[OPEN] working like a member of society

[kikuichi]

Who ⬤ Norimune and you!
What ⬤ April catch-all. Underground investigations/patrols go!
When ⬤ Throughout April.
Where ⬤ Underground, as well as around the city.
Content Warnings ⬤ N/A, will update as necessary.

► Free Entertainment? (Underground)
[While it's normally not his first choice, the assassination and the intrigue roused his curiosity. It's enough for Norimune to put in more effort than usual, and why he didn't complain when he's assigned to patrol the underground sewers. At least in front of his superiors, anyway.

Because once he start his patrol, Norimune remembered why he didn't want to come here. Why? The underground, and the sewer system, was rather dreary and also gross. He really hopes he find something entertaining, even a fight between the other factions.

While on his patrol, either alone or with a fellow Enma partner, Norimune's hearing pick up a sound and he quicken his pace. Will he find the culprits (unlikely)? Or even something else, like a skirmish fight (quite likely)?]

... Oho.

[His eyes lighten up, once he got a glimpse at the source of the sounds. It's... a fight between Shuten and Tamamo members! And he's not stopping them!]

► Investigating Deeper (Underground)
[His patrol route eventually lead him down towards the deeper levels, where the doors towards various rooms would need a keycard. He doesn't have any, but it's always worth checking for potential clues.]

... Hm?

[Norimune walks over to examine the doors closer. He's taking his phone out to take photos, as well as he can down here. Photos of the area, as well as the doors and the walls nearby.]

It's a lot cleaner than I expected.

[Whether he's with a partner or sensing someone's approach, he turns to face them with his phone in his hand. And take their photo as well.]

Oooh, I got a good one!

[Norimune do his work properly, truly, but he can have fun while he's at it.]

► Wild Card
[Norimune is in the Department of the Enma, if anyone want to deal with that, such as fellow Enma people.

Got your own scenario? Bring it here. Hit me up via PMs/Sonica. I'm open to writing up custom starters, just let me know!]

Comments

Investigating Deeper

[21towin]

[He went over the information he had gleamed through his mind. They were folks with money, connections, and enough of a mind to cover their tracts. Not good enough, though, evidently. Dead Kappa, the agitation of the local gangs, the potential for clan leaders to have an idea of who was responsible, and a connection with the underground passages.

The sudden photo caught his attention and pulled him from his thoughts. An infectious smile on his face, and a thumb tilting his hat back.]

Did ya now? Well ya better of gotten my good side fella!

[He laughed and stepped a bit closer.]

Mind giving me a peek?

[He might be looking to delete the photo.]

[kikuichi]

[He doesn't know this young man. With a smile, he gesture for him to walk over. Despite his friendly smile, Norimune is still a swordsman to anyone with eyes.]

Sure thing! I might even send it over to you, if you like.

[In other words, Norimune would need his name and contacts for that. His grip on his phone seems casual enough... Would Billy try his luck?]

Free entertainment (hello fellow Enma)

[silentscout]

[Lalli doesn't care about patrolling or factions fighting or anything else like that. What he really wants right now is a nap, but the small detail of 'having to actually do his job' is getting in the way of his nap-priorities. And since he's learned that he can't run through his patrols and be done in 10 minutes, he's just going to be grumpy the whole time he has to work.

Lalli is an absolute stick in the mud, is what I'm saying.

But he walks with Norimune, not saying much of anything for most of it, because he dislikes talking about things that don't interest him and most small talk falls into 'not interesting'. But then scuffle noises can be heard, and he sees the way Norimune's eyes light up, so he follows Norimune's line of sight to the fighting down the tunnel. Hopefully it's not anybody Lalli actually knows, or else he might have to get involved. And he doesn't want to get involved.]

...

The path is blocked.

yo

[kikuichi]

[Norimune did try to start some chitchat at the beginning, but soon learn what kind of companion Lalli is. So he stop trying to make his partner talk, but still speak up occasionally to break the silence. Idle thoughts, mostly simple observations and the odd complaints. He's an old man, why is he doing this task?

Anyway...]

And if a path is blocked, what do we do?

[silentscout]

Go around.

