Starring:
Atsuro, Hisoka
Date: March 17 ,2013
Summary:
Tasked with finding a deadly poison before it's sold on the black market, Atsuro and Hisoka investigate a number of businesses in a busy merchant town.
"Poison Control"
Hanro, a town in the Land of Fire
The town of Hanro is well known in this region of the Land of Fire as a place of commerce, where you can find businesses of all kinds and sizes trading, bargaining, and making deals here. There is a darker element to all of this, though: with so much money changing hands, some of these businesses are less than honest. Some are even criminal. And the police force in Hanro has found themselves dealing with a particular difficult criminal organization. About a week ago, they received a tip that a highly toxic plant, ghostsedge, used primarily by assassins for making poisons, was being traded by one of the vendors in its bustling marketplace.
It's been several days now, and their search hasn't turned anything up. Knowing that they only have so much time before the plant is sold, they've enlisted the help of Konoha's ninja corps, who have sent a pair of Inuzuka to track it down and, if possible, apprehend the criminals selling it — and hopefully their customers too.
Atsuro and Hisoka were shown a small sample of the plant, so that they and their nin-dog partners would know what to smell for. They're now patrolling the marketplace, which is big and busy, weaving their way through crowds and sniffing around every stall they can. There's much more going on here than in Konoha's marketplace back home, and certainly the small marketplace in the Inuzuka compound. In fact, Atsuro thinks it might even rival the marketplace in the Imperial City. "You ever seen anything like it?" Atsuro asks Hisoka, stuffing away the plush rabbit he was forced to buy 'for his daughter' so that the owner of the last stall he investigated wouldn't get suspicious. Just idle talk, really. They still have to search for the ghostsedge, and they've still got many, many business to cover.
Hisoka shook his head softly. Kurokane was at his side being just as, if not more, astout. "No not even close. But it's what I would hope to expect from a commerce town like this." Hisoka was armed with his weapon of choice today fashioned to his back. An extremely long katana that seemed to possess astonishing weight as well as length to its design. The one armed Inuzuka only used this weapon on assignments as training with it was basically impossible. Hisoka glances a few times at the rabbit plush Atsuro was forced to buy and extended a hand "If you don't want it I'm sure Hanone will. She has a soft spot for things like this sometimes." he states. Hisoka scratched his nose "Lot going on here. No wonder it took them so long. But that plant has a pretty distinct scent. I'm hoping that we'll come across it soon, if it's here."
"We might have a little time to look around for real after the mission," Atsuro suggests, "You can probably buy anything here." Then he adds drily, "Anything up to illegal poisons, apparently." He stops trying to put the rabbit away and holds it out for Hisoka. "Not sure what I'd use it for. And there's no sense in letting it go to waste." He glances to Hisoka's extra-long sword. "You get even more hardcore when you're /not/ training, eh?"
They walk along a little more, onto the next set of stalls. The two closest businesses are selling perfume and stationery, respectively. "No offense," says Atsuro, "But I think my nose is probably sharper than yours. I'll take the perfume, you take the stationery."
Hisoka takes the plush and tucks it safely away. There is a soft smile on his face for whatever reason but it vanishes quickly enough when he looks back to Atsuro. "Thanks." When Atsuro comments on Hisoka being hardcore the young man can't help but be a bit confused. "What?" he blinks unsure as to what Atsuro is getting at. Hisoka starts to get a stinging sensation of sweet aromas as they near the perfume stand. He covers his nose a bit and looks to Atsuro "Yeah…I wouldn't doubt that for a second." He nods. Hisoka and Kurokane both make their way to the stationery business both wanting to get as far away from that perfume as possible.
Atsuro notes the smile on Hisoka's face, but doesn't comment on it. Not only is he not a twin, he's never had a sibling, so he can't really say much about it. He gestures to the sword, "It looks like it'd be tough to wield," he says simply, "Probably deadlier than the average katana, though. Anyway, don't worry about it. We can talk when there /isn't/ a load of poison about to be sold."
