[shitai mitsuki]

WE'RE LITTLE DIFFERENT FROM THE BEASTS THEMSELVES

Mitsuki was far more comfortable with this kind of assignment than most, though she was uncertain about her caliber of teammate. It seemed from the mission parameters that the likelihood of violence was slim, which was always something of a relief to Mitsuki: missions in which she could rely on her social skills were much more preferable. The young kunoichi from Konohagakure who accompanied Mituski to Akazaya, however, seemed… abrasive, to put it mildly, and she was concerned as to what that might mean for their mission objective. Mitsuki was dressed in a plain, creamy-white kimono, her hitai-ate tucked away in a small kinchaku, her pale hair falling unbound to her hips. She looked for all the world like a civilian ready to enjoy a relaxing weekend at an onsen, nothing about her delicate build betraying the true nature of her career. "Tateyama-san,” Mitsuki said politely as they approached the exterior of the building, "how do you think we should approach this mission? My instinct is to experience the onsen’s services for ourselves and perhaps attempt to sabotage the water supply, but I would hate to endanger any civilians… I would love to hear your perspective on the matter.” There was a certain condescension to her tone: the quiet implication that Mitsuki was only humoring the younger girl, and that she expected her own plan to be their intended course of action.

Tateyama Yakitsukeru -- 232

LAIKA OF THQ

SPOILER: Click to show

Corporate Espionage
MISSION RANK: C
NPC REQUIREMENT: N/A
PARTICIPANTS: Open
DESCRIPTION:
Magamachi boasts the finest hot springs Kaminari no Kuni has to offer—fine enough to even rival those businesses of Hot-Springs Country! However, the hot springs in Akazaya has been becoming more and more popular lately—while the Magamachi hot springs’ business has been slowing down. Hamako Mai, the owner of the Magamachi hot springs, has hired Kumogakure’s services to investigate the Akazaya hot springs and do whatever they deem necessary to bring business back to Magamachi—without tipping off anyone in Akazaya to what they’re doing.

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Kumogakure's finest! A-Grade Bitch, a delicacy for everyone to enjoy. The girl tasted like foul stagnant water with her tone of superiority. Something that Yaki presently, had absolutely no love for, nor had she ever. A dour look to the young woman's crimson eyes as she travelled with the Shitai, and frankly she was already more than over this mission and its contents. A glance over to the girl revealed nothing further from beneath her own green haori camellia flower designs and a newer green and white woven scarf that hid her face from her nose and below from view. Hiding most of her appearance as it were. Her hair usually an unruly mess of braids had actually been tamed in rather long traditional braid that went over her shoulder much akin to Mitsuki's own, if not just simply longer. Yaki had not brough much of her gear along and looked more like a travelled visitor then anything, her appearance akin to something you would expect from a tourist from a colder nation, not uncommon with the closeness to Frost Country. As they reached the entrance she looked over at Mitsuki with a look that said more about her thoughts then she needed to state out loud, 'Now? You choose when we arrive to discuss the plan? Are you stupid?' "Fantassstic idea, Shitai-Sssan. Letsss sssimply ruin a busssinesss completely like a ssset of barbariansss why don't we. Would you like the kill the ownersss while we're at it?" Yaki would hiss low, just high enough in pitch for her companion to hear her voice. Her disapproval of a method was so obviously sabotage clear, "You sssuggessst sssuch an extreme without any information, on the cusssp of the exam's presssence in thisss very city. Before you go ruining your village'sss reputation, learn to asssesss the sssituation." And before another word could be said, Yakitsukeru opened to door to where staff was present and prying to begin the business transaction. Walking in for Mitsuki to stew on the words for a moment as she would likely be leading any speaking, Yaki's slurred speech not something she cared to use in public if possible on infiltration like this. It was too abnormal. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[shitai mitsuki]

