[open] would you let me in

[no_kyouken]

Who ⬤ Majima & Open
What ⬤ July 2022 Substories + Etc
Content Warnings ⬤ Cross dress, violence, alcohol, mental illness, probably smut somewhere.

Prompts in comments, wildcard me with anything else you want. You can catch me in the discord or DM me at itsabee#1072. CR meme comment Network post - Shuten welcome Feel free to double up prompts, I will tag you however many times you want. majima 🎶

Comments

[medicative]

[it's good to see that look on him. it means she can step a little outside of herself and not feel the edges of her composure want to peel up and pull away. it's all acting, borrowing from something else. a show, for the sake of invisible eyes, and when the curtains are closed she'll ask how she can improve her performance.

he's warning colors, sprawling over whatever space he can grab, and by contrast she's subdued. in a neat kimono, keeping to herself, the impression of quiet dignity with a practiced professional expression of calm. humility, really, as she sits after him. someone who knows that she has to smooth over the rough patches of her boss's missteps. next time, this has to happen on his territory, where he decides it to happen - she already knows it was veering on bold, to do otherwise.]

Majima. Thank you so much for coming all this way. I trust you've been in good health.

[Majima-san. it's a stranger to her, but all the better. hands folded on her lap, she won't dare make a move on her tea unless he touches his first. and if he doesn't at all, she hasn't made any inroads in the conversation.]

[no_kyouken]

[ Oh Majima-san, he sneers with amusement. Real proper. He leans in, putting an elbow down and placing the familiar cigarettes at his lips. Come here and light it, sweetheart. He lords his knowing of the game they have to play over her. ]

No complaints.

[ He leans in when she extends the lighter to him, flicking his good eye up to her face with a grin behind the puff of smoke. He sits back with an arm splayed out over the back of his chair. ]

But we ain't here t'talk about my health, huh?

[medicative]

[she leaves the lighter on the table when she's done with it - easily taken if she needs to do this again. no provocations are allowed to get close to her, and his attitude is deflected off of her as if the silk of the kimono was armor.

(Emily has to believe this, has to borrow that confidence for now.)]

No, we're not. I asked you here because I'm curious about a few things.

[or well, her boss is. but that much is implied.]

Lord Toraguma seemed quite ill at ease to hear the Iron Bear's name.

[only a fool barrels in with questions demanding answers. even if her path, her goals are transparent to someone as sharp as him, the method matters.]

[no_kyouken]

[ He leers sideways. He is very aware that everyone wants to know what Toraguma has said to him. Honestly, the old oni's silence says plenty. If it wasn't something personal to him, he'd be out stomping for this competitor's annihilation, loudly. ]

City's got a whole history before you an' me, doc.

[medicative]

That's something I'm all too aware of. How much I don't know. It's far beyond mere foot soldiers to understand, let alone those from unrelated parties.

[technically, she's not one, but downplaying herself can't hurt. and it's true, the history is beyond her. that's just simple facts. but there's also her angle.]

But with his assassins taking a swing at my superior, that's a gap in knowledge that needs to be somewhat mended. To say nothing of the poor girl abducted in front of us all...her father is beside himself, looking for her return.

[the black market gaps closing, and the Alliance stake growing ever larger because of the work, Iron Bear can't be happy about it. with Ryouma's name on people's lips, he's naturally the one to blame, the one to behead, the one who put his life on the line already. it gives the Alliance all more reason to step forward themselves.

as if they wouldn't have already, with who Ringo is. a rescue team's already in the sketching stage.]

Either one of those is enough to spur my own into action.

[no_kyouken]

Ain't my problem.

[ Not Sakamoto and not Kaberou. ]

[medicative]

No, of course not.

[she smiles - sweet, self assured.]

But when the Alliance is the one to bring back Iron Bear's head before you even arm yourselves to go out, you can tell Lord Toraguma you knew it would happen and you did nothing.

[there's the part he'll actually maybe sit up for.]

[no_kyouken]

Nah. Your lot's comin' back limpin'.

[ He smiles at her with cheerful condescension, ]

But since ya got so much t'prove, why don't ya shoot yer shot an' see how it goes?

[medicative]

[she laughs politely, shaking her head.]

I was thinking of something more amiable to both sides. Yours getting the glory, the victory, the good publicity - and ours content enough to return Ringo to her family and know that our lieutenants are keeping their heads for the moment.

[and maybe walking away with the money, but that depends on if the reward is real or not.]

