Ark 22 Episode 18: The Wrong Place

Early Mornings
Rima: (( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U5_9OQcqmU )) Golden rays of sunlight streamed through the silky white curtains of Rima Lannister's bedroom, bathing her mostly exposed skin in its warmth as she lay face-up in bed. Dressed in a fitted white tank top and a pair of blue boy shorts, her soft brown hues stared up at the ceiling above her as music played from a nearby stereo. Lajon Witherspoon's voice filled the room with a melody that relaxed her as he sang “Karma” along with the rest of his band, Sevendust, an old band that she could never get tired of. Although it was one of her favorites, it wasn't enough to stop her mind from racing with the thoughts that had been lingering for the past few days; thoughts that – if she were to share them with anyone – they would immediately tell her that she had no business having them. She could not help but replay the encounter she'd had on the roof of one of the city's towers downtown, being held up at gun point as a result of her wanting to investigate the murder that had happened that day. The man who was holding the gun had a face that she would never forget and peculiar scarlet red hair to help distinguish him from others if she were ever to run into him again, but what she would remember about him most of all was when he spoke about something called Kuroyama. For the past few days, she had been wondering to herself just who or what Kuroyama was. “There's some new boys in town and they ain't here to play nice with these little mice runnin' around this shit hole called Kasaihana City.” She recalled him saying while waving that gun around, along with, “You've all witnessed the first steps of Kuroyama's rise to power, and it will be your last memory besides my pretty ass face.” Rima's eyes fell shut as she repeated in a whispered voice, “Kuroyama.” She hummed in thought. “Was he...talking about a group?” Her eyes snapped open when she heard her cell phone ringing furiously on the nightstand, rolling over to grab it and look at the touch screen to see who was calling. Spotting a picture of Kichiro on the screen, she immediately hit the answer button with her thumb and lifted the device to her ear. “Morning, Kichi!” She said excitedly. She was always excited to hear from her best friend. “Sup, Rima. Been enjoying your day off so far?” Came Kichiro's voice. Yes, the city's most terrifying boss, Frank Fester Fitzgerald, had given Rima and Kichiro a day off for once and words couldn't even describe how much of a relief it was. Rima let out a sigh. “Well seeing as though it's been forever since I've gotten to lay in bed all day, I couldn't ask for anything better than this. But I have to ask you something, Kichiro.” She paused. “What is it, Rima? Is something wrong?” Kichiro sounded worried on the other end. “No, nothing's wrong. It's just that, lately I can't stop thinking about what happened to us on that roof top. Remember the red head guy with the gun? Yeah, I've been wondering exactly what he meant when he said something about...errr...Kuroyama, I think it was. Yeah, Kuroyama. Something about that murder being their first step to rising to power. Or something like that.” Kichiro was silent for a moment. Knowing Rima, he could only imagine what she was thinking and it was undoubtedly going to be something he wouldn't agree with. “Rima, please don't tell me you're thinking what I think you're thinking. You are NOT going to go find out who or what this Kuroyama is!” Rima gasped as she lifted herself out of bed, planting her bare feet into the soft carpeted floor before rising to her full height of 5”6. “You read my mind exactly, Kichiro! Boy, I'll never understand how you manage to do that! Look, I know it sounds like a crazy idea, but we'd be doing this city a big favor if we knew something more about this Kuroyama and can maybe warn people about them. As much killing and violence that goes on around here, wouldn't you want to help decrease that?” She could hear Kichiro snort. “We wouldn't be any help if we're DEAD, Rima. Some crazy bastard already had a gun pointed to our heads. What more do you want?” “I want to help the innocent people of Kasaihana who are constantly terrorized by scum bags like that and if we could get down to the bottom of this, we could do just that. I know it sounds dangerous but --” “Rima.” Kichiro cut her off. “It's COMPLETELY dangerous, and that might be an understatement. We have absolutely no idea what we're dealing with here. For all we know, Kuroyama could be some gang or even a league of fucking highly trained assassins out here living out some martial law fantasy! Either way, I'd rather not get invol--” “Wait!” A light bulb suddenly went off above Rima's head. “That's it! You're a genius, Kichiro! If Kuroyama IS a gang, then there's only one place where somebody's bound to know something about them. The red head said they were new boys in the city, but by now they must have some sort of reputation.” “Don't tell me...” Kichiro groaned on the other end of the call. “Get dressed, Kichiro. Like it or not, we're going to District 1 and we're going to find out who these guys are.” Said Rima. “Are you insane!?” Kichiro flailed violently. “District 1?! Home to the most dangerous street gangs known to man!?” “Exactly!” Rima beamed. Kichiro face palmed himself. “Let me guess, if I don't go with you, you're going to go investigate by yourself.” He said gruffly, groaning when Rima replied with, “Oh, Kichiro, you know me so well.” Kichiro sighed.”Alright, fine. I'll go with you, but I'm not going unarmed.” “YES!” Rima jumped into the air, thrusting her fist upward toward the ceiling. She hung up the phone before Kichiro could even contemplate changing his mind and ran to her bathroom, which was connected to her bedroom by a doorway. Stripping out of her tank top and boy shorts and throwing them through the air in random directions, the door slammed shut behind her as she practically dove into the shower.