WE'RE LITTLE DIFFERENT FROM THE BEASTS THEMSELVES

Whatever faint feeling of camaraderie Mitsuki had felt towards her teammate for this mission quickly evaporated, her scalding-hot gaze and cutting words immediately annihilating any amount of goodwill that Mitsuki had been attempting to harbor. Her expression shuttered, her polite smile giving way to a hard, flat line. Before she even had a chance to respond, Yaki brushed past her and into the establishment, clearly expecting her to fall in line and follow meekly… but instead Mitsuki lingered outside, pretending to rifle through her kinchaku in order to avoid the odd looks of passers-by as she tried to get her thoughts in order. Navigating through social situations was, typically, not this much of a struggle for her. She’d gotten off on the wrong foot with people before, sure, but it was normally quickly smoothed over, a brief misunderstanding mollified so they could get back on track. Yakitsukeru seemed to immediately interpret her suggestion in the worst possible light with a hair-trigger temper, then did not even bother discussing it further before initiating contact with the mission objective. Mitsuki could have moderated her tone, been more open to counter-suggestions, et cetera; she knew that. But for what felt like a relatively mild transgression to be responded to with such open hostility made her wonder if this was even a viable mission objective. Surely there was a point at which someone was simply not a workable colleague? Maybe it was a test of her ability to lead unruly, combative teammates… but if that were the case, then she would have been formally positioned as the mission leader, and they were meant to be collaborating as equals in this particular venture. The derision with which Yakitsukeru had spoken to her had brought vicious memories to the forefront of her mind, cool beads of sweat prickling at the base of her neck. She may as well have called her a stupid bitch, for the way her slurred hostility was delivered. She had been excited to come here. It had been many, many years since Mitsuki was able to visit an onsen in her homeland. They had a mission, of course, but she had wanted to enjoy herself first, indulge in a simple luxury that she had been denied for so, so long. And now it was ruined—through her own misreading of what was needed to begin the mission, her own mismanagement of her tone, her own inability to grow a spine and stand up for herself and her ideas when it was necessary. It seemed, quite simply, to be a mission failure before it even started. She wasn’t wanted. She wasn’t needed. And yet with every part of her mind telling her that she should just politely bow out and return to Kumogakure, she remained rooted in place outside the onsen, looking through her kinchaku for something that didn’t exist, desperately fighting back tears as she tried in vain to reconcile what she needed to do with what she wanted to do.

Tateyama Yakitsukeru -- 498

LAIKA OF THQ

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

She had waited for the woman to walk in. To literally do anything as the attendant stared at both of them awkwardly. Maybe she was reflecting over time and place? Yakitsu could forgive that sort of reconciled thought process to be better for the mission. That was apparently not the case though as she sighed, and turned, grabbing the girl and wrapping an arm around Mitsuki's own and pulling forward, assuming the girl didn't completely obliterate course right then and there, which Yaki did not want to deal with. Instead she had asked for 'an overnight room' as shortly as possible. If her companion was going to cooperate until the room from the hotspring then they could actually sit and discuss this in better detail. This mission was a mortal pain on both girls for very different reasons though. Where as Mitsuki apparently could not handle backlash, Yaki despised failure, and she was not going to just tolerate the kumogakure shinobi ruining this mission for them both. Heading through the halls to the room and entering Yaki would thank and tip the girl who led them in and close the sliding door, "Earth to Shitai-Sssan, are you ssstill with me here? Have you thought up a better plan or are you going to leave thisss sssolely at me disssenting to your, ssstill horrid, plan. Besssidesss that wasss it too much to asssk you at leassst wait until we got in to ssspeak on the plan if we were going to dissscusss it thisss clossse to the building?" This was going to be annoying considering how impractical her partner came off as. It wasn't impossible, but this was going to get more annoying if she had suddenly went catatonic from disagreement happening a single time. Yaki sighed as she performed the handseals to transform herself, though she only really changed the appearance of her jaw and shoulders area so not to show the girl her scaled complexion, "Thisss isss going to be sssimple if we can jussst work carefully, that wasss the wrong time, but now we have an entire night to plan and operate that should be enough for usss to get a better feel for thisss place and make a plan of attack, doesss that make sssenssse? I wasss not brought here to fail, and you would not have been given thisss misssion if they expected you could not handle it either, ssso I need you on your game." TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[shitai mitsuki]

WE'RE LITTLE DIFFERENT FROM THE BEASTS THEMSELVES

Before she could collect herself, she found a cool arm looping through her own, dragging her through the front door of the establishment before she could so much as utter a protest. Not wishing to make a scene in front of one of the workers, she stood in shocked silence as arrangements were made and they were led to their overnight room, following along with an expression like someone had just brutally kicked her puppy right before her eyes. She was barely listening as Yaki spoke; she heard the girl’s words, of course, but her mind was a million miles away. Mechanical movements stripped her of her kimono and undergarments, while her hair was already loose and unbound. Nudity didn’t bother her; she was utterly unselfconscious about her body, though her put-together appearance belied the scars that littered her biceps, thighs, shoulders—deep gouges raked into her flesh. Unclear, perhaps, what or who could have inflicted them, but there was still a newness about them, as if they were only a year or two old. After she felt quite certain that Yaki was done speaking, Mitsuki replied, wooden and polite: "I apologize for the timing of my suggestion. I agree that I should have been more thoughtful before speaking, and I understand your frustration.” She hadn’t brought a yukata, but there were some kindly provided in the room, and she neatly folded and put down her garments before claiming a yukata for her own. "Our objective, as I recall, is to draw business away from this establishment by any means necessary,” she said as she pulled the garment over her shoulders. Mitsuki’s expression had shuttered; she was closed off, impeccably presented. "I’m afraid you may have misunderstood my original suggestion. When I said sabotage I did not mean with poison, or with anything that would harm the patrons here. A foul smell or unpleasant texture might be enough to spoil the business’s reputation, which I believe would be the most straightforward way of fulfilling our client’s request. While the timing is unfortunate with the exams on the horizon, the reality is that we have a job to do, and the client is uninterested in waiting until after the conclusion of the festival—in fact, that may be ideal for them, if we follow up with a method of advertising that might attract tourists who are new to the region specifically because of the exams. If you have an alternate suggestion, I’d be happy to hear it.”

Tateyama Yakitsukeru -- 419

LAIKA OF THQ

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Truly they did not seem to be understanding one another, or rather it seemed that this girl just simply did notunderstand what Yakitsukeru had interpretted from her original suggestion, "Mistakesss can be made by all, it isss about learning to never repeat them that I care about. I do not often ssstay my tongue, ssso for that expect only honesssty - though I believe we both have misssunderssstood." Yaki would state before changing out and entering the hall with her companion where she did not speak again until they reached the wash area before one of the smaller springs that was capable of being marked as in use. As she set the clothes she wore into a basket, she began to wrap her body and hair into a towel - contradictory to her partner having a great distaste for nudity and more so in polite company she would clean and soak from the privacy of her towels. Finishing her work and keeping her disguise solid to her original appearance from entry she would walk into the initial rinse area and begin to draw cold water from the basin into a bucket to pour over herself to remove the grime before entering the spring itself. Within the emptiness of this particular area she would speak again, loud enough to be heard as she sunk into the small spring no bigger then what could fit a group of four reasonably. "I had asssumed you meant to destroy their water sssupply ruining the connection to the ssspring below. That isss true ruination and I do not condone that sssort of sssolution, it isss barbaric at the bessst of timesss. I believe we can agree to that?" Yaki would speak over in the direction of her mission partner. Looking for some sign of acknowledgement to her statement, "Thisss misssion isss in a sssenssse a large trap for requirementsss. It wantsss usss to tangible reduce busssinesss, but that can not be quantified in jussst a short time. With that sssaid I believe we only need to make enough of a ssstir that the current patrons are drawn away from here. That should create a conundrum that the ownersss can recover from during the exam time, but create enough of an isssue that we can claim to have done our job for the employer. I am certain that you were alssso aware of thessse pitfallsss? I presssume thisss misssion wasss ssslipped into exissstance by sssome paperwork accident given itsss almossst imposssible tasssk." Yaki would pause for a moment before continuing, "With that the case, do we not need to sssimply sscare away the patronsss for a day or two to make it ssseem like a sssuccesss? I believe we could easssily turn thisss misssion on itsss head if we played it right. While the misssion sssaysss to not let anyone know if we convinced the ownersss to shut down for sssimply two daysss ssstating sssome form of accident it would let usss drive the busssinesss elsssewhere and when the fessstival arrivesss thisss place can open and thrive once more. I find the idea of dessstroying either businesssesss revenue in the long term an appalling idea to be blunt. What sssay you to thisss, Shitai-Sssan?" TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[shitai mitsuki]

