Chai ducked underneath the building's awning to avoid the light rain. The street was distorted by fog, and the wind's crispness bit at Chai's ears. He liked stormy weather, though this was a little too tame to be considered as such. A superstitious person might think that there is a dark omen hidden in the rain, but Chai felt it might be advantageous for keeping their tracks covered. They could reasonably keep their appearances hidden when the weather permitted it. Any distortion of their image to eyewitnesses would be beneficial, since it was encouraged for them to pull this off with no force. The priority was stealth, second only to success itself.
In need of a little extra cash, it was important for them to rob the tea shop - a quick in and out job that would help TORNA complete some step in their nebulous plan that, frankly, Chai had little interest in. However, he liked people and there plenty of people within the organization that he'd taken a liking too. His teammate on this mission in particular was Ito, who had had little interaction with up to this point, but who was sure he would get to like.
"I've been out here for four hours. Seen only a handful of customers enter, seems like only two employees. They keep changing off every hour; one goes to the back and the other watches the counter." He wasn't sure how much money they could be pulling with the little business they were seeing today, but he was sure they were selling fancy exotic teas since the area seemed to be somewhat affluent. Well, more accurately, gentrified by nobles, as this location had been quite poor for many years due to the pillaging of the nobility, though they began moving in and setting up nice places and businesses for themselves.
He fiddled with the toothpick in his mouth. "Are you ready to go into the breakroom and subdue the one in the back? We'll both be going in as customers, and I'll distract the one at the register with some questions before taking care of her quietly." He pulled the toothpick out with his fingers and appraised the shop with a thoughtful hum. He was sure things would work out since he was decently prepared to enter one of the workers' minds if he needed to. He hadn't heard much about Ito at all, which made her an independent and uncontrolled variable in his plan, but if she was dead weight, he'd have heard that by now.
"Whenever you're ready. The register one has been reading the back of tea products all afternoon so she won't even hear you enter, I'm sure." He was ready to fall in-step behind her.
The Death Siren Rank:Wanderer 磁気 | Classes:Genjutsu | Performer | Ninjutsu 力 | Body Rank:S+ 勇 | Elements:Fire,Wind,Earth,Glass
tab“Well ain’t you just mister busybee~” Ito chimed after Chai gave his report. The woman was perched on a broken fencepost, her knees jutting out as she balanced. She lightly pat the man’s cheek as her lips spread into a wide grin. “Two people sounds about right, but I’m surprised there’s no security either.” Ito hummed, a beautiful chiming sound that even without chakra was hypnotizing. The bandit casually sent chakra into her eyes, her pink hues shifting to a dark red with black swirls: a three Tomoe Sharingan.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Chai. Quite the contrary, the man had proven himself as very thorough, gaining reputation for being reliable in his short time in TORNA. But Ito had learned the hard way about trusting people. Even just thinking about her made her clench her fist to distract from a stabbing pain in her chest. It was a good thing, too, as her Sharingan allowed her to catch something Chai had missed. Three sources of chakra: two from the employees working, but a third and much more massive one. It was stationary in a room off to the side, and a trail of chakra linked it to the main desk with the register. “Aha~ A security array!” Ito clapped her hands as her face brightened. “Figured those bougie bastards would have a tighter grip on the place than it looked. It’s connected to the counter though, so if we keep them from activating it then we don’t need to worry."
Ito groaned and stretched, catlike in her movements as she hopped down from the post and started walking forward. “Don’t forget.” She added, turning to look at Chai. Her Sharinagn was still active, but only for as long as she spoke. “I’m counting on you~”
Chai nodded at her observation. He supposed a store in this area would probably have a security system, especially as the newly relocated nobles feared having any peasants near their property. He was content to listen to her hum as she manifested her sharingan, peering through the tea shop he'd staked out in order to give him brand new information. He took it in stride.