He heads off to the perfume stall when Hisoka goes off to check out the stationery stall. It's a fairly ordinary looking stall. There's a number of different stationaries laid out on the counter, as well as things like ink and calligraphy pens. Looking out back through the stall, one can see a number of boxes and things, as well as a few workers in the rear. The woman running the stall is fairly pretty and looks to be in her mid-twenties. "Hi there," she says cheerfully, "See anything you like?" Indeed, there is something that might catch Hisoka's eye. There's a distinctive-looking stationery box made out of red wood, finely carved and pollished. But more importantly, it catches his nose. There's a faint whiff of ghostsedge coming from that box.
Hisoka blinks and smiles after Atsuro comments on his blade but saved a response for later. Hisoka ventured to the stationery and his eyes were at work scanning about until the young lady greeted him. "Hi." Hisoka responded. Within moments a red wood fine polished box caught his attention. The craftsmanship wasn't too shabby but what was more interesting about the box was the smell of ghostedge coming from it. Hisoka looks back to the woman and points to the box. "Can I see that?" he asked. Hisoka glanced to Kurokane who had noticed the familiar smell as well. The ninken strolled away from Hisoka and over towards Atsuro to let him know what he and Hisoka had stumbled upon. Hisoka continues to make small talk with the woman to find out more about the box "What's the story behind this thing?"
The woman simply smiles and waits as Hisoka looks around the stalls. Whatever her relation to the ghostsedge is, she's content to let Hisoka just browse, at least for the time being. Her eyes widen a little when Hisoka points the box out, but it simply seems she's just interested in the box itself. "Nice, isn't it?" she asks, "We get some nice stuff in here sometimes — there are a lot of local craftsmen who sell this sort of thing to us. But I think this is probably the nicest I've ever seen."
Over at the perfume stall, Atsuro is doing his best to make small talk with the perfumer while sniffing as thoroughly as he can. It's slow going with all the different scents around. "Oh," he says, "So this one is lemon-rose and this one is lemon-anise? How fascinating." It's almost a relief when Kurokane shows up. "Oh," says Atsuro, "This is, uh, my friend's dog. I'd better go find him." And he starts heading over to the stationery stall. Help is on its way!
By now, the woman at the stationery stall has placed the box on the counter for Hisoka to look at. "It's actually on reserve for a customer," she explains, "So please don't touch it, but it does look very nice, doesn't it? I can probably get the name of the craftsman, if you want."
Hisoka nods to the woman. "It is incredibly nice. Caught my eye the minute I walked up." Hisoka nods. Hisoka somewhat frowns when she says it's on reserve. "Oh well that's too bad. But I would appreciate the name of the craftsman if it wouldn't be too much trouble." Hisoka seemed content with leaving the box with her. He'd want to see who this customer was and he's sure Atsuro would too. Hisoka patiently waits for Kurokane and Atsuro as well as the woman to provide him with the craftsman's name. The one armed Inuzuka also inspects the box to see if there is some sort of seal or mark that most craftsmen use so as to mark their masterpieces. "This craftsman is very skilled. Perhaps he takes requests. I wouldn't mind paying a fortune for something like this." Hisoka looks back up to the woman.
"Sure," says the woman, "Just a moment." She turns around and goes to the back of the stall where she starts looking through a small stack of papers. "Oh, Hajime," says Atsuro, coming up from behind Hisoka, "I haven't seen you in ages. What's up, man?" Anything Hisoka tells him would be useful, but he does know the situation somewhat. And he notices the scent of ghostsedge too.
The stationery box itself is free from symbols on a cursory inspection, but if one looks very carefully at one side, there's a tiny symbol scratched into the wood. It looks like a ginkgo leaf. "Open it while she's distracted," Atsuro says in a low voice, "Take out the plant and put it somewhere safe." He makes his way over to one side of the stall. "When you're done over there, would you mind telling me a little about this stationery here, miss?" he asks loudly, "Or I guess I could describe it to you from here. It's the one that's kinda bluish, but there's, like, a darker blue pattern with…" He continues on and on. Hopefully his voice is loud enough for Hisoka to quietly examine the box without being noticed.