Ginji: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2-ZUGuczHg) “Ugh…” Ginji Shibata slowly rolled out of bed, glancing around his small makeshift room he had put together towards the back of the factory on the second floor. He walked out of his room, wearing only a pair of black basketball shorts. He leaped over the second floor railing, falling to the first floor below which wasn’t that far of a drop and with how strong he was now, it was nothing to him. He sprinted towards the center of the factory, swinging his fists in various combinations until he reached one of the numerous punching bags hanging in different spots of the factory. Sunlight shone through the windows of the factory and the cracks in the wood of some of the boarded up windows. Ginji reared back, slamming his right fist against once of the punching bags, having thrown it during his full on sprint, causing the punching back to swing forcefully backwards. Ginji ran under it after it swung upwards, not breaking stride even once during this. He ran a lap around the factory before moving back towards the middle, dropping down to start his push-ups and sit ups, working through five sets of fifty for both. He was still slightly surprised by how much he was able to work out without getting tired; he had always been like that but to this extent was crazy. All that Kin had put him through made him feel like some sort of super human, but he wasn’t anywhere close. He jumped up onto one of the horizontal bars he had started using as a pull-up bar, pushing himself to a hundred pull ups before he dropped to the floor in a crouch, releasing a heavy breath. “Gotta keep going…” He mumbled while rising to his feet, beginning to swing his loosely clenched fists in the air, going through different combinations as well as the karate kata that Kin had taught him. His new training regiment usually lasted for around two hours and started early in the morning which was all new to him, considering in the past he was nowhere close to a morning person and threatened to shoot whoever woke up him before eleven in the morning. Ginji walked over to the fridge they had set up, grabbing a bottle of water, downing it quickly before jogging to the shower. Over the year that Ginji and his goons had lived in the factory they had done a lot of things to make it easy to live in like stealing fridges and even paying for a shower to be put in when they had made enough money. Ginji had made deals with the immediate surrounding businesses to let them use their electricity and having a nice monthly income from their extortions and robberies, they even paid a water bill. Ginji walked into the bathroom with the clothes he had grabbed from his room, grabbing a towel to wipe the sweat from his face and neck. He stared at himself in the mirror for a second, the sight of how toned and muscled he had become still slightly shocked him, considering his training with Kin had just recently concluded. “Damn.” Ginji said with a smirk before kicking his shorts off, getting into the shower. He hopped out twenty minutes later, getting dressed in a pair of black baggy pants, a white t-shirt and a slightly loose black jacket that was a bit tighter than it had been in the past. He pulled on his black socks and boots, lacing them up tightly before shaking his head hard enough that his hair slung around. He grabbed his hairband, pulling it into his hair, letting a strand of bangs hang down his forehead on the right side. He grabbed his Black Star pistol, sliding it into the waist of his pants in the back so that his shirt was tucked behind it but his jacket hung over it. He collected six of his goons who were up and ready to head out, taking them with him out into the streets. “Let’s fuck today up.” One of them said in a pumped up sort of way. Ginji nodded with a smirk, pulling a black cigarette from his pack of Heavens Touch Cigarettes, lighting it with a lime green lighter. He took a long drag from it before pulling it from his lips from his right hand, letting it rest between his right index and middle fingers, the smoke trailing from it drifted behind them as they walked down the street. “Jo-Jack’s burger joint first.” Ginji said after taking another long drag, the smoke leaving his mouth in bursts as he spoke. They headed two blocks down to Jo-Jack’s burger joint which reminded Ginji of his first meeting with Kin. “Heh, let’s see if Jo’s gonna bullshit me today.” Ginji threw his mostly smoked cigarette to the sidewalk, crushing it with his right boot before he pushed open the door with a grin. “Aye Jo, I’m feeling good today so let’s cut the bullshit.” Jo appeared out of the back with a roll of money kept together with a black rubber band and a bacon burger like Ginji always asked Jo to give him. Ginji took the roll and looked it over. “Business has been good huh Jo?” Ginji smirked, patting Jo on the shoulder with his left hand. Jo nodded in response as Ginji pocketed the money, leaving as easily as they had entered. “I had a great ass feeling about today.” Ginji said, almost laughing. Jo had given him a little extra money this time since they had to get a little rough with him last time for being short. Ginji walked with his goons down the street as he tore into his burger. They soon stopped at small intersection, posting up on the corner to chill as the warm sun fell over them. Today was going to be good and eventful; Ginji could feel it and was ready for it.