"Don't let them touch the alert by the counter; got it." He smiled as he followed her into the store, letting her go ahead towards the back as he approached the register. As suspected, the cashier was busy reading the backs of tea packages and didn't hear him come in until he cleared the throat. "Excuse me," he said kindly, "but I was hoping to get some good recommendations for tea. I'm looking to impress a young woman," he explained with a dazzling smile.
The cashier opened up to him immediately, putting her tea package back and walking along the side wall with him in tow. She gestured to several types and explained them, asking questions about the woman in question and her taste. "She's a bold woman. I suspect she likes exciting, perhaps even unexpected flavors to make her drink more interesting. She'll get tired of the same old thing." The cashier was enamored with the picture he was painting and he continued offering details that kept the cashier juggling between options for him, though she ultimately decided a variety of tea would be the best option for the woman he described. She suggested bold fruity flavors that he hummed thoughtfully at. "I think that's perfect. Do you mind grabbing me one from behind the display? I was under the impression they're fresher than the ones sitting up front." He watched as the cashier confirmed his theory, dedicating time to switching out the bag in her hand for one farther behind. Taking advantage of the moment, he hit her swiftly on the neck and brought his other hand up to help brace her. She crumbled in his arms and he lowered her gently onto the ground, preferring not to cause any unnecessary head trauma. He rolled her onto her side and put the package underneath her head to prevent soreness of the neck.
He whistled lowly at his success in his part of the plan, moving towards the register to begin emptying the surprisingly full til. He put it all in a tea shop tote, spending little time appreciating the sight of all the yen before he let the tote straps rest in the crook of his elbow. "I don't suspect the alarm's gone off, so we should be fine to leave."
The Death Siren Rank:Wanderer 磁気 | Classes:Genjutsu | Performer | Ninjutsu 力 | Body Rank:S+ 勇 | Elements:Fire,Wind,Earth,Glass
tabIto was the first to walk into the shop, but wasn’t the one the clerk would attend to. The woman dove behind one of the shelves, a blur of pink the moment she entered the shop. The woman shifted her eyes to her Sharingan again, using its chakra sensing applications to track the movements of the two employees through the shop. She stuck close to the shadows, sidling against the shelves out of view of Chai and the clerk. From here her part of the job was easy. All she had to do was sneak off to the bank to deal with the loner.
The woman was in the back on break, reading some pervy magazine that Ito could make out from peeking around the corner. The things some people did at work were disgusting; she definitely didn’t wanna know what some of this tea was made of. Just the thought of it made her sick, and she had to cover her mouth with her hand to stop from vomiting.
Ito shook her head and rose to her feet, getting ready to do her job. She gently turned around and simply pushed the door open. “Why hello there~” She cooed, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest. This made the man jump and furiously hide his magazine. He was about to call out and tell her she couldn’t be there. But as soon as he made eye contact with Ito’s Sharingan, the entire room was enveloped in pitch black darkness. He seemed confused as he jumped to his feet, unable to see Ito as she rushed to him. With a firm hand on his shoulder, Ito focused her chakra into his, forcing him to sleep.
“Whew~” Ito let out a sarcastic sigh as the man slumped to the floor. She picked up his mag and examined it, nodded in approval, and rolled it into her pocket. She looked around: while this man was using this room for break, it seemed to be full of expensive tea. While Chai had probably done the deed with the upstairs clerk by now, Ito doubted the money in the register would be enough. So Ito grabbed some kind of sack laying around in the room, and started filling it up with whatever tea she could find. The whole act only took about a minute before Ito came back out to the lobby. Seeing Chai at the register was reassuring, and put a beaming grin on the woman’s face. “Ready?” She asked, hoisting her bag of ill gotten goods onto her shoulder.