Hisoka turns around almost confused as to why Atsuro is calling him by a different name. He turns around back to the woman as she disappears back to find the information he asked for. Hisoka nods politely. "This one right here. You smell it right?" Hisoka states. "It's on reserve for a certain customer." He adds. When Atsuro tells him to sneak the plant from the box Hisoka nods ready to comply. He checks left and right making sure no one was watching him as Atsuro started his distracting inquiry. Hisoka opens the box removes the plant, tucks it away then closes the box rather smoothly for only having one arm. He nods to Atsuro stating that he's all down and would just wait for the woman to return with the craftsman's information. "Ginko leaf…" Hisoka mutters to Atsuro. He glances to and from the box letting Atsuro know what he was speaking about. "Should we wait for the customer to show up?"
By now, the woman has the name of the craftsman, but she's still being buttonholed by Atsuro. That quickly ends when Atsuro glances over and sees that Hisoka is finished with the box. "So paper is basically wood that's been ground up and flattened out?" he asks, "Well, that's fascinating. Thanks!" He walks back over to Hisoka and stops briefly to listen to what he's saying. "I'll just be at that bench once you've finished up here," he says, nodding to an empty bench not far away. Probably a decent spot to watch for any suspicious customers.
The woman returns to the counter. "Here's his name," she says, putting a slip of paper down on the counter for Hisoka. She picks up the box. "I should get this back away from the front," she says, "But let me know if you need anything else."
Hisoka picks up the slip of paper "Very good." he smiles. Then Hisoka bows to the woman "Thank you for all your help. Take care." he nods back to woman and waves. As they depart he listens to Atsuro as he looks at the slip of paper. He heads for Atsuro who had taken a seat over on the bench. "Well I got a name. Should I go checking around for this guy? She said most of the craftsmen are local." Hisoka explained. The young man looked to Kurokane and nodded "Oh and I was thinking I should leave the plant with you. Just in case." He explains briefly. "She did seem a little shocked when I pointed out that box. I think she knows something but I doubt she's deeply involved. Seems like a sweet girl." Hisoka glances back to her. "Eh so anyway her take this off my hands please."
"You're welcome," says the woman pleasantly, "Have a nice day." She goes back to her work at the shop, apparently unaware of Atsuro and Hisoka's trickery. The slip of the paper has only a few details, but it should be enough: Kaku Shigoto, 1972 Seirei Broadway. "It's fairly harmless as it is now," Atsuro says, "But if you're uncomfortable holding it, I don't mind." He extends a hand for Hisoka to give him the ghostsedge if he wishes.
As for the craftsmen and the customers… "Tough call," Atsuro admits, "On one hand, I'd say you should stay and we watch out together. We only have a small window to catch these guys and we don't wanna blow it. On the other hand, the police were more worried about the supplier. Of course, you'd be heading into enemy territory. What do you think? You feel okay checking it out on your own?" He grins and glances back to the stationery stall. "Sucker for a pretty girl, eh?" he teases, "Although I admit she didn't seem too suspicious."
Hisoka nods to Atsuro "Uh….I don't mind going it alone. Besides Kurokane will be here with me and Taizen with you. That's 2 sets of eyes each for both groups." Hisoka chuckles "Besides it'll look kind of odd if we're both just creeping about like that." Hisoka adds. "I'll be fine. Kurokane is smart he'll help me out if things get hairy." Hisoka looks back to the girl then grins "A pretty face doesn't make for a pretty heart. Still my gut tells me she's just a middle woman." Hisoka looks back to Atsuro "So I'm off then. Good luck on your end." he states looking back to the paper.
"Fair enough," says Atsuro, "We'll meet up at this bench when we're finished. If I'm in trouble, that'll probably put you in the area. And if you're in trouble… well, I can take a detour to your place and check on you. The police didn't suspect there were any ninja involved, so I think we'll be okay, though." He nods over in the direction of the woman. "I don't think she'd have been so eager to show you the box if she was up to anything. But I'll keep an eye on here too, since she's in the area. Make sure she doesn't do anything suspicious." He nods to Hisoka. "Anyway, I'll hold down the fort here. Good luck, guys."
1972 Seirei Broadway is a couple blocks away from the marketplace. When Hisoka arrives, it doesn't look like much more than an ordinary storefront, with a sign above it that says 'Kaku Woodwork.' Of course, it looks like it has some room out back, so perhaps something less ordinary is going on there. Through the front window, Hisoka can see a middle-aged man in an apron doing some woodworking on a counter.