A Group of Thugs
Rima: Rima rolled her eyes with a deep sigh as she stood in front of Kichiro's apartment complex, her arms folded across her chest while her foot tapped the pavement impatiently. Her light brown hair cascaded down her back, its style complete with the neatly combed bangs hanging down over her forehead and two stray locks which hung down the sides of her face. The top portion was pulled into two thick braids which wrapped around either side of her head toward the back where it was held together by a practically invisible scrunchy. She was dressed in a white tank top that was tucked into a pair of red shorts, knee-high white socks with brown shoes, and a denim jacket which hung open to let the breeze cool her skin against the sweltering summer heat. The expression she wore on her face was one of irritation, mostly due to the fact that Kichiro had texted her a few minutes after she left home saying that he was ready to head over to District 1, yet she had been standing outside waiting on him for over ten minutes. “That's it!” She finally yelled, storming into the complex. A few flights of steps and winding hallways later, Rima's fist was pounding against Kichiro's door hard enough to break right through it. She had forgotten that with the nanites in her blood, she was much stronger than the average human being and a simple wooden door wouldn't stand a chance against that strength. She softened her knocking a bit so she wouldn't have to deal with having to pay damage costs for the door, grumbling before she shouted, “Kichiro! What the hell is going on! You said you'd be ready to go by the time I got here and it's been a full ten minutes! If I have to come in there, you'll be sorry-” She stopped midsentence when she heard the knob turn, taking a step back to let her friend step through the door. She was expecting to see Kichiro fully dressed and ready to get on the road, but to her surprise, all she could see of him was his head sticking out through the barely cracked door. His cheeks were flushed red and he had a heating pack sitting on top of his head like a hat. “Oh, hey Rima.” He said in a hoarse, stuffy voice that made Rima's eyes turn into two straight lines. “I had no idea you were coming so soon. Uh, I think I should stay in today. I'm not feeling too good, y'see. Hehe.” A giant bead of sweat appeared on his forehead as he laughed nervously. “Oh, no! You're not getting away that easily, Kichiro!” Rima seized the boy by his collar and yanked him through the door, causing him to squeal as he accidentally pulled it shut behind him. Thankfully, he was fully dressed. “Pull yourself together, Kichiro. You're not going to fake being sick on the biggest day of our lives. Now come on. We've already wasted enough day light.” Kichiro slouched forward with a scared groan. “Alright, alright.” He came wobbling behind her as she walked off. Rima wasn't typically a bossy person, but while others knew her as a total sweet heart, she had grown comfortable enough with Kichiro to let a different side of her show at times. The not-so-nice side. Especially since he was good at getting on her nerves. And vice versa. “Taxi!” Rima shouted, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet while waving a hand wildly above her head once they were back outside and standing on the side walk. Within a moment, a taxi pulled up in front of the pair, both teenagers climbing inside. “Shouldn't you kids be playing videogames at your mom's house or something? It's a little dangerous to be out by yourselves.” Said the taxi driver. “Are you kidding me?” Rima arched a brow. “You obviously don't keep up with this generation, do you? We're out all the damn time. Now step on it and take us to District 1.” “Hey! For your information, I have my OWN apartment, thank you very much!” Kichiro added loudly, shaking an angry fist at the driver. Rima dragged him back into his seat. “Relax, Kichiro. We have plenty to do today. Starting with how we're going to find out about these 'new boys.'” She lowered her voice as she turned in her seat to face Kichiro, her expression more serious than he had ever seen her look before. The taxi had pulled off into traffic by then, steadily cruising on its way to District 1. “Alright, Kichiro, here's what I think we