[Kushiki Kioko]

I HAVE PROMISES TO KEEP

AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP

Night drenched Tokyo’s quieter thoroughfares in deep shadows far from the neon lit arteries pulsing with traffic and pedestrians alike. Most of the darkness and its ilk were stationary. Unmoving except subtle shifts from the moon’s passage overhead. Save for a singular entity set apart from the rest of the nocturnal abyss by silver orbs illuminated in the reflection of lights radiating from an establishment all too familiar to the wraith.

Kioko detached herself from the shroud of situational and self-imposed stealth to approach the door. What grace usually punctuated her long-legged gait was absent, replaced with a limp that favored her left. The same side saw grey shadows cast across her face indicative of bruising with her altered blood beneath the surface of the stoic mask of porcelain and pride.

Pain did nothing beyond the limp to falter her steps. If anything, it added an urgency. Predator had become prey in a twist of fate on behalf of a universe determined to see what resided beyond rock bottom for the fallen scion. Nothing else could have driven her to the safe haven of Noyote without the other Nobodies in her wake — and in the middle of a job.

Its status of sanctuary came from the sovereignty and reputation of the owner as a former Pro Hero. Which was exactly the last kind of person Kioko needed to draw attention or scrutiny from in her current state. Yet her options were few. As in two. And the other was to greet the reaper far earlier than intended. So Kioko opened the door and crossed through the threshold, leaving what hounds of hell which pursued her trail on the other side of safety.

She did her best to reign in the limp as she walked the familiar path to the back corner booth by the photo wall. Her gaze was firmly averted from the bar itself. Only when she finally slid into the seat with her back to the wall did she relax enough to both let her gaze wander away from the goal and remove her hood to reveal a cascade of chrome that she immediately brushed forward to cover the bruising.

Notes & Tags: shu | Outfit

[shu]

 

Tonight was as standard of a night as one could expect at Noyote. The usual evening crowd had gathered, taking up residency in their favorite spots. There were a handful of newcomers—a mix of those that wandered in from the street and those brought by frequent patrons. For all intents and purposes, business was good.

Which is why the tanuki decided to take a step back—calling in one of his younger staff that was asking for more hours to cover his shift at the bar. Instead he opted mess around with an old model of the omnitool that Shahar had made for him back in the day. It was the last iteration that utilized the watch design before Shahar shifted to the implant. Listlessly he tapped away at the hard light interface, shuffling and adjusting different settings.





All of it was to no avail. While Shu was far from being technologically inept, understanding the inner machinations of things was not one of his strengths. He always claimed that's why he married Shahar—to handle all of the complicated tech stuff. But he no longer had Shahar. All that remained of his beloved was Zazie's smile and the numerous devices that occupied her home lab.  

The tanuki sucked his teeth and the screen displayed yet another error message. He groaned mentally as he leaned back in his booth near the bar—"supervising" as he told his staff. The thought of contacting the Heroes Association crossed his mind briefly. Surely they had the resources to get the device operational. And surely they would want something from him in return. They had accepted that he'd retired, but that didn't keep them from showing up at his door to ask for favors. Can you provide support for this mission? Can you teach at U.A.U.? Can you train this random kid to be the next Symbol of Strength? It was annoying, so just as quickly as the idea rose up it faded.

That's when he heard the chime of the door as a cloaked figured entered. There was an air of familiarity to them. Tall. Feminine. The gait of someone who felt above the world. Though there was something off about the walk—something disingenuous. Everything became clear when the figure took a seat at a particular booth. The usual spot for a band of simpletons that frequented Noyote since they were children. Yet, this time she was alone.

The tanuki smirked to himself as a devious plot entered his mind.

Rising up from his booth, Shu stepped behind the bar and grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses. When questioned about it he simply stated that it was for business and refused to elaborate. 

"Family reunion?" Shu asked with a bit of dark humor as he set the two glasses down on the table and poured.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: 
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[Kushiki Kioko]

I HAVE PROMISES TO KEEP

AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP

Though her eyes had been granted the freedom to move among hallowed ground, Kioko’s guard had by no means dropped in full. Her senses tuned past the ambiance of Noyote’s regulars and newcomers alike to focus on any aberrant information. With a keen focus on anything that might give her cause to bolt — as much as one could do so while limping. What she expected to that effect was noise from beyond the walls or lurking shadows outside the windows. Instead, she got Shu.

