End Of An Era - A Literate Meiji Era Yoai RP- O/A

[Crazy Coyote Girl]

Brown eyes flicked left, then right and left again before a smirk pulled at the features of the spiky-haired ruffian. Before him five men who foolishly decided to make him pay his gambling debts. Bad idea. He didn’t have the money but what he did have were two fists, incredible strength and a stubborn nature to beat all. “Where’s the money Sagara?” The question came from the leader of the group, a short man with a large belly and a round face. ”I told ya, I don’t have it. Are ya deaf?” He questioned as he looked behind him, noticing the wall. Cornered. At least that was what he wanted them to think. Someone was paying him good money to fight these men, but they didn’t know it. He turned back towards the men before slowly closing one fist over the other and cracking the knuckles of one hand then the other. Rolling his neck from one side to the other he smirked. “Though I suppose if you want it so bad you can try and come get it. What do I care? I get paid if I start the fight or you do.” The men suddenly looked confused. “What the hell are you mouthing off about now?” A taller more brutish looking male questioned. Sanosuke just laughed. “You really are a stupid bunch aren’t you.” That seemed to do the trick, the bait was out and one man lunged suddenly. Sano merely stepped aside and slammed an elbow into his back, knocking him to his knees. Of course, this only set up the men to attack in force but that didn’t matter. As another lunged he side-stepped, this time reaching out and grabbing him up by the shirt and spinning as he slammed him into the wall only a few feet to his left that had quickly become his right in the midst of the spin. He knew this left his back open to attack, but knowledge of that allowed him to make sure he wasn’t going to get injured from some move to use a knife or dagger. The sound of metal unsheathing caught his attention and once more he spun, dropping the man in his grasp in the process. Brown eyes quickly caught sight of the dagger and before the man could let the blow land he reached out, turning his hand and then twisting the male’s wrist as he grasped it. The man howled in pain and now that left only two. He smirked and focused on them.

“You know this is getting really boring.” He commented, his face showing the boredom clearly. He yawned and crossed his arms over his chest and looked the two men up and down. The leader was left as well as a thinner more weaselly looking man. “Tell you what. I’ll fight you with one finger.” This seemed to enrage the two, the weasel sputtering how he was insulting them and then lunging, drawing something hidden his in yakuta. Sanosuke didn’t see it but he didn’t need to, the second the man drew close he outstretched his hand and then with one finger flicked the man in the head. It was something beyond belief, the male dropped to the ground, unconscious and in his hand was a hidden dagger coated in something. Sanosuke’s gaze turned to the last man and then towards the men wounded and barely standing. ““So, what’s it going to be? Take your wounded and go or should I wipe the dirt with you too?” The man started to back out of the alley and the two left conscious collected the two that weren’t and quickly made their way out as well. A frown settled on the face of the tall male and he shook his head. “He better pay good for this...he promised me a good fight.” He muttered under his breath and grabbed a large item leaned against the wall behind him. It was wrapped in fabric with a pole coming out one end, just where the fabric met the pole it became suddenly much larger in width. Another with a brain could guess this was a zanbato the male was famous for using. Well, anyone with half a brain and knowledge of the Tokyo underground. And, of course, that meant the man who was easily picking the massive item was none other than Sagara Sanosuke, better known as The Fight Merchant Zanza.

A sigh left the lips of the dark haired male and he stepped from the alley onto a main road. Slowly he picked the massive weapon up enough to let it rest over his shoulders behind his head. As he did this he draped his arms over the pole connected to the large, fabric wrapped blade. This held it in place over his shoulders. Slowly the brown eyes lifted towards the sky. “Almost noon eh?” He figured he would go get paid and then treat himself. The beef pot house sounded nice. So the muscled yet lean male made his way down the streets in the direction of the red-light district and more specifically a place called ruffian row. It was a string of small houses and often housed both those who gambled, fought, used opium or other illegal things along with those too poor to afford decent housing. Ruffian row was home to Sanosuke and he had been told to meet the man who hired him back at his home when he got done. Sanosuke just hoped he didn’t decide to let himself in without asking. Quietly he strode through the marketplace which came before the red-light district. He certainly stood out among all those dressed in yakuta and kimono’s and clearly having money. Sanosuke was rough around the edges and dressed slightly different than most. A pair of white dogi trousers, black sandals, white sarashi tape wrapped around his feet and ankles and his stomach were what he usually wore. Around his head was a red headband, another common item he wore. However the thing most remembered was the happi jacket he wore, it held black trim but on the back in black was something else; the kanji for bad or evil. No one truly knew what it meant, but everyone knew who he was when they saw it. It was something that men were said to see in their nightmares after fighting and losing to Sanosuke. It haunted them and confused others who never fought him. Sanosuke was the only one who truly knew it’s meaning and he would never let himself forget it. It was the only thing he had left of the man he looked up to and had respected and seen as a mentor and friend.

It wasn’t long before the scenery of the marketplace melted away and the sights became seedier and the people became more suspicious. Lanterns covered in red paper marked brothels and there were more than a few. Gambling dens and opium dens were far harder to notice as they were not labeled however if one knew this world you knew where they were. Taverns serving liquor were also marked with signs of some sort. Still this was not where Sanosuke was headed. No he kept walking past all this until the businesses turned into small homes, no larger than two rooms a home in poor repair and badly constructed in the first place. Making his way down the street he stopped outside on where a man was standing and he looked him over. “You promised me a good fight. What I got was a bunch of weaklings who didn’t know how to fight their way out of a bag. I told you the price it would be if I didn’t enjoy the fight so pay up.” The man muttered and grumbled and Sanosuke sighed. “You either pay up or I take it by force. A deal is a deal and I don’t like people who make deals and back out or don’t keep to their word.” The man slowly pulled a small sack of coins out of his yakuta and handed it to the tall male. He tossed it in his hand, the caught it and tucked it away. “Pleasure doing business.” He commented sarcastically and waited for the man to leave before making his way into the small home he had been standing in front of. He only stopped long enough to place the large weapon inside and then turned and headed back out, making sure the door was shut. His mind was now on food and sake. And if he was lucky a little gambling afterwards to entertain him. He started back into the main part of town, the beef pot house his destination.

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Location Alley > Market Place > Red Light District > His Home
With NPCs
Word Count 1540
OOC First Post! WEE

[Crazy Coyote Girl]

Word Count 1134
OOC WEEE
Location Marketplace > Red Light District > Yoshiwara Brothel
Company None > Takao

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A sigh; annoyed, bored and tired in nature. It left the lips of the dark skinned, wild-haired male as he made his way along the path towards Tokyo. Brown eyes stared straight ahead as he seemed to more drag himself forward than anything else. It was clear he’d been walking for some time. Honestly, he didn’t know how long, he’d lost count of the days, the hours, the minutes. And why should he care anyway? Well, he didn’t. A frown creased his lips as he started to move closer to what in the distance had appeared to be just rice fields. Now it was quite clear ahead of him lay a city of some sort. He arched a brow, tilted his head and kept pressing onward. He was tired. Tired, hungry and well..horny. Usually, his priority would have been food and sleep but for some reason his libido was having one of those moments where it got the best of him. Usually, it amused him but right now he was annoyed. Maybe it was because he had no idea if there was even any chance of him getting laid. Still, one couldn’t find out unless they tried he supposed. So he pushed himself to keep walking. He didn’t pay much mind to the workers in the farms and rice fields, rather he focused on the thought of finding some sexy thing to do with whatever he pleased. This thought was what pushed him onward, past the farms and rice fields, past the houses lying on the outskirts of this city and deeper into the city. He was looking for one thing and one thing only; The Red Light District. Any city worth its salt in this day and age had one. And Mugen should know, he frequented them and grew up in a penal colony. Most wouldn’t think a penal colony on a remote island would have such a thing, but they did. Mugen learned how to survive in that Hell hole. It allowed him to hone his erratic fighting style and eventually allowed him to escape. Of course, he had been pulled back in however he’d escaped once more, this time much easier. He knew what it took to survive this miserable life and he had no problem amusing himself with life’s little pleasures to make it worthwhile considering his nihilistic views on life.

As he made his way through the city he took note of his surroundings. It didn’t take much to figure out just what city he’d wandered into. A bustling place like this was either Kyoto or Tokyo and considering the weather, slightly cold even in spring it was Tokyo as the weather said he was farther north. He never did like the cold. He enjoyed the south more but when one wondered you couldn’t be too picky where you stayed. Brown eyes watched the people passing by as he made his way through the crowd. They all looked at him with a bit of what was either disgust or disdain. Maybe it was because of his rough around the edges look. Or maybe it was something more obvious; the two bands of blue around his ankles and wrists. People knew what they implied; that he had been in prison at least once before. However, they didn’t know why so they just avoided him and found him repulsive, in general. Not that Mugen gave a damn. He couldn’t change who he was, this rude, and crude man who didn’t give a ******** about anyone most days. So he just kept walking. People seemed to step out of his way or the opposite, pushed their way past him roughly. Well, he didn’t belong here so it wasn’t surprising. Tokyo was supposed to be for law-abiding citizens, not some kid from a penal colony that had also been in prisoner there besides just a child born to some woman prisoner. Most would have been uncomfortable with this treatment, but this was just another thing Mugen didn’t give a single ******** about. If he took offense to something he could always deal with it with his sword if he needed to. However, people seemed to be smart enough to keep their mouths shut even when the roughly pushed past him and jostled him. Honestly the way they pushed past him worke3d to his advantage, now and then he would easily snatch a coin purse from whoever was rude enough to push past him. He figured if they were going to treat him like a criminal he might as well behave like one. Soon enough, he had at least triple what he already had before. And that would pay for a decent ******** and perhaps a few other things.

As he made his way through the city the telltale signs of the Red Light District came into view. The red paper lanterns, seedy buildings, gambling and opium dens and, of course, more than a few brothels. The wild-haired dark skinned roughian let his brown eyes search the buildings until he found something that would appear a bit higher quality than the rest. You were less likely to catch something if you went for high quality and he had the money now, so hopefully his luck would hold out as it had so far when it came to whores and diseases. He made his way to the entrance of a place that had a sign reading Yoshiwara. Not that he could read it. He could wire his name and that was pretty much it, oddly enough he had an odd way of writing it; using the symbol for infinity or eternity. He slid open the shoji screen and slid off his geta before stepping inside. The main room had more than a few whores wandering around or lounging, and most seemed to be women. Still there were at least one or two men. However, he let himself look over those there, trying to decide while the man was babbling something about how good his courtesans were in different things. Still as his gaze settled on one he made up his mind. A red haired male who was short in stature but still lean and feminine, standing about five feet. For some reason, he felt drawn to him and he merely raised a hand and pointed to the male, arms crossing over his chest afterwards. He was well aware the male good decide to brush him off as he was a courtesan, but one could only hope he would agree. A crooked, one-sided smirk pulled at his dark features. “Let him name his price, I’ll pay well for something that pretty.”