Chai looked up to see Ito with a sack over her shoulder, undoubtedly filled with tea. "Are there big tea drinkers back at camp?" He asked conversationally as he closed the register till. However, he couldn't quite make it around the counter as the heavy, lumpy tote bumped into the security system button, which shot out something white and clumpy. It came out at such a force it pushed Chai into the tea wall display and the sticky substance glued him to the wall. It took him a moment to recognize it. "This is that C4 chakra mixture." He pulled at a bit of it with his fingers, but it drooped and stuck to his hand in a glue-like rubbery fashion.
He heard a rumbling from the back of the store and his frown deepened. "I can work on getting this stuff off. Can you check out what-" he didn't finish his request as a wall display pushed out from the wall, revealing a hidden staircase that a bunch of goons were walking out of. "This place is a front?" Chai didn't care for being taken off guard, especially considering his compromising position. He worked on shaking off the goop more, watching as the men pulled out swords and started charging Ito first.
Chai watched helplessly as two of the men wielded wakizashi blades and charged them both with raiton chakra as they sliced at Ito. Behind them, a third was cupping the side of his mouth and shooting out what he assumed were fuuton needles. They weren't visible to the Yamanaka, who had to turn his attention back to his bindings. He tried moving one hand rapidly to gather friction as his other he rubbed against his own leg, trying to generate a safe level of heat. He didn't want to leave Ito to fend for herself, especially as a fourth man came from the stairway with a huge club. A four-v-one? "That's quite impolite," he commented as he started to get his arms free. "There are two of here and you're only paying attention to the beautiful woman. I'm going to feel quite jealous." He smiled, hoping his charm would garner an aggressive reaction, but they wanted her first. He hoped they didn't think she was weak. He managed to get one hand free and tried to wrestle the other out, not appearing to be in a rush even though he was working diligently.
The Death Siren Rank:Wanderer 磁気 | Classes:Genjutsu | Performer | Ninjutsu 力 | Body Rank:S+ 勇 | Elements:Fire,Wind,Earth,Glass
tab“No idea, but I’m sure this fancy stuff’ll fetch some nice Ryo~” Ito grinned at her companion, giving him the hand signal for ‘ok.’ If she thought right, snatching some tea would double-no, triple- the amount of money TORNA would rake in from this job. And it was so easy, Ito was giddy with excitement. She didn’t need Usagi, she didn’t need Kiyoko! She was able to do this on her own!
She was so caught up in her triumph that she didn’t notice Chai knock the alarm. Some sort of alarm went off, forcing Ito’s head to whip around in confusion. Her eyes shifted back into her Sharingan, trying to gain at least some form of extra sense. It was enough for her to see the incoming hunk of clay launched at her, which she ducked on pure reflex, so it hit Chai instead. Ito sucked air through her teeth and looked at the man. “Sorry,” she muttered just as the backwall opened up. The men coming out of the hideout all seemed focused on Ito, which put a smirk on the woman’s face.
“Just as they should be~” She chimed, running at a low crouch to give her some space from Chai. Ito turned on her heel and stared each of them down as the wheels on her Sharingan. The men stopped, swaying in rhythm as the bandit hummed a haunting tune. She sent her chakra weaving her chakra into the sound. In that instant black spikes erupted from the floor and ceiling, originating from Ito’s position and eruptions forward. Each spike would impale the man in random spots of their body. The henchmen would lurch and double over, screaming as they clutched wherever they had been stabbed.
Chai would simply see the men and their reactions, but not the spikes. In seconds, Ito would stop humming and look at him as he freed himself. “They know where the real show it~” Ito said with a wink.
Chai had gotten his hands free and made the correct open hand sign to shoot his conscious into one of the grunts when he realized they were all crying out in anguish and fighting an invisible enemy. Ito, who was humming a hauntingly beautiful tune, seemed completely nonplussed. She turned to him and said something that was probably playful and flirty, but he didn't quite hear it. He was busy admiring the quickness of her work as the men fell to the ground squirming. Whatever she'd done, it hadn't left a trace but had incapacitated the men all the same. It was his kind of style of completing missions, with stealth and untraceable jutsu that couldn't incriminate him later. He was, in short, impressed with her work.