need to do. District 1 is filled with thugs who might know a thing or two about these Kuroyama guys. Maybe we can get some answers from them.” Kichiro snorted, slouching down in his seat as he folded his arms across his chest. “You think they're going to give us any answers for free? Half of those nut jobs would probably beat the shit out of us just for the way we look, much less coming to them to ask about a gang they probably know nothing about. And what if we're wrong about Kuroyama being a gang in the first place? For all we know, they could be some Satanic cult.” Rima arched a brow at him, which soon flattened into quite the sarcastic expression. Kichiro glanced sideways at her. “What?? It's a strong possibility!” He whined. About half an hour later, the taxi rolled past the border separating D2 from D1 and both passengers could immediately tell by the way the buildings and structures went from modern metropolis to podunk urban jungle. Not to mention the rank smell of cigarette smoke, piss, and garbage that was strong enough to permeate through the taxi's closed windows. “Alright, kids. This is where I gotta kick you guys out.” Said the taxi driver. “And coming to a neighborhood like this, I doubt I'll be seeing you again.” “Gee, thanks.” Kichiro muttered sarcastically in response to that interesting anecdote. Rima handed the driver some cash before getting out of the car, Kichiro doing the same and appearing at her side seconds later. As the cab drove off, they both stood still for a moment, looking around at the urban civilization known as District 1. “Uh, so...are we gonna do this thing or what?” Asked Kichiro. “It's too late to turn back now, Kichiro.” Rima replied. “Let's get started.” They began along the sidewalk, taking in the completely new environment. It was obvious that neither of them had ever seen this side of town before as their lost gazes looked about like two aliens exploring a new planet. Rima swallowed as she was unnerved by the gazes some of the men standing around were giving her, scooting closer to Kichiro who was struggling to force himself to look cool. “Is it just me or are we walking pieces of steak right now?” Kichiro said quietly to her. “Shut it, Kichiro! You're not making this any less nerve-racking.” Rima whispered back after socking him in the arm. “Hey, I have a taser and I'm not afraid to use it.” Kichiro said. “What did you bring to protect yourself?” Rima stared straight ahead as they continued to walk, immediately thinking of the abilities she had discovered within herself about a year ago. “I brought enough.” She said, referring to said abilities, though Kichiro had never seen them before or even knew about them for that matter. It wasn't long before they approached an intersection where several cars were flying dangerously fast through the streets, looking around to see several people standing around on each corner. One particular group immediately caught Rima's eyes, some young men who looked the complete opposite of a bunch of boy scouts. “Kichiro.” She nudged her friend in the arm before looking off in their direction.‏

“They look like a couple of thugs, don't they?” She whispered. Kichiro's eyes went wide when he saw the group of boys. “Um, I don't think they wanna be bother—GYAH!” Before he could finish, Rima was already pulling him after her as she made her way across the intersection toward the group of boys. “Rima, I think we should talk about this first!” Kichiro said nervously. “Don't you think we should TALK ABOUT THIS FIRST??” Too late. Rima was already standing in front of the group, one hand behind her back while the other waved politely at them, as if she thought being polite was going to faze as bunch of delinquents. “Hello there, gents.” She greeted them with that typical sweet girl smile of hers. “I know this is totally random and probably kinda weird, but would you guys mind if I asked you a few questions?” Kichiro looked frozen like a statue beside her, his right eye twitching profusely as he fought the urge to either vomit or pass out on the ground. “Anyone?” Rima looked around at their no-shit-taking faces, keeping her smile although she was beginning to feel nervous herself. The only thing keeping her going was knowing that she was doing her city a good favor.

