Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ayame chuckles softly as she studies the menu. [It's been a while since I've felt this relaxed. To think the only people I could ever consider calling my "friends" are total strangers from outside my village.]

She throws a grin at Tahei. "You seem to know this place pretty well. So, what's good? And don't say 'everything.' I might have to smack you upside the head if you do."

Tahei giggles, "Well personally, I like the sushi and noodles. Gojin, the owner, uses jutsu to speed up cooking. So you could say this is like a five-star fast food joint..." A man wearing a suit behind him scorns him, "A fast food joint?" Tahei smiles, "And he's standing right behind me ne?"

Gojin bends over to talk next to him, "This is one of the top restaurants around, not a fast food joint." Tahei leans away from him, "Yeah yeah we know na." Gojin chuckles, "I see you're squad has gotten bigger. I don't recognize any of them." Tahei puts his elbow on the table gesturing at everyone, "Oh yeah uh... I'd introduce you but I can't. Class 0 stuff." Gojin nods, "Oh, top secret. Got it." Tahei gets up, "Excuse us. Me and my friend here need to talk in private." He and Gojin walk away from the table.

Nisemono studies them, [That guy looks familiar...] The waiter comes back smiling, "Alright, everyone ready to order?" Utari raises his finger, "Yeah, I'll have the... never heard of it before... the thing with salmon..." He looks over the menu, "Hmm.." The waiter wonders, "Where'd Tahei go?" Nisemono orders for him, "He'll have the sushi and noodles."

Ayame grins and looks back down at the menu. She has never been one for fish, but there are definitely other entres to choose from. Chuckling softly to herself, she orders a three-meat dish -- chicken, steak, and shrimp. Though she doesn't eat much seafood, she knows that Senka would appreciate a token of her thanks. She would save that part of the meal for him.

She glances over to where Tahei had gone with the owner. [I wonder if something's up. Gojin seemed to take the whole 'top secret' thing in stride . . . maybe too much in stride. Hmmm.]

Ayame shrugs it off and hands her menu to the waiter with a smile. [Tahei did say he uses justo to speed up the cooking. Perhaps they worked together at some point and this is what Gojin chose to do after retirement.]

After a few minutes Utari wonders, "I thought they serve food fa..." A few waiters appear with their food. Utari grins, "Wow. Took you about 5 minutes... What's your technique?" One of the waiters answers, "Trade secret." Utari nods, "Ah of course." One of them hands him his plate and he studies it, [Hmm... looks like it's been cooked thoroughly...] He asks, "Where's my..?" Someone puts a glass of root beer in front of him, "Thanks. Hmm these guys are fast."

Meanwhile...

Tahei was talking to Gojin in his office, "How's work?" Gojin shakes his head, "Well, I think I've been losing revenue lately but..." Tahei asks, "No not the restaurant. I mean your previous work." Nisemono was standing outside, spying on them, [That's why he sounds familiar. He's the Farmer.] Gojin scorns him, "Why?" Tahei asks, "Suzaku has fused with someone... Kiyotoshi, and Ouja has control of him."

Gojin sighs, "You get right to the point huh? " Tahei nods, "I need something that can break the Vampire King's control on Kiyotoshi. You overlooked the farms before our clan broke up. You must have something." Gojin closes his eyes thinking, "How do I know you're really Tahei?" Tahei says, "Well... ask me something only I would know."

Gojin shakes his head, "The enemy could have captured Tahei and stored his memories in you. I need a certain person, who's utmost skill is in dealing with these kinds of situations." Nisemono reveals himself, "Hello, Farmer." Gojin turns, "Head of Security, hello." He takes out a needle, "The Hasha devised this identification tool. If you are the Head of Security then it will show me." Nisemono injects the seemingly empty needle into his arm and watches it fill with a glowing substance, "It reacts to my energy sig." Gojin nods, "Since you are Nisemono, is this Tahei?" After a few seconds Nisemono realizes he was asking him, "Oh, yeah he's Tahei." Gojin nods, "Okay. Then we can discuss business."

Tahei asks, "So do you have something in stock?" Gojin considers it, "I have this... powder, which wires the person's brain to do what you say. You may be able to overpower Ouja's control with it." Tahei sighs, "Maybe... but it's worth a shot." Gojin takes a pouch out from his desk, executes a few hand signs then hands the pouch to Tahei, "The powder allowed master control from me. I'm transferring control to you. All you have to do is execute the same hand signs."

Tahei does so and holds the pouch, "Uh... thanks. Anything else I should know?" Gojin thinks, "Don't mix it with anything or it won't work right." Tahei nods, "Arigato gozaimasu." Nisemono stands up, "See you later, Farmer." Gojin nods, "Head of Security." Tahei puts the pouch in his vest then walks back to the table and Nisemono disappears.

Tahei looks clueless, "Huh? Oh, me and Gojin were discussing business. I asked him if he could help us with something." Utari pokes fun, "You guys doing something illegal in the back? Eh? Eh?" Mitsuke giggles under his breath, "You have no idea." Nisemono thinks, [Technically, it's not illegal...] Tahei takes out chopsticks and begins eating his sushi.

After everyone finishes eating Mitsuke wonders, "How expensive is this dinner anyway?" Tahei gets up all drunk, "I don't know." He takes the bottle of sake with him and wanders to the door all wobbly, "Heyy... uh... youuu..." Kariin kept him up from falling over, "Jeez Tahei, you're always drunk like this..." Tahei tells her, "Uh... put it on my tab..." She giggles, "Sure." Tahei pushes her away, "I... I can stand on my own. Look." He stumbles to the door and some people get out of his way to let him through. He nods, "Thanks na." He leans his head on the door. After a few seconds Kariin was doubtful, "Uh...?" Tahei shakes his head, "I'm fine! I got this." He opens the door mumbling under his breath, "Heh like I can't walk this far..." As soon as he gets out the door he falls over. Kariin puts her hand over her face, "At least he made it out this time."

A couple of minutes later Mitsuke holds an unconscious Tahei up under the arms, [Man he really does have a drinking problem.] A cab pulls up and Mitsuke puts Tahei in the car and wonders, "Eh... did Tahei pay for the meal?" Kariin giggles, "Oh we don't charge clan members silly." Mitsuke looked surprised, "Oh..." Gojin walks outside to wave them goodbye, "Tell Tahei when he wakes up that he made it out of the door this time. Hehehe." Mitsuke nods, "Haii." Utari, while staring at Tahei, wonders, [How exactly is Gojin helping us?]

The cab driver asks, "Where to?" Mitsuke begins to tell him where Tahei's apartment is. Suddenly he notices a woman approach the car, "Uh oh..." The woman opens the door on Tahei's side and looks at him with disappointment, "Why is my boyfriend drunk? Again?" Mitsuke waves his hands, "We were uh... He treated us to dinner..." She gets mad, "He doesn't even treat *me* to dinner! Where did he take you guys?" She turns to see the five star restaurant they were next to, "Here??" Mitsuke feels he's in the wrong place, "Uh... yeah?"

She pushes Tahei aside and gets in the cab then sighs, "Just business huh?" Mitsuke was afraid of what she was going to do, "Yeah..." The cab pulls out and heads to Tahei's apartment. After a while, Mitsuke asks, "So, Ria, what are you doing here?" She was looking out the window, then looks at Tahei, "I was looking for *him.* Wasn't hoping to find you guys." She looks over at Ayame, "Who's this?" Mitsuke answers, "She's helping us with Ouja." Ria asks sarcastically, "How?" Mitsuke, "With the mirror, I mean Muteki Shield." Ria had overlooked it then realized what he said, "Wait... you mean *the* shield?" Mitsuke nods, "Yeah. That one." She looks over at Ayame, [She looks familiar...]

She shrugs it off, not caring for the matter, then places her head on Tahei's shoulder while hugging him. She whispers softly, "I missed you." Tahei mumbles in his sleep, grinning, "I missed you too." Mitsuke envied their love, [Even with all the madness in the world that they have to deal with, they still manage to spend time together.] The driver merges onto the highway, "We're in the downtown area. His apartment is about 30 kilometers from here." Mitsuke smiles about the relationship Ria and Tahei have, [I wish them a happily ever after.]