Hisoka arrives at the listed address looks it over along with Kurokane. "Nothing out of the ordinary so far." Hisoka states. Kurokane barks motioning Hisoka's attention to the man in the window. "Oh…well look at that. Let's have a chat with the guy to be sure then eh?" Hisoka says as he moves up to the window. Three soft knocks are all he gives to get the man's attention. Kurokane barks at Hisoka "Something around back? Well there is a lot of room. If you're sure you can find something fine try and get back there. I'll keep the guy busy. Just don't bite off more than you can chew." Kurokane barked again this time sounding a bit disgruntled. "No pun intended." Hisoka chuckles.
The man looks up from his work. Spotting Hisoka through the window, he walks over to the door and opens it for him. "Afternoon, son," he greets, "I don't normally do business with the general public, but my schedule is a little lighter these days. Maybe I can help." He glances towards Hisoka's missing arm. "I can do prosthetics," he says, figuring that must be what Hisoka wants.
Kurokane finds a small yard out back. There are some crates, most of them with crafting materials or things like that, and some large pieces that couldn't be stored inside. There are a couple workers moving things about. One of them glances at Kurokane, but doesn't pay him much mind yet. He's just a dog, after all. But he does catch the scent of ghostsedge coming from an empty crate.
Hisoka grimaces shortly before sighing "No actualy I'm here because I saw something in the marketplace that caught my eye." Hisoka explained. Hisoka offer his hand to shake "Kaku Shigoto I presume? My name's Jubei Hajime. I saw a box of yours at a stationery in the marketplace. Needless to say I was captivated by the craftsmanship but alas someone had already reserved it. It was a red wood box and had a ginko leaf insignia or what looked to be a ginko leaf insignia edged in. I take it that's your handy work?" Hisoka makes sure Kurokane is out of sight before asking to be let in. "Mind if I come in? It won't be too long."
"Oh," says the man. Awkward. "Uh, yes, that's me. You're interested in the stationery box?" he asks. It's casual enough, but he does glance off to the side for a split second when Hisoka mentions the ginkgo leaf. "Yes, I saw the stationery store when I was in the market one day, and I thought they might like something like that. If you're interested, I'm sure I could make something similar." He steps back from the door and gestures for Hisoka to come in. The interior of the shop isn't that odd, really. He has some crafts on some shelves, some blocks of wood on others, and some tools on yet another. The counter where he was working before is covered in wood shavings, and it has a few drawers in it. There's also a door leading out back. There's a very faint scent of ghostsedge near the counter, but it /is/ very faint. If it's still here, it's likely only present in a small amount.
Hisoka can detect the faint scent of ghostedge as he enters but it is so faint it's almost negligible. "That's what I'm here for. I trust it won't be too difficult for you. I'm willing to pay any amount." Hisoka removes his long blade from his back so that he may have a seat if offered. Hisoka glances to the counter and starts moving towards it. "Quite the humble abode you have her. Yet it's comfortable. Very roomy. Did you craft some of the furniture too?" Hisoka asked. "If so would it have the same ginko leaf insignia as the one on the box? That's how you 'sign' your work right? Don't want imitators out there stealing your glory." Hisoka looks back to the man. Kurokane would play the part of a wayward dog and just sniff and snoop around making his way towards the empty crates.
"/Any/ amount?" Shigoto repeats in surprise, "Well, I do pride myself on my work…" He looks a little stunned as Hisoka removes the blade, though he's relieved when he doesn't actually make any threatening moves with it. "Yes," he says, "Most of the furniture is my own work. Ah, the ginkgo leaf? Yes, that's… my way of signing my work. You're right." But, strangely, if Hisoka looks at any of the finished crafts, they don't seem to have the mark on them.
Kurokane's invesigation turns up a couple items of interest. The box that contained the ghostsedge is small, but the scent is strong inside, and there's even a tiny leaf left inside. There's a label on the outside too, indicating that the box was sent from somewhere in the town's residential district.