"It was interesting to watch from my end, though I'm sure I missed the best of it," he mused as he got free of the rest of the C4 mixture. "I wasn't expecting this kind of jutsu over here. I didn't realize nobles would have access to such esoteric defense systems." He shrugged it off and reshouldered the tote bag with his money. "Well, we've got your tea goodies and the money from the register, but I am certain there's something downstairs that'll interest TORNA as well, hmm?"
He stood by the entrance to the downstairs, putting a hand on the moved bookshelf as if holding a door open as he gestured for Ito to move ahead of him. "Ladies first," he offered, though letting Ito go ahead was more than manners as her Sharingan would pick up any additional defense systems if necessary.
However, he would travel down the stairs to find that there was no additional security systems, though there were many piles of money that were being counted on different tables. One table just had game cards, suggesting that the men were maybe gambling downstairs to spend time. There were tea cups all over - so the men were drinking some of the upstairs supply - and Chai moved over to the kitchenette area to pull off the kettle that was whistling. The men must have just put the kettle on when they ran upstairs for the disturbance.
He saw three cups with tea bags in them already and poured generously into each one, curious for himself what they would taste like. "Tea, my lady?" He offered, though he'd let her have her choice of teacup since all three cups had differently labeled tea bags. "I suppose we could take their stash down here. I'm not sure what else was happening down here, like what the store is actually a front for." As if in answer, a folder would fall from the edge of one of the tables. He turned towards it but didn't move across the room to grab it just yet, as he wanted Ito to select her tea cup so he could choose from the remaining two - but the folder would be full of information about different bijuu seals and religious organizations that were trying to get ahold of a tailed beast.
The Death Siren Rank:Wanderer 磁気 | Classes:Genjutsu | Performer | Ninjutsu 力 | Body Rank:S+ 勇 | Elements:Fire,Wind,Earth,Glass
tab“Well if you want a demonstration, all you have to do is ask~” Ito purred, her crimson Sharingan the only thing illuminating her smirk in the darkness. After about a beat, and whatever reaction Chai would have, Ito leaned forward so her face was illuminated. “Kidding, kidding!” She chuckled, a playful grin on her face as the woman waved her hand. After Chai’s initial offer, Ito skipped passed him, giving him a pat on his cheek as she passed him by to go downstairs.
Once inside, she saw the same things he had: all the tea, and a butt load of more money all ripe for the taking. During her search of the room, Ito found the file, and removed the information pertaining to the Bijuu. She clenched her teeth as memories of Usagi flooded her mind, like when the blonde showed Ito how to perform the demon seal. The paper crumpled in the woman’s grip as it felt like a knife was shoved into her chest. Ito made a single handsign and exhaled on the folder, embers flowing from her mouth and setting it ablaze.
“Hm?” Ito was yanked back to earth from her comrade offering her tea. “How sweet, and you’re such a gentleman too~” Ito gladly accepted the cup, sticking her pinky out for full snobbery. She’d clink her glass with Chai’s, if he so chose to grab one, before taking a sip. “I’m not really sure either,” she replied with a shrug. “But far be it from people like us to judge how other people make their money.” Ito finished her tea and went about taking everything that she could carry that wasn’t pinned down.
Chai held his breath when Ito's sharingan honed in on him, but she laughed it off a moment later. He wasn't sure what his options were in that moment, but rolling with the punches was so ingrained in him that he hadn't quite flinched so much as appeared to be a deer in headlights. He laughed along with her.
Downstairs, he chose his fruity tea and toasted with her, holding out his pinky much like she did and hiding his amused smile with a sip. "This stuff isn't bad at all; they almost could have made all this money just from their tea." He nodded at her assessment that it didn't matter how these people earned their money. "That's a fair point. I guess they won't be continuing it after this little raid of ours, anyways, so its a moot point." He helped her bag up the rest of the money they could carry, lamenting his inability to utilize complicated sealing techniques that would have allowed him to vacuum up the money for easy travel.