The path he carved from bar to booth was no less worrisome than those pursuing her on the outside. She weighed her options just as gravely. Stand her ground or flee. Kioko chose the former. It was part necessity if her civilian identity was to stay in tact and part because her left leg was adamant in its inability to cooperate with the latter option at the moment. Especially in a way that didn’t further accrue suspicion.

Mean queen mien firmly in place as Shu took a seat, Kioko greeted him with nothing more than an arched brow. His quip posing as a question garnered more of a response though. She scoffed.

“Hardly.”

The lie fell from her tongue and easily and naturally as breathing. Shu had come close to the truth. It might not have been a direct family meeting, but it was an encounter with agents of her corrupted lineage. Marionettes whose strings she needed to cut to get to the puppet master behind them. An act easier said than done. The bruising and her limp were proof enough of that.

“To what do I owe the pleasure,” she asked in return. The emphasis on pleasure indicated it was anything but. “As a reminder, I am not liable for Sebastian’s actions no matter how much he insists.” Kioko would have included the never-ending tab that her friend kept going at Noyote, but that it would have been futile. She had been fighting, and losing, that battle for years now. Her money settling Sebastian's tabs was, at least in part, responsible for the establishment turning any kind of profit during slow seasons. The only thing that had changed over the years was where that money came from. Though her blood was still the root source in the end.

Notes & Tags: shu

[shu]

 

The tanuki poured his own glass of wine with a slight sense of amusement, the smirk dangling on his lips countering her icy visage. Letting out a relaxed sigh he picked up the glass and took a sip, taking a moment to savor the flavors. Full bodied. A dry red. Aged in French oak with notes of leather and dark fruit. While it was not the wine that Kioko typically ordered—that one just happened to be on back order—it was an option that Shu felt was close enough to suit her tastes. Perhaps she would even enjoy it enough to oblige a little bit of conversation. 

"The open tab under your name would imply otherwise," Shu said simply as he looked out towards the other tables and booths, giving her the courtesy at the moment to not give her his full attention. Kioko had always been a private person and his eyes were quick to perceive what people wished to keep hidden. The limp she tried to hide and the bruises she attempted to conceal were proof that something was going on. But if he was going to get what he wanted from her then that something would need to remain a mystery.

For now, anyway. And so he would take another sip before setting the glass down on the table.

"Besides, you're a business woman," Shu said as his focus shifted to Kioko. Golden eyes meeting with her mercurial glare. "Is it so strange to wine and dine one of your most esteemed benefactors from time to time?"

AUTHOR'S NOTES: 
Nam mauris lacus, faucibus quis lectus eu, varius consectetur justo. Pellentesque aliquam velit a nulla lobortis condimentum. Integer ut lectus sit amet justo faucibus luctus et sed eros. Nulla facilisi. Morbi ac

   

^{This template is best viewed on the dark skin.}

[Kushiki Kioko]

I HAVE PROMISES TO KEEP

AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP

To her credit, Kioko did not balk beneath Shu’s stare as he turned his eyes upon her once more nor when he dragged the tattered remains of who she had once been to the forefront of their conversation. She did, however, reach for alcohol. “I haven’t been a business woman in some time,” she stated after a sip. “I’m a retiree, much like yourself.” That was certainly one way to spin the situation that had toppled her from the pinnacle of the tech industry — the legal one, at least.

Memories of the long line of events that had transpired to bring her to the booth that night soured the taste of what was a vintage she would otherwise relish. She doused them beneath a deeper draw of the dark liquid. Despite her denial of the first claim Shu had made and the alcohol she now imbibed, Kioko did possess all the acumen one might expect a business woman to have. The Tanuki wanted something, and it wasn’t to wine and dine her. Such was the case with almost everyone she interacted with before and after her life had irrevocably changed. Maybe it was for that almost sense of normalcy that Kioko played along.

“I suppose esteemed is one way to put it though. Whatever bill Sebastian racked up must be enough to cover holiday bonuses and then some for all of your employees if I’m receiving such treatment as a benefactor. Unless I’m paying for this bottle too so you can hit that goal.”

Notes & Tags: shu