[He does not turn around yet though, because he is rubbernecking the fight and he's kind of interested in seeing who will win. The Tamamo member must have a hidden knife somewhere or something, to even entertain this fight.]

investigating deeper

[kaientai]

[ sometimes you just get a thought in your head and you can't shake it and you finally have to scratch the metaphorical itch and that's why ryouma snuck back down here. he's always fine with taking risks himself and it's easier to try and investigate more carefully by himself.

the downside to all this is there's no one to watch your back, which he managed to forget about (again) because he's... used to oryou doing that and a month and change of living here without her is too soon for him to be used to that yet. it might hurt more if he wasn't standing here like an idiot, having been caught on camera. fantastic. ]

Hoh? Well, I doubt it since I wasn't ready. Wanna try again?

[ it's not like he's doing anything illegal. technically..? who cares if he should be doing perfectly legal things somewhere else? ]

[kikuichi]

That is one option.

[The Tamamo clan's reputation never say anything about using blatant force. He wonders what they prefer, subterfuge? Using trickery of some shorts? Norimune's eyes look down towards the Tamamo member's hands, as the Shuten member seems to get more and more heated up in the fight.

Will a knife appear, like magic? Either literally with magic, or a sleight of hand?]

[kikuichi]

[A man appears... in an all white suit. Hizen's words come into his mind. Norimune give him a curious glance over, noting the familiar looking sword at the man's hip. But he need a closer look... he didn't want to jump to conclusion.

He gives him a friendly smile.]

Aw, but I think I like this one. But I can always take another picture of you.

[Honestly, since they're underground, the lighting in here probably isn't ideal for photography. (That's what the flash option is for.)]

[kaientai]

Maybe you should once we're topside!

[ he's not going to make it that easy. with the way his hat almost always casts a shadow over his face, it's debatable if the picture that got snapped makes out anything at all, so if he has any other reason to be concerned about it he's not showing it. photography should've been one of those things he took the time to look into at some point but instead it still makes him just vaguely nervous sometimes — but not for evidence reasons. photography had just been new and spooky in his lifetime... ]

The scenery's more interesting anyway, wouldn't you say?

[21towin]

[Billy doesn't know this person either; but they still took a picture of him. Rude. But he still smiles.]

Really? An' how do ya do somethin' like that? I don't really know much about these things, comin' from a spot without 'em. It's been a real change o' pace gettin' used to 'em. Ya know?

[Not really a lie, not really a truth. There was more than one way to get to do the device itself.]

[kikuichi]

Oh, I'd love to go back outside. It's been rather stuffy and dreary down here.

[He take a step closer, putting his phone away. Mostly so he can properly look at the other man, without anything distracting him. He's getting a slightly better look at the man's sword.]

Unfortunately, I can't leave just yet. I'm still on my shift.

[Norimune doesn't spend that much time with that sword, but seeing it at this man's hip did tug at his mind. Along with Hizen's words... the sword must be Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki.]

... Say, can I ask you something?

[kaientai]

Ah. Well, that's too bad. Hope they're compensating you well enough for your diligence, at least.

[ shift suggests that his suspicions were correct — he's probably dealing with someone from the department of the enma. surprisingly, not as stuffy and boring as he'd expected, but then the lost souls conscripted for that purpose are probably just as diverse as any other; he shouldn't go assuming. ]

Hm? Don't see why not...

[kikuichi]

If it's up to me, I rather go back to my retirement. But I guess a little work isn't bad sometimes. A bigger salary would be nice, too.

[At least this is potentially intriguing. It beats endless paperwork on a desktop.

Hizen specifically mention this about the man's name, and it seems like a good idea to respect it. Mainly for his comrade's sake than anything else. He's smiling when he asks his question.]

You're Rider, aren't you?

[kaientai]

I'd say you look a little young to be retired, so you're either very lucky or older than you look...

[ magic or simply not human, he wonders. ryouma is reasonably sure this isn't just some servant he hasn't met — mostly because when he's met others like himself here he can sense it even with the limitations on some of his abilities. ]

Hah, should I be worried that you know me?

[ he's joking, mostly because he knows he hasn't done anything that would make him a person of interest. ]

[kikuichi]

Oh, is that so? I understand what you mean. Sometimes, these technology move faster than I can keep up with.

[It's true at first. But he's able to learn how to use technology in due time.]

Well, I would need your name and contact first.

[He say with a smile. Will this young man offers it?]

[silentscout]

[Like Norimune, Lalli's attention is focused squarely on the fight, and he's watching for any changes in the flow of battle. He expects a knife to show up at some point to, but he doesn't comment on that.]

...we could wait for them to be done.

[It's not like they have anything better to do right now anyway.]

[kikuichi]

I'd would say I'm fortunate.

[When it comes to his retirement, anyway. His role outside of his family is another thing, when the whims of fate and humans speak louder.]

Nope, nope. I heard about you from a good friend. I'm sure you can guess, Rider.

[Who would tell this person about Rider...?]

[kaientai]

Hoh, are you someone like Hizen then?

[ mostly because he's almost certain izō makes every attempt to not talk about him as much as possible so it's an incredibly easy process of elimination. and hadn't hizen mentioned there was someone else before..? ]

[kikuichi]

Uhahaha! Yes, you can say that.

[At least Ryouma figured it out. Norimune preferred it over dropping Hizen's name first. It's simpler, and he knows Ryouma's aware of what they are.

If it's a stranger, someone else, he would simply excuse himself by being mistaken.]

I've been curious about meeting you, I just never expected us to meet down here.

[It's too dreary for a first meeting.]

[kaientai]

[ ryouma points at himself like someone who is routinely surprised that people want to meet him. because he is. ]

Really?

[ he brightens when he realises he has an opportunity to get a little more information that he probably isn't going to get out of hizen any time soon (or ever?). it might also help to get to know someone affiliated with the enma, if only to try and get an idea what the lost souls might be thinking; he's fairly certain everything the enma has to say about anything officially has been covered in the memos he struggles to read through to the end. they're very dry! ]

I'm not so good at sitting around waiting for news to come to me. Much rather do it myself and see what's what.

[kikuichi]

[Sure, they are expected to investigate. But well, investigations can take time. Their superiors can surely understand.]

And maybe even question them.

[If these youkai even know anything.

The Shuten member lunges at the Tamamo member, wielding their metal pipe pretty wildly. The Tamamo member, however, seems to move quickly and gracefully around those swipes... and there's a glint sliding out from under their sleeves.]

[kikuichi]

[He likes that look. Sometimes, it's nice to surprise people.]

Yes, really.

[Since he haven't seen Ryouma around, it's a safe guess to assume the man is in another faction. Which one, though? Tamamo, Shuten, or Sutoku... Maybe not Shuten, otherwise Hizen would might have reported this sooner.

He nods in approval.]

That's good. You never know what kind of secret lurks around here.

[If there's any. But he's starting to see glimpses of Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki in Ryouma.]

[kaientai]

Mm, and I suppose that's what you're looking for?

[ secrets, he means, since this is a chance encounter and all. he was a little on his guard before but now that they're just chatting he's settled back into a relaxed state and his body language reflects that. ]

This is still technically Kappa territory, isn't it? Just getting the lay of the land.

[kikuichi]

Me? I'd love to stumble across them.

[Unofficially, that's his stance. This entire case have the potential to be interesting. He opens his fan—showing the floral patterns on it—and lightly fanning himself. This guy does have a fair number of floral patterns on his clothes.]

It is, and I'm just patrolling around and keeping an eye out down here. Maybe the secrets are mundane, maybe it's related to other situations.

[Such as the assassination.]

[kaientai]

[ ryouma is admittedly intrigued and being the poor liar he is, doesn't exactly try to hide that he's looking. he'd figured out who hizen was but that hadn't been difficult between his attitude and his glaring and his crest. but this one? ryouma had once been just a nerd who was very interested in swords until he realised how they couldn't compare to ships. sorry, he doesn't make the rules. ]

Oh, good to know. I'd like to keep it that way. I know a lot of people are just looking forward to getting back to work.

[ but he doesn't want to make this stiff and business-like and he wants to know more than just matters related to their arbitrary assignments to their factions. ]

I gotta say, I'm a little curious what you've been told about me.

[ ... maybe more than a little. ]