Ginji: Ginji released a long drawn out yawn, the boredom slowly starting to get to him. They had been posted at this street corner for around half an hour and all he had done was smoke a few cigarettes while his gang called out to girls who were walking this way and that way. He watched cars shoot by doing speeds well over the speed limit, running red lights, and almost getting into wrecks. “Today was supposed to be a good ass day… Th’fuck is it so boring for?” Ginji looked up at the sky with a blank expression, releasing a long stream of smoke from between his lips. He placed the cigarette between his lips, letting it chill there as a girl walked past him, giving him a smile. He only looked at her as she passed, shaking his head slightly, mainly annoyed with how uneventful the day had become. Ginji pulled the roll of money he had collected from Jo and began counting the money. “Hello there, gents.” “996… 997… 998… 99- Hah..?” He glanced up to see a girl with light brown hair and a surprisingly sweet smile on her face. There was no way in hell she was from District one with a smile like that. The dirt and grime of this district could turn a girl from the richest part of the second district into one of the cheapest whores on a street corner begging for the needle or more crack. His eyes slowly trailed down her body, her amazing figure jumping out at him. She had curves in all the right places and her clothing showed it. His brownish-golden eyes trailed back up to her brown eyes, the cigarette almost falling from his mouth. A smirk slid across his lips as he rolled the money back up, wrapping the rubber band around it before sliding it back into his pocket. He took a long drag from the cigarette before pulling it from his mouth, blowing a rather big cloud of smoke into the air. He stared at her with a look and expression that probably couldn’t get any more bland and blank. She wanted to ask them a few questions which made Ginji’s left eyebrow slowly rose up as if he were ready to hear her questions when he noticed the guy beside her who looked as if he were going to spill his guts at any moment. Ginji moved the cigarette around in his fingers until it rested on the nail of his middle finger which was pressed to his thumb. Ginji stared directly into the boys eyes, his blank stare made it seem like he were about to hit the boy. He flicked the cigarette swiftly, sending it skimming over the boy’s head, just barely missing his hair. His goons smirked and chuckled, giving the boy menacing looks like they were wild animals ready to rip his limbs off only to beat him to death with them. Ginji gave the girl a slight nod to his right, turning in the same direction a second later, beginning to slowly walk in the direction he had nodded to, only taking her around the corner so his goons couldn’t see him talking to her. He leaned up against the wall, propping his right foot against it, his hands sliding into his pants pockets. “You lost? You two look like you have no idea where the fuck you’re at, and I highly doubt you do. Thought people like you knew better than to try to ask some thugs questions, even in broad daylight.”

Meanwhile

Around the corner Ginji’s goons had grabbed the boy and shoved him against the wall, smirking and laughing at the faces he was making. One of them mumbled something about robbing him and blowing his brains onto the sidewalk while another talking about putting his teeth against the sidewalk and stomping on his head. This of course was all in good fun though they acted serious. They figured it’s what a privileged kid from another district, most likely the second from the looks of him, got for wandering into their turf. “Could always cut his fingers off… He looks like the type to jack off to the thoughts of that girl over there… Without fingers, he’s only got palms. Maybe we should just take the whole hand.” Laughter followed along with nods of agreement. “He probably humps his pillow thinking about her.” “Yea… That is a nice piece of ass, you hittin it?” They asked him with smirks and grins, not giving him time to answer before one of them answered for him. “Hell no, that’s friend only territory, poor guy. Maybe she’ll end up with a thug like us. She did come to our little district after all. Hell, maybe I’ll get a shot.” “No way, the boss is definitely going to get her, he took her around the corner after all.” One of the goons stepped up, grabbing the boy by the throat while pulling a pistol, pressing the tip of the barrel against his stomach, just to the left of his bellybutton. “Think I should put a hole right here? Or maybe in his sack… If I do that, I might as well put one between his eyes.” They all laughed at the fearful look on Kichiro’s face. They continued fucking with him and would do so until Ginji reappeared with the girl.



Got Any Info?