"I'd call this mission a success." He looked over his shoulder after walking back up the stairs and standing near the front door. They'd made a bit of a mess, but they wouldn't have to clean it up, either. "You were a good partner, partner," he said, holding a hand out for her to shake.
The Death Siren Rank:Wanderer 磁気 | Classes:Genjutsu | Performer | Ninjutsu 力 | Body Rank:S+ 勇 | Elements:Fire,Wind,Earth,Glass
tab“Maybe it’s so good ‘cause they put drugs in it~?” Ito replied, with the same kind of tone one would use to tell a ghost story. She laughed at her own joke, not really noticing it Chai did the same. The woman did follow him upstairs, though, once they finished taking everything that wasn’t nailed down. “I’d say it was a job well done, too~ Not bad, newbie.”
Ito stopped walking once Chai turned around. The pink haired woman looked down at his offered hand. There was some kind of emotion plain as day on her face, reflexively biting her lower lip a little. But Chai might’ve had a hard time pinning down which one it was exactly. It seemed to be a mix of sadness, anger, and equal parts pain and resentment. Partner? No, never again. Ito would gladly accept Chai into the folds of TORNA, like anyone else that put in the work. But anything more than coworkers? Ito found it to be best to keep people at arm’s length these days.
“We should get going.” Ito said, flatly, a shadow covering her eyes. The woman slipped past her companion, avoiding his eye contact as she slid through the door. “People’ll probably start getting suspicious.”
The trek back to camp would be a long one, probably around a couple of hours between the distance and the need to stay hidden. But once Ito and Chai returned, they found themselves in the main building in TORNA, giving their debrief to the current leader, Maeve. “And that’s about how it went down~ All in all, a huge success for TORNA~”
By the time they talked to Maeve, Ito seemed to be back to her normal self. She proudly produced her own bags of cash and placed them with Chai's, adding in her own stash of teas. “And this stuff’s great! Probably make an extra few thousand Ryo of it alone.”
“Was it worth setting off the alarm?” Maeve stared coldly at her daughter before examining the tea. Ito made a confused noise, as this was obviously not the reaction she’d planned for. Meave continued, putting down her teabag. “This was supposed to be a simple in and out job, and you risked capture for... what, exactly? A midday drink?” The woman rose to her feet, her long blonde hair almost touching the ground as she walked around the table she’d been at.
“Well, I just thought-”
“And that was the problem: you thought” Maeve stopped walking. “If your father were still alive, he’d be very disappointed with your utterly gross display of incompetence. Isn’t that right, dear?” Maeve would smile then, a creepily loving smile, as she reached up. Her fingers caressed the cheek of the preserved corpse of a man that was hanging from the wall. “Honestly, Ito, you should be more considerate of what your father thinks.”
“But, he’s dead.” Ito looked visibly uncomfortable, as one probably should. “Shouldn’t we try to move forward, instead obsessing over what he would’ve wanted?”
Maeve’s reaction was instant. The woman moved so fast that Ito doubted she’d be able to see her even with her Sharingan active. The TORNA leader struck a blinding blow at Ito, hitting her square in the face. The blow came with enough impact to lift the pink haired bandit into the air and back by almost a dozen feet. “Don’t you EVER talk like that again!!” She snapped, her anger filled voice a stark contrast with the coolness she held her body with. “TORNA is the creation of your father, and you will regard what he wants with every decision you make!” She lowered her fist and seemed to collect herself, her wildly angry expression returning to one of cold steel. “So next time you get some little idea in your head, remember that we already know what’s best. For you, and for TORNA. Now get out of my sight.”
Ito, now at a loss for words, rose to her feet and slunk out of the cabin.
