.", she points out. The woman looks to Aoi. "Is that not right?", she asks her teammate. "That was what my teacher gave you. A chance to prove your innocence. You are wasting it."
As Goh speaks to Kiku, Keisuke glances over to him and lifts an eyebrow. Kiku seems to steal the words he was about to say right out of his mouth, bringing a faint smirk to his face. There may be hope for her yet. She seems to finally be catching on a bit. "I suggest you get moving if you don't want to be in our jail."
As Arekushi enter the boneyard, he recognize all the face exept for one, a wanderer who seems to be having a discussion with of of kirigakure chuunin.
"I see…" Aoi whispered softly to Kiku, the insight was indeed something she had been waiting for, but Aoi also was quite a reserved young woman, perhaps the two of them had more in common than she anticipated. "Perhaps you will get your wish… one day, after all it seems like to practice under the greatest of masters," Aoi stated turning her attention back to Goh, whom once again seemed to be weasling and cutting a deal.. That sort of thing might have worked in Konoha, but Kirigakure… Not so much, the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen. " As I said, be quick," Aoi stated back to Goh, irritated that he hadn't even began to run along yet..
"Ha!" Goh lets out a small laugh. "There you go, that's better. You've had a sudden change of attitude, I dig it." Scratching the back of his head, he seems to think. "Well, hopefully you can at least appreciate my courage for taking up such a direct challenge to a high level Kaguya in their own Village." Holding up a finger, he narrows his eyes a bit. As if thinking, before exhaling slowly.
"It's no problem. I've already found him. Got him, actually. Check it out." Extending his arm, the blonde points to a tree on the far edge of the boneyard gardens, a reasonable distance from the group.
Tethered to the trunk of a tree by some thin wire, the original thief stands there, looking exhausted. Head drooped to his side a bit. To make matters even better, he is covered in drool! The thick liquid drips off the thief, splooshing onto the ground. The man looks grossed out, given the sounds he's making. Quite in tact. Probably just tired.
"I've already saved you the effort of tying him up."
He does notice the new arrival, but doesn't quite act on it yet.
Kiku sighs a bit, and removes her mask. Her light skin shows that she does not take the mask off very often. She rubs her eyes. The woman looks back at Keisuke a bit, shaking her head. She's going to let Keisuke decide what to do. This makes three times he has changed his story. The woman just grumbles as she moves over with Aoi. "Would it be wrong of me to say that I am not touching that?", she asks Aoi. "Careful storyteller. For I'm nothing before the Clan Head of the Odori branch. That is Kaguya Odori Keisuke. AKA, he runs the Branch Family. I am barely even a twig in the family line."
Glancing over to the drenched man, Keisuke gives a nod and produces a bone dagger from his palm, which he then tosses over to Kiku. "Make him talk," he orders, eyes narrowing as he simply waits. "But only interrogate. Thievery will land him in the jail, not in the morgue. Becoming a eunoch is not necessarily required of him at the moment."
"Aoi let out a soft sigh, however the scene before her was absolutely quite deplorable, " Disgusting," Aoi replied back to Kiku, and taking a further step back once Keisuke tosses the man towards Kiku, she carefully looked over her kimono briefly, making sure not a single peice of…whatever that stuff was didn't make contact with her body, and it didn't. "Whenever you have some free time, perhaps we can think of something to do, there should always be a balance in training your body," With that it seemed like business was going to be concluded for now, and she began to head on her way, unlucky for Kiku…she seemed to be stick with with the sticky man for today…
"/You're/ the head of the Clan?" Goh seems surprised at that, turning to Keisuke. "I mean, not that I doubt it. You're certainly beefy and tall enough. But what happened to the old man Kaguya that used to be the head of the bizz? I enjoyed chatting to him and swapping stories" He does seem curious at that, though perhaps he shouldn't be. Standard line of thought would suggest that this new guy rose and overtook the old head.
"Relax, it's just drool." He seems It's not going to hurt you. Unless.. I dunno, you're allergic to drool. Though that seems unlikely." He nods at this, seeming confident on it.
Trailing over to follow Kiku over to the captured man, he will crouch down nearby and grin in a very cheesy way. As soon as Kiku goes NEAR him, the man starts ranting very quickly. About how he stole Goh's wares, how he lied to his sister, how he cheated on a test he completed recently. Just a whole bunch of admissions before Kiku even gets close enough to hold a knife to the throat, and then, right at the end, he follows up with a 'Please don't kill me'.
Kiku looks over at Keisuke as soon as she catches the knife, and the man confessing. "Alright, Aoi.", she says. The girl nods her head, and then looks at the guy, and then looks at Goh…The woman looks back at Keisuke a bit. The woman sighs a bit, obviously confused about all this, but she looks at the theif for a moment. "A test. To see if you're a clone…", she says. The girl goes about carving a small seal into the man's shoulder, digging the blade in a few times…
"I'm the Head of the Odori Family, not the Kaguya themselves," Keisuke responds as he glances over to Goh. "Takeshi is my father." He then returns his attention to Kiku, grinning slightly at the way she tests the man and gets him to talk rather easily. Her training has been paying off, and she has learned to test for that from all the times she attacked a clone of him.
"A clone?" Goh replies, raising an eyebrow. "That's not a bad idea at all. Maybe I'll have to use it next time."
As the knife digs into the skin though, this only serves to increase the mans jabberings about more stuff he has done wrong. And at greater volume! Clearly, he does not want to perish. The fact that he's not POOFing in smoke is also probably a sign that he's the real deal. The blood etched into his shoulder streaks down his arm. Definitely real.
As Keisuke clarifies for the somewhat dull Goh, he 'aaaaahs', turning around to face the giant Keisuke from his crouched position.
"Cool. Takeshi is a pretty cool cat, yknow. We get along very well."
Kiku looks the man in the eyes, as the seal is finished. She takes a moment, and pushes a little chakra into it. Its a common seal that basically glows red if a lie is told. "I'm finished.", she says. The woman looks at the arm. "And he's real. Just the standard truth telling seal.", she says. The woman steps back, watching him a bit.
"I imagine. My father is much more a conversationalist than I," Keisuke responds, keeping his eyes on Kiku this time rather than looking to Goh. This little show is rather amusing and is a good show of what Kiku has been learning. "Very well then. It seems you are off the hook, pickler. However, remember my warning. Screw with my village, lose an arm." With that, he splashes down into the fountain… A clone again? Considering the amount of water, it's rather unclear how long the real Keisuke may have been around, as he had a rather abundant water source to use to disappear from via replacing himself with a clone.