Bring us into your plans, and we'll show you ours. You can do what you like with Iron Bear, and whatever history lies between him and your boss. Or, go it alone, and trust that you have the most reliable information to find him, knowing you've got to beat us to the punch.

[inside, she can feel her heart racing. it would be shining in her chest with fear if it could be seen. these words are bigger than her alone, making a promise - but this one is better than staking dignity or a life. just a challenge, and the offer of something far easier in its stead.

it might not be enough, she knows. he hasn't even touched his tea, and she's still so new to this. but it's a start, a reason to care that's not about emotion. if she has to go back and tell Ryouma they're racing the Shuten Clan, then she does.]

[no_kyouken]

[ There is no glory, no victory, only the appearance of it. It's on that point alone that she has any leverage. The reality is that Toraguma wants to -- and deserves to -- handle his friend on his own. Appearances demand the Shutens send out their bounty hunters with everyone else. ]

Yours gettin' th'girl an' th'cash. Mine gettin' the problem ya can't handle.

[ He rephrases that, head falling back with boredom as he breathes smoke at the ceiling. Unless Iron Bear retained serious injury from his 'death', Majima doubts any of the Lost Souls have what it takes to address this problem. ]

Yer all just gonna be underfoot. Yer buddy Kaberou made a fuckin' mess, can't any of ya Alliance hacks keep yer mouths shut?

[medicative]

When it suits us to.

[that's a step up from not his problem. she resists the urge to say they can run their mouths in any direction - that's childish, even if it's true that they can inspire the press to print what they please. they can make Toraguma a hero who fought back the city threats, or a collaborator who helped smuggle in those cursed dolls.

implied threats were not going to win this, she needs collaboration, not confrontation.]

We won't be underfoot. We have capable fighters and tacticians of our own, who'd be only too glad to demonstrate their prowess. [beat.] I'm not asking your men to prioritize the lives of mine above theirs. Nor am I asking you to walk away with mere intangible rewards. If you help save Ringo, it would only be fair to give you a cut of the reward money for your part in it.

[there's the next thing to make him pay attention. something to make this a worthwhile deal, something they could hold.]

[no_kyouken]

[ He sits back with his hands folded at his hip. It doesn't matter to him who saves Ringo, so long as it's accomplished. ]

If ya send me Sakamoto, I'm gonna kill him myself.

[ Just to be clear. ]

[medicative]

No. He also agrees a distance should be maintained. I don't believe there will be trouble in convincing him to stay behind.

[she takes a breath, fighting any tension that wants to slip into her gaze.]

I will go in his place to keep things handled, provided no other has an objection.

[no_kyouken]

[ The curl of a grin. Oh? The pretty lady herself is coming along? ]

So I let ya pick a team. I take sixty percent of yer bounty. An' ya stay away from the Iron Bear.

[medicative]

Thirty percent.

[there's an edge to her voice like a scalpel, a flash in her eyes that had been smothered. he's only getting more from her with a fight.]

[no_kyouken]

Now, now.

[ Aw, she swiped at him. ]

Yer crew gets t'save th'girl and make nice with yer banker friend. What's that worth to ya?

[medicative]

Yours gets the best press, uplifted reputation, and Iron Bear. What's that worth to you?

[she'll keep swiping. as much as she wanted to make nice, and still does, she knows she cannot be a doormat.

she knows her internal limit for price. he doesn't. negotiations are still open.]

[no_kyouken]

Forty-five percent.

[ You can't make nice with the yakuza. They want everything. ]

[medicative]

Thirty five.

[she's pushing it, she knows. but she's not on his nerves, so she can do that once more.]

[no_kyouken]

Forty it is.

[ He extends out his gloved hand to shake. It is not a traditional gesture, it is a Majima being an asshole gesture. ]

[medicative]

[not ideal, but it's as much as she can bear. she nods once, before taking his hand and shaking it, more to make him commit than actually wanting to.]

Forty percent. We have a deal.

[she'll handle breaking the news to those who might have been rushing to go fight Iron Bear that she can't be held responsible for them if they want to form their own teams and if that messes with Shuten forces. it'll be something to untangle, them moving unofficially and at their own expense, but in the meantime, Ringo gets to go home, and they'll only have to contend with two pieces of opposition over three.

not that she expected Toraguma to let anyone else take Iron Bear, with the implications there.]

[no_kyouken]

[ As he retracts his hand, he swoops up the neglected tea cup while pushing to his feet. He's drinking it, but he's also... taking the cup with him. He pauses in the doorway with a cheery grin, oh yeah he's just fucking off now. ]

Nice chattin' with ya, sweetheart.

[ Bye~ ]