With mechanical movements Mitsuki followed in Yaki’s wake, politely averting her eyes away from Yaki’s clear effort towards privacy while performing her own ablutions. The sink into the spring was a gorgeous feeling—Mitsuki so rarely felt warm, and the heat of the water seeped through her skin and into her bones. It was no substitute for a human heartbeat, or what she imagined what might feel like… but for a brief moment, she very nearly felt like a person. Alongside physical relaxation came some loosening of her attitude; they had, it seemed, reached some sort of middle ground, dragging each other over the corpse of a brutal bout of miscommunication. It would haunt Mitsuki as she laid down to sleep for many years to come, undoubtedly, anxiety bringing Yaki’s sharp rebuke to the forefront of her mind when it was neither wanted nor needed, but that would come later. "I think,” she said slowly, "that this could work. But what if the owners decline? They’ve no reason to take us at our word—or worse, they might interpret it as a threat, as if we’re saying shut down your business for a few days or else.” This kind of delicate social dynamic was normally something Mitsuki felt quite confident navigating… but her secure evaluation of her own charisma had faltered significantly in the last twenty minutes, leaving her hesitant and unsure of their path forward.

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LAIKA OF THQ

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yakitsukeru would deliberately take her time to get adjusted as she listened to the previously haughty girl describe what could only be interpretted as the rambling 'ifs' of someone with a dangerously low self-esteem. Was this Mitsuki truly so full of nothing but hot air that she couldn't handle a bit of backlashing? Her brazen lack of modesty spoke of a strong sense of confidence physically, but that seemed to disconnect from her, very obviously lacking, intellect. Letting her hair slip into the warm spring to naturally untangle from the mass of naturally curling hair she looked up to the open-sky that was beginning to tint orange. "You ssseem to have me jussst asss confusssed," Yaki would finally speak after a moment, "A threat would be what we were doing asss it wasss. By approaching them and having them breach it would be a sssimple recovery during the coming exam and itsss fessstival. If they take what we sssay asss a threat worssst to happen isss we give them a reassson to shut down for a few daysss. Before that though, thisss isss your homeland. You are thisss nation'sss military. Jussst come up with a convenient excussse that can be easssily covered. Sssurely that isss more than sssomething the two of usss to come up with and then for you to deliver to the ownersss. Do not immediately asssume failure, never follow through with sssomething without a sssecondary plan, otherwissse you will find yourssself either dead due to indecisssion, or recklesssnesss." TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[shitai mitsuki]