Hisoka nods Shigoto catching his lie. Hisoka nods "Fantastic you know I admire that. Like this sword I bought, a blacksmith from the mountains made it. His work his idolized and immortalized by his trademark wing that he engraves on the hilt. That's how you can spot quality. When someone is so proud of their work that they brand it so that all will know." Hisoka glances around a bit more "So then. Let's talk business then? I've gone on long enough." Hisoka chuckles nervously. The young Inuzuka would be buying Kurokane as much time as possible.
Kurokane made some interesting discoveries and would have enough to report back to Hisoka. Now doing that thing that all dogs do Kurokane sniffs around in a circular motion before raising his hind leg. Nature did the rest and after which, whether he was chased out or not Kurokane would leave and try to get Hisoka's attention.
Hisoka sighs "So how long do you think it would take for you to make me a box just like that one and how much?" He asks.
Shigoto just seems kinda stunned by Hisoka's sudden flood of words. "Well, yes," he says awkwardly, "I suppose it's much the same for me. I'm proud of the work I do." He seems relieved when Hisoka asks to talk about business. "For a box just like the one I sold to the stationery shop… two weeks, and 1 450 ryo." The encounter is getting weird for him, especially with Hisoka drawing attention to the sword, but he's not going to chase off a customer.
The workers may not have paid attention to Kurokane before, but he wasn't peeing on their stuff before. "Hey, hey!" calls one of the men. He runs towards him, flailing his arms and trying to get him to leave, "Beat it, dog! Muuuuuuuuutt!"
And there's the signal. Kurokane seems to have made a nuisance of himself. When Hisoka heard voices and barking he knew it was time to go. "Fair enough. I'll be back in two weeks with you money. I hope you don't consider it ill of me to want to see the product before I pay." Hisoka stands up with the large blade in hand. He bows slightly "Well It seemed as though you were busy before I showed up so I'll leave you to that and my request. I'll be checking in within a week to see how it's all coming along." And with that Hisoka left, if allowed outside where he would meet with Kurokane. Upon their meeting up they'd both discuss what they experienced and head back to report to Atsuro.
Shigoto shakes his head. "No," he says, "Of course not. I would never ask you to. Rest assured, I will not cut any corners." He bows in return to Hisoka, "Thanks for your business." He watches Hisoka leave, then returns to his work. The workers out back stop chasing Kurokane once he's left the yard. Looks like he and Hisoka have pulled off their investigation scott free.
When they return to the bench, Atsuro and Taizen are still there, watching the stationery shop. Smelling Hisoka, Atsuro looks his way and waves him over. He points, as subtly as possible to a man standing at the stall's counter. On the back of the man's shirt is the outline of a ginkgo leaf.
Hisoka and Kurokane both look towards he man Atsuro was pointing at. Once Hisoka saw the ginko leaf he knew that there was some connection somewhere. Kurokane heads over to Atsuro to let him know what they found meanwhile Hisoka would venture up towards the stationery again. He tries to get the woman's attention and hoped she recognized him from earlier. At the same time he'd get the scent of the customer and try to pick up any other distinctive features about him
The customer is ahead in line, of course. And not surprisingly, he's buying the stationery box. The same woman is still working at the stand. "1 700 ryo, please," she requests. The man hands the money over, then tucks the box under his arm and he's off into the rest of the marketplace. He's a pretty non-descript person, in perhaps his thirties.
He should probably be followed at some point, but of course, Atsuro has Hisoka covered for the time being. The woman recognizes Hisoka from before. "Oh, hi," she says, "Back so soon! Was he able to make you another? Oh, and anything I can help you with?"
Hisoka nods "Yes he did. I just wanted to thank you for your help." Hisoka bows to her once more. "He seemed rather eager to assist me." Hisoka leans in a little bit "But I don't think you should do business with him anymore. It could land you in a lot of trouble." Kurokane's ears stand up now hearing Hisoka. Hisoka wasn't a sucker for a pretty face but unfortunately heh was swayed by his sense of duty. Hisoka leans back out and waves at her with his good arm. "Take my word for it. Thanks again ma'am." He turns around to meet up with Atsuro so they could follow the customer.
The woman just seems stunned as Hisoka gives her that piece of advice. "I'm… glad to help," she says slowly, "And I… won't." Well, if her role in this is anything but unwitting, she's certainly a great actress. "Uh, you're welcome." She stares at Hisoka as he walks away, then slowly regains her senses and returns to her work.
