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| - The home they had was spacious enough sure but it lacked a certain… homely feel. The group that had come to Heisekai was thirteen strong so even the most spacious of abodes quickly proved too inefficient for them. Only three rooms between thirteen? The girl’s where in one room and the boy’s in another, which of course left the third and final room as a meeting place to discuss their options. It was simple way of distribution but an effective one. It was there they all sat now with the exception of Fox Satonaka and Kyousha “Kyo” Takeshi. They’d decided to gauge the currents within Heisekai for themselves. ‘Where do we begin?’ Indra questioned, getting straight to the point. Apparently Itazura was the leader of this expedition. Each and every head looked to him to give the answer. Tedasuke was many positions above him in the Gotei 13 yet he merely looked expectant. The same was true for Indra and Est. Heck even Kazeshini was looking at him! The children didn’t count. Naoko, Yori and Hoshi looked to him for leadership anyway – they were used to following the orders of their superiors. ‘We start of slow with patient eavesdropping.’ Itazura began after a moment of thought. ‘Don’t ask any questions. You’ll rarely have to. I found that the civilians are always complaining about something. Most of it is warped beyond believing, but somewhere amidst the lies we’ll find the truth. We just need to use our heads a little.’ ‘So… we just mingle? That’s it?’ Naoko asked. ‘There is much to be gained if one opens ones ears.’ Hei seemed to be quoting someone for not even he spoke as posh as that normally. ‘Or so says my grandmother.’ ‘How is the old tyrant?’ Yuri asked not impolitely. ‘Ticking over,’ Itazura answered before Hei could speak. ‘The old bat chased me with a slipper two weeks ago.’ ‘You probably deserved it.’ Naoko interjected. For a while he saw a flicker of Mariko in her character. She probably thought she was helping Hei out… but the truth was that she didn’t know the half of it. ‘My grandmother is… certainly animated.’ Hei admitted. ‘Before she went… what’s the word I’m looking for?’ ‘Is it bat-shit crazy by any chance?’ Indra asked. He knew her well. ‘It will do,’ Hei allowed. ‘But enough of my grandmother’s mental health. We have larger concerns ahead of us.’ ‘Right, right,’ Itazura only barely stifled his laughs while Naoko cast him death glares across the room. ‘Let’s get back to information gathering then. What we need to do is keep a low profile: the less people who know about us being here -- and believe me some people will know already -- the better.’ He rose to his feet and began pacing. ‘You can bet your bottom Kan that Takahara knows, so what are our chances of bursting in on him with his pants down? Zip all.’ ‘Then he dictates the play,’ Est pouted. ‘I don’t like unfair games!’ She even kicked her leges out like a child and clenched her fists. ‘But you cheat constantly!’ Yuri exclaimed. ‘Do not you meanie!’ Est countered. ‘Ignoring the children,’ Itazura said with a wink towards Naoko, Yori and Hoshi, ‘let me continue. Right now that bastard Takahara has us where he wants us. But one thing I know about that man is that he underestimates his enemies.’ He grinned wickedly. ‘Tedasuke, what do you do when you can’t solve a problem?’ It was something Tedasuke had taught Itazura when he gained his seat in the Eleventh Division. ‘Turn your thinking around so you can look at it from a different perspective.’ ‘He’ll try to throw us off with false trails. He weaves lies like a Heisekian does a net, but every lie you tell brings you closer to being found out. We’ll exhaust Takahara’s schemes, discover the truth, string the bastard from the nearest tree and then go back home!’ As usual any meeting the Captain-Generals had where angry affairs. In this one room stood the strongest men and women Queen Kaede could call upon, but not a one of them could do anything to aid their Queen at present. Not without endangering her even further at any rate. ‘We went over this already,’ Shiro was saying. ‘We cannot disobey the Jouin! It’d be madness!’ ‘While I do agree with some of what Shiro says,’ young Erina said, ‘we can do something if we disobey the Jouin. Break this deadlock perhaps?’ ‘Yeah,’ Lance Stone replied lazily, ‘and everything you suggest would land the seal on our own death warrants for by. What use would we be to anyone then, pretty little lady?’ He then sighed heavily. ‘I hate politics.’ Fujimoto tried to gauge the mood in the room. He noted a lot of negativity. Once the Captain-Generals were proud and powerful people. Now they seemed sunken. They were people who had lost their edge. The entire spark had gone out of them almost completely! Shiro was getting angrier by the minute, Lance was growing ever more disinterested in matters, Ranmaru could barely restrain himself before the Jouin, Erina was contemplating ever more dangerous options and the Marshal-General of the entire Shuuten stood by in silence and did nothing! Even Shiori was beginning to act rashly. Something needed to be done and it needed to be done quickly. It couldn’t wait. If things progressed as they where then the Queen was lost. Tomoko would be either be killed or captured the moment a new monarch was chosen and the realm would rise up in civil war! It’d be a repeat of Shuhen’s rebellion three-hundred and more years ago! Now all the Captain-Generals had regressed to arguing amongst themselves and still Yoichi remained silent. Well… not Fujimoto. ‘Shut up right now!’ Fujimoto shouted at last. ‘What does arguing amongst ourselves accomplish? Nothing! If we fall apart and become isolated the Queen looses our support. United we are strong. Divided and we are vulnerable. It’s that simple, ladies and gentlemen.’ He inhaled sharply before moderating his tone. ‘I understand the last couple of years have been difficult. It has been for me too. But I guarantee you it will be harder if we start bickering amongst ourselves.’ ‘Fujimoto is correct.’ Ranmaru said at last. ‘So tell us, Yoichi, what is our course?’ Every eye in the room zoned in on that one man. Finally the Marshal-General walked forward. ‘Our course is simple, my fellow Captain-Generals. Right now the Shuuten cannot act because the Queen cannot risk her daughter’s safety. So it falls to us to do something about that. Ladies and gentlemen… we must free Tomoko.’ Fujimoto just hoped their actions hadn’t doomed her already… Night had already fallen and Itazura and young Yori had drawn the short straws, meaning that they’d be working together. He didn’t mind. The little kid learned quickly – certainly quicker than Itazura had done himself when Fujimoto and the others had shown him the ropes. Right now the two were stalking stealthily over the overhead walkways while listening in on any conversations going on below. When they reached the other side the two ducked low and ensured they were hidden by the raised wall. ‘Just because its night doesn’t mean all people go to bed. In fact only at night can you find the more unsavoury inhabitants of an area.’ In the night all that could be distinguished on Itazura and Yori’s bodies where their black hoods. Those they’d stolen from a merchant earlier who’d been beaten up in the street. In the ensuing chaos Itazura had used the flocking children as diversions so he and Yori could escape. Too bad the children didn’t. Oh well. He had other matters to attend to. ‘Like the folks who come staggering drunk out of bars?’ Itazura hesitated a moment. Just what could he say? Would Hisagi reprimand him or beat him black and blue? Eh. He’d been exposed to Kazeshini for long enough without any bad repercussions, so what harm could he do? ‘Drunks are one thing. Information brokers are another thing entirely,’ and as usual trying to find Kain Akai was next to impossible. The man was certainly good at erasing all trace. ‘Then there are the druggies and the hookers, the dealers and the cheaters. Some of the best folks to listen in on are folks enjoying a game.’ ‘Like poker?’ Yori asked. ‘Exactly, though you’ll need to learn a few more. For now though just watch me, and learn. We’re going down.’ Itazura motioned Yori to descend first. He wasn’t surprised when he noted the young man going through the procedures he had been taught not long ago. To his credit he got down without alerting anyone to his presence. He didn’t even make a noise. Itazura followed silently and began walking. Before they reached the first bar the heavens opened and they and their liberated coats where sodden through. Just what they needed! ‘You want a drink?’ His eyes lit up! ‘Yes, please!’ ‘Nothing warms you better than a brandy,’ Itazura answered. ‘Two brandies please.’ He said to the barman. Soon enough he and Yori where sipping brandy at an open fire. ‘See the circular table in the back?’ He asked young Yori. ‘They’re playing seven-card stud. The rules they’re going with is one throw away of up to three cards. You then pick up the amount you threw away, arrange your best hand, and then discard two cards so you’re left with only five cards.’ ‘The person with the best hand wins?’ Yori guessed. ‘Nice guess. Now watch it in practice.’ Itazura walked towards the group and was soon dealing cards with the rest of them as Yori looked on from a distance. He won two hands in a row and then fixed the draw so he lost the next five. When you won big you had to make it look as lucky as possible, otherwise people began to suspect foul play. Another card fix later and he had doubled his purse and gleamed some very information for his trouble. Before he departed he bought everyone at the table another round before making himself scarce. ‘Why didn’t you clean them?’ Yori asked. ‘Because any minute now these streets will fill with people looking their Jiku back,’ he then took hold of Yori and flash stepped to the nearest roof where they were well hidden. ‘Shh. Look down carefully.’ Just as Itazura had said seven men and two women flooded out into the street. ‘Where did he go?’ One asked. ‘This way,’ another said. ‘He couldn’t have gotten far!’ One of the women said. Itazura diverted Yori’s attention elsewhere. ‘Stay low,’ he whispered, ‘but move quickly; just like I showed you earlier. We’re going to cross these rooftops, but we can’t let them hear us.’ He motioned his young charge to follow closely behind. ‘If it helps you out any then step were I step.’ Progress was slow at first but Yori soon sunk into a steady rhythm and in no time the duo had traversed close to two miles. ‘Okay, we’ll stop here.’ Again he dropped down to the ground with Yori beside him. ‘Keep close.’ He advised. ‘We’re heading back.’ Itazura then obscured himself and Yori in a series of white bandages which he uncoiled from his right arm before both were engulfed in a blinding white light which immediately teleported them both to their base. ‘You took your sweet time,’ Indra complained. ‘Kyousha, Kazeshini and I have been back for at least an hour or more.’ ‘Sorry,’ Itazura said before dropping a very heavy bag of Jiku onto the floor. ‘I just figured I’d cheat a little to speed things along. So what have we learned?’ ‘The Shuuten’s in disarray.’ Fox said aloud. ‘They hardly patrol anymore and its members are beginning to question the order of their superiors.’ ‘The civilians are also unhappy,’ Yuri continued. ‘Some say that it’s Queen Kaede. Others blame the Shuuten. This island is like a powder keg. All it needs is for someone to light the fuse.’ ‘… Queen Kade isn’t a bad ruler by any means. I’ve met the woman. No, there’s something we don’t know.’ Itazura pondered the notion but simply didn’t know enough. ‘We need solid testimony to go on. Yuri,’ his friend lifted his head, ‘keep looking here. I’m going to Boon Island. I need to find someone who knows what’s going on, as well as someone who can help us find Takahara.’ ‘Who is this wonderful person?’ Tedasuke asked sarcastically. Itazura only grinned. ‘Kain Akai,’ The assembled group soon laughed aloud though as Naoko pushed young Yori away. ‘Your breathe stinks!’ ‘Gotta love the booze,’ Itazura chided. This story, Small Beginnings, along with its predecessor, Landing in Heisekai, wraps up a mini-arc that simply reintroduces some Part II characters. The next step in the story is the Impostor arc. Next Story >. Kenji gone Mad?
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