Mitsuki’s comparative lack of modesty had little to do with confidence and everything to do with a disconnect from her own body. It was, on a very fundamental level, something she held at a distance; the more space she could put between herself and her cravings, the instincts that led her towards doom, the better off everyone would be, the more control she had over her actions. Her body was a tool to be used, and little else. Yaki’s words were no less sharp, but Mitsuki found herself less wounded now that she understood they were on the same page; her pride still rankled, but she was able to accept the rankling as it came. "I see,” she said. For all the girl’s modesty and desire to hide herself, it was clear that a sharp intellect laid behind those sharper words—though her method of delivery left much to be desired, there was compassion there as well. Do not immediately assume failure. Nothing less than perfection is what was expected of her; anything less than that was utter failure, and so failure was what she had come to expect. "We could simply tell them that Yamamoto surveillance discovered a dangerous fissure underneath the springs during their inspections leading up to the exams,” she said. "Security teams have been moving through this town religiously for the past few weeks, getting everything prepared. We were just sent to warn them of the danger and request that they shut down for a few days while doton practitioners work remotely to stabilize the earth. How does that sound?”

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LAIKA OF THQ

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yakitsukeru was starting to get a bit more comfortable with the conversation as she had to jab her sharpened words less towards the thick skulled beauty of the cloud. It frankly made her wonder what they did in Kumogakure more than she liked to admit. Their leader was a bull of a woman, her brain addled with liquor and sea water - not to mention the likely endless number of concussions - and here was yet another rotten mind. Mitsuki was intelligent though, and that was likely what irked Yaki the most. A mind unused was simply a waste of abilities, and she could tell it was wasting because of how quickly it seemed to have come to a cover story. In less then a minute they had shifted from potential infrastructure ruining damage to, needing to simply talk with the owners on the matter. Nodding to the story Yaki would nod in agreement, "Plausssible, incredibly sssound, and painlesss. Sssee what you can do when you contemplate optionsss Shitai-Sssan? The perfect guissse to fulfill a requessst within reassson of the nation'sss own village. You sssimply needed to apply your mind to the tasssk, and like that our delimma isss sssolved. We leave the ssspring when ready, attend to our belongingsss to presssent asss kunoichi, and we sssimply approach about meeting directly with the ownersss. All but sssealed." Yaki would state as she stood to head for the sauna. Turning her head to look back at Mitsuki, "Let usss go utilize the sssauna and then we should be pleasssantly pampered before we get back to busssinesss no?" The vipress would suggest to her companion as she went to heat the coals for the sauna, using the heat to relax herself further while sweating out some of the grime from her journeys that were deep in her pores. If Mitsuki joined Yaki would respond and make more pleasant conversation for the time, before leaving the sauna to dry off and get dressed back up. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[hirana kizumi]

There was something still sharply condescending in Yakitsukeru’s words—see what you can do when you contemplate options?, as if she had not been contemplating options to begin with—but the edge was blunted by the simple fact that despite her harshness, Yakitsukeru was praising her. A small, shy smile curved Mitsuki’s lips, impossibly pleased by the painfully simple act of receiving acknowledgment for her efforts. It was a small thing, but praise came so infrequently that even the smallest dose of it could shift her mood for the better. "As you say,” she murmured, quite content to follow in Yaki’s wake to the sauna; the tension having all but washed itself away, lifted away like so many impurities whisked away by steam. It was was luxurious, a truly pampering experience, and by the time their time in the sauna was up Mitsuki was in a much better mood, her fair skin flushed pink with heat that would never come naturally and glowing with contentment. "I’ve never felt so warm,” she said at one point, basking in the feeling of it like a lizard sunning itself on a rock. But duty called, and their time would eventually come to an end. When re-dressing Mitsuki would forsake the yukata in favor of her more standard gear, a slim-fitting bodysuit that neatly threaded the needle of being both aesthetically appealing and comfortable to maneuver in for close-quarters combat. With her hitai-ate produced, she was ready—assuming Yakitsukeru was as well. "Perhaps you should take the lead,” Mitsuki said thoughtfully, binding her hair in a long, low braid. "A simple transformation technique would position you as a Kumogakure shinobi easily enough.”

Tateyama Yakitsukeru -- 282

LAIKA OF THQ