Atsuro and the mysterious customer haven't gone too far yet, and it's pretty easy for Hisoka and Kurokane to catch up with them. "Learn anything new?" Atsuro asks Hisoka quietly. "Anyway, I need you to follow him from up close. You think you can slip into an alley and henge into civilian clothes while I keep up with him?"
Hisoka looks to Kurokane "We know where they're being shipped from. It seem Kaku Shigoto is also distributing the poison but he' not the supplier. Kurokane saw the address on the crates. It seems it come from somwhre within the town." Hisoka looks to Kurokane who fills in any blanks Hisoke may not have covered. When asked if they could do a henge Hisoka nods softly. "That I manage." he states. He disappears into the alley and reemerges in common civilian attire. Hisoka's blade can't be henged as well but he figured he could leave it with Kurokane for the time being.
Again, Hisoka would have a pretty easy time finding Atsuro and their mystery man again. Once Hisoka is ready to pursue again, Atsuro backs off a bit and lets the more inconspicuous Hisoka trail him. They continue to follow him through town. He leads them far away from the marketplace, carrying the stationery box with him. Apparently he hasn't yet noticed that the ghostsedge has been removed.
Finally, he enters a building, which, according to the sign above, is the Ginkgo Tree Pub. "Guess we know a little more about that symbol," Atsuro notes. "If we go in and look around, I think we have enough for the police to do what they need. What do you think, go in the back or the front?"
Hisoka shrugs at Atsuro "Beats me. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say….the front?" Hisoka looks to Atsuro. "My reasoning is one half my gut and the other half because the back is probably where what we want is and that would mean more security….right?" Hisoka shrugged. "Of course that means I can take my blade inside and have some fun with it." He chuckles in seriousness now however Hisoka looks to Atsuro. As stated before he wasn't always the brightest of shinobi. "Your call man."
"That sounds reasonable," Atsuro says, "Plus, if your performance in every other part of this mission is any indication, you're an expert at sweet talking people and making them think you're innocent and harmless. Even with the sword!" He waves for Hisoka to follow him and enters the pub.
On the inside, it looks much like any other pub, and there are a good number of customers inside. Atsuro sits down at the bar. "You don't mind if we have our dogs in here?" he asks the bartender. The bartender shrugs. Atsuro grins, "Great! My friend and I will have a beer." Much as he wants that beer, though, he can't get too drunk on duty. Hopefully they can discover something before it gets too suspicious that they aren't drinking much.
Hisoka follows inside after Atsuro. He jeered at Atsuro's comment about sweet talking but tried to remain professional as h did so. Once inside he figured he needed to give the appearance of another citizen. But he doesn't drink…or didn't until now. "Same here…one beer…?" he looks at Atsuro. Hisoka kneels down pat Kurokane on the head "Keep a look out for that guy and the ghostedge. If you notice any hidden or sectioned off doors let me know." Hisoka asks of his canine companion. He rises back up to do his part.
Hisoka's reaction to the sweet talking thing only gets a grin from Atsuro. "Told you I was a bit of a jerk," he teases.
While Kurokane can certainly sneak around the pub without drawing any unwanted attention, the same can't be said for Taizen, who is super big and has a bunch of swords with him. So Kurokane is on his own for the moment. Nothing's particularly concealed, but there is a door leading back to the kitchen and offices and storage and that sort of thing. It's a swinging door, so Kurokane could easily go in and take a look around.
Meanwhile, back at the bar, Atsuro is drinking a beer more slowly than he's ever done so. He decides to try and set Hisoka up for some sweet talking. "So," he says to the bartender, "The Ginkgo Leaf, eh? Know why that's your symbol?"
The bartender shrugs. "I don't, really. It's just easy to remember." He gestures to his apron, which has the same outline as the man they followed here. "Nice, simple symbol. People like that."
Kurokane had left Hisoka's blade next to him and would snoop around not dragging too much attention to himself. He does find the doorway but doesn't go it alone instead he returns back to Hisoka and Atsuro. This was a good thing because Hisoka's ability to sweet talk was running out. "Beer…is disgusting." he makes a strange face. Hisoka takes another sip "Oh….now that one tasted better." Hisoka sips again "Hey this isn't so bad." Hisoka chuckles. Kurokane tugs at his pant leg and gestures him lower. Hisoka kneels down and listens to what Kurokane has to say. Hisoka nods and looks back to Atsuro he pokes at him and gestures him towards Kurokane. "Another one please? This stuff gets better the more you drink it." Hisoka chuckles. "What is a GInko leaf anyway?"
Atsuro's eyes widen for a second, then he grins. "Did I just buy you your first drink?" he asks, "Man, seems like I'm doing that to everybody these days. Anyway, slow down a little. I need you at least somewhat sober." He glances down to Kurokane. "You two poke around in there," Atsuro whispers as the bartender goes to get another bottle of beer for Hisoka, "I'll keep the bartender busy. I'll come and help out if I hear anything… and I'll hold onto your beer for you, since you're apparently just crazy about it."
The bartender returns and puts the beer on the counter for Hisoka. "It's a kind of tree," the bartender answers his question, "I think you can eat the seeds. And it has those fan shaped leaves."
Hisoka nods to Atsuro "Yeah…it's not bad. I'm fine. I just only had one." Hisoka nods to Atsuro when he instructs Kurokane and him to go check out the door. Hisoka gets up but takes his beer with him. "Hmmm that's interesting. I'll have to go read up on it." he takes another sip of his beer. "Huh…this stuff is really starting to grow on me." He follows Kurokane into the where he found the door. Hisoka nods to Kurokane and looks around for a place to set his beer. "Ok….stay here and watch this." Kurokane barks at HIsoka and the young Inuzuka sighed. "Oh…well….fine I guess. I can always get another one. Well come on then." He turns and goes to investigate on the other side of the rotating door.
Atsuro gulps a little as he watches Hisoka fool around with the beer. He has a feeling he's going to have to take him out to the bar under less urgent circumstances at some point. On the other side of the door Hisoka finds a short hallway. There are entrances to the kitchen and bar, but there's also a storage room and an office, both of which appear to be unoccupied. The stationery box is on a desk in the office, though there's no sign of the man who brought it here.
"I wonder if he's noticed that the poison is gone." Hisoka asked. He ventures deeper into the office. "No sign of the guy." Hisoka looks to Kurokane "Be careful." Hisoka looks around the room looking for anything incriminating. Hisoka and Kurokane search the office using their combined senses.
A more thorough examination of the office reveals a small envelope. Inside is a letter. It's encrypted and not something that Hisoka could just decode right here in the office. However, someone has written something on the back of the envelope itself: "Ghostsedge not in stationery box. Will delay and come back tomorrow." It's not neat writing, and appears to have been written hurriedly. But whatever the letter says, it must have something to do with the ghostsedge.
Hisoka having found the letter and reading it tucks it away and concludes their search of the office. "Let's go before we're spotted." Hisoka nods. The young man exits and reemerges from the door. He is surprised to find his beer and delighted. He takes it on his way back to Atsuro "Oh there you are. I thought I lost you for a sec." Hisoka finishes the rest of his beer. Kurokane barks letting Atsuro know that they found something. Hisoka sets his glass down and is tempted to ask for one more. "Oh…so about the ginto tree. Tell me more? Why name this place after it and what not?"
"Glad to see you're keeping your priorities straight," Atsuro says drily as Hisoka drinks down the beer. "I've decided I'm going to have to take you out drinking when we get back home and teach you not to… do that." He drinks down the rest of his own beer, then gets up. He'd like to ask more about what they found, but now Hisoka's asking the bartender about the name.
"You guys sure are curious about the ginkgo thing," the bartender notes, "Now that I remember, I think it was part of some other business the owner has. He runs a few places around here." He shrugs, "Maybe he chose it for his symbol?"
In any case, now that the investigation is done, Atsuro leads Hisoka out of the pub. Figuring that the letter plus the other things Hisoka found in his investigations around the town are enough to help the police out. And on top of that, they got the ghostsedge, preventing the deal from going down, at least temporarily. All in all, not a bad bit of work, and Atsuro will be sure to mention the effort Hisoka and Kurokane put into it during the debriefing.