Chai laughed at her suggestion that they had addictive drugs in the tea, pleased still that everything turned out pretty well. He didn't take it personal when she didn't accept his outstretched hand and easily returned it to the comfort of his pocket, strolling alongside her in silence to avoid aggravating her. He held his silence through the entire trek back and only pitched in when relevant as Ito relayed the mission back to Maeve.
Otherwise, he was a statue, even as Maeve began to tear into Ito. He knew the status quo in TORNA dictated that he be stoic unless ordered otherwise, and he had no reason to invoke anyone's scorn. However, it was difficult to avert his gaze from Maeve's intimate, invasive touching of her late husband. It made his upper lip want to curl, only prohibited through Chai's discipline and desire to not upset Maeve further. He was approving of Ito's suggestion that TORNA move forward, relaxing just a little at the reasonable plan of action, but he flinched at Maeve's utter speed and brutality in hitting Ito. His passive expression shifted to a frown, but he didn't make a move.
Ito slipped out past him, and he remained inside for about a minute longer before Maeve remembered his stoic presence and waved him away. He was quick to leave the cabin and find Ito. While he felt concerned for his partner in crime, the sentiment didn't meet his eyes, though he let himself sit beside her. "I think you're right," he admitted instead of offering pity or empty apologies. "Your vision for TORNA is a good one. I don't think I'm the only one who thinks so, either, given how everyone walks on eggshells whenever Maeve refers to her late husband." He let his words hang in the air instead of making any forward assumptions.
"Having seen your decision making skills in the field, I think I get why you have a reputation for being effective. Fiery, and sometimes very direct in your approach, but always effective." He wanted to offer more, that she had good ideas and that her quick acting had saved his life since he had struggled to get out of the C4 chakra glob. Instead, he let his gaze fall on hers, aware she could do a number of things to him in her anger because of her sharingan, but trusting her anyways, because she had shown herself to act strategically and decisively.
The Death Siren Rank:Wanderer 磁気 | Classes:Genjutsu | Performer | Ninjutsu 力 | Body Rank:S+ 勇 | Elements:Fire,Wind,Earth,Glass
tabIto had gone to sit on a bench outside, a simple half log of a stool. At her feet was a bucket of water that she stared into absently. The woman’s thoughts were racing at a million miles a minute as she played back everything that had gone wrong during the heist. How Ito could have improved it, how she could have made it more efficient. Usagi wouldn’t set off the alarm. Usagi wouldn’t have spent so much time on the guards. On the one employee. She would have grabbed the tea the same as I did. But she would’ve made it work for Maeve. Ito clenched her fist as her thoughts went to her old friend. The more that Usagi’s name appeared in her thoughts, the more that her professional disappointment and analysis turned to anger.
Ito scooped up some water and splashed it on her face. She repeated this process vigorously, trying to use the cold water to numb the pain from the blow, to clean the sweat and dirt from her face. To shock her out of thinking about Usagi. After one final splash, the pink haired woman stared into the rippling water. Slowly her own reflection had faded, and what looked back at her was the playfully smug face of the blonde sealer.
Ito yelled and shot to her feet, kicking the bucket with all of her might. Water soared and rained down as the container sailed into the air before crashing down with an empty clang. By the time Chai came back out, he’d see a light rain soaking Ito as she stood, huffing and puffing. The newbie sat next to her on the wet bench, but if he was bothered it didn’t show.
Ito stood while he spoke before eventually falling back to the bench, slouching with her arms hanging from her knees. He was trying to cheer her up, and Ito would be lying if she said it fell on deaf ears. He was TORNA now, so she would listen to what he had to say. There was a moment of heavy silence as Ito looked forward. “One day.” She said to Chai. Her words radiated anger, but were sharp only in their decisiveness. “I’m going to take over.” Her words were simple, but it was very clear that Ito was talking about more than just simply the group of bandits of TORNA. That her gaze was aiming for somewhere far higher. The woman’s words were quiet, so only the man next to her could hear her. But Ito’s eyes- her pink, Sharingan-less eyes, were filled with enough flame to chill hell.