Rima: (( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_YUjFx1gkQ&list=PL9A1340678857BC52&index=4 )) Rima continued to scan the group of boys while she waited for an answer, their silence beginning to unnerve her as she began to think that maybe she'd approached the wrong guys. Then again, in this part of town, that was likely to happen. She lowered the hand that she'd been waving at them as a nervous laugh slipped from her lips, only for her eyes to flicker in the direction of a peculiar male who instantly drew her attention, mostly because he was the only one counting a wad of cash and she could only imagine what he had done to earn it. She went rigid when she looked up and – after noticing his impressive features and the lengthy bluish hair pulled back from them – his eyes which were almost like golden embers were looking right back into her own soft brown hues. They went wide for a second, like a deer looking into a pair of headlights, as she watched him put shove the money into his pocket, thinking to herself that his pocket change was more than what she made in a damn week at her current job. Through the cloud of smoke he blew out from his cigarette, she could see him giving her a rather nerve-racking blank stare and her eyes darted left and right, swallowing while forcing herself to keep smiling. Beside her, Kichiro's knees were almost knocking together and he damn near fell over and died when the boy tossed his cigarette right over his head. “My hair! Did it get in my hair!? Is my hair on fire?!” He freaked out almost instantly, flailing about like a complete drama queen. “Kichi!” Rima quickly punched him in the arm, her smile looking even more force as she leaned over and muttered, “Your hair isn't on fire so relax and stop embarrassing me.” She stood back straight with a forced giggle, looking around at the thugs who had obviously found the little show funny. Noting the boy's head nod, she could only assume that he was the leader of the pack, firing Kichiro a sideways glance. “What does that mean? Does he want me to follow him? What do I do?” She whispered, her words tumbling out so fast it was almost hard for Kichiro to understand her. “It means follow him, Rima. Don't worry, I'll be right here.” He whispered back. And in saying that, he had absolutely no idea what was waiting for him once Rima followed the blue-haired boy around the corner. He looked back at the thugs with a nervous grin. “Hehe, so uhhh, any of you guys like baseball?” He tried to make conversation, only to feel a hand grab him and shove him against the wall. Rima didn't even hear him grunt while her attention was focused on the blue-haired boy, making sure he didn't try anything funny now that they were away from the others. He looked to be around her age, not that his age made much of a difference to the fact that he was still possibly very dangerous. “You lost? You two look like you have no idea where the fuck you’re at, and I highly doubt you do. Thought people like you knew better than to try to ask some thugs questions, even in broad daylight.” He said to her. Her eyes lowered as she let out an awkward laugh at that, scratching the back of her neck with one hand while the other slipped behind her back. “Hehe, yeah. Anyone would call us crazy for walking up to a bunch of um...thugs right?” She hoped the word wouldn't offend him and land her in some trouble. “Truth is, we're kinda here on purpose. Trying to get some information about something. Now before you start thinking I'm an undercover cop or anything like that, I totally hate cops. Like, oh my gosh, cops are such jerks! Ugh, total dick heads right?” Okay, maybe she was being just a little bit too dramatic. Her face froze in an awkward smile for a second before she pulled herself back together, letting out a quiet breath. “Hehe, well anyways, we're here to track down a group of guys who call themselves Kuroyama. We figured they might possibly be a gang and knowing the kind of reputation this place has, someone here might know something about them. You look like you know this town pretty well and would be aware of anyone new coming into the turf. Have you possibly heard about these guys? Any idea who they are? Where they came from? What they want exactly?” While she was questioning the blue-haired male she had absolutely no idea what was going on around the corner. Kichiro was pinned against hard brick with the rest of the thugs surrounding him, sweat soaking his skin as his body trembled so hard it looked like he would shit his pants at any minute now. He heard them saying something about robbing him and blowing his brains out, one guy suggested stomping his head open on the concrete. “G-g-guys,” He stammered. “Let's talk about this, fellas. All of that isn't necessary, I'm just here with my friend. The crazy one with the brown hair! This was her idea, not mine. I tried to tell her it was a bad idea but she didn't listen. Please don't kill me, man. I got a wife and kids. Well...not really, but I do want some in the future damnit!” His eyes widened to the size of baseballs when he heard their comments about Rima, shaking his head side to side violently. “No way! She's my friend, dude. That's sick! Wait what? Hey, that blue-haired chia pet better not touch he--” He jumped with a dog-like whimper when he felt the barrel of a gun being pressed against his stomach, his knees practically knocking together as he raised his hands up on either side of him. “R-Rima??” He called out, stumbling over his words. “You mind hurrying it up over there?!”



Let Me Show You
Ginji: (http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=AtDG-IFAhZo#Adult_Swim_Bump_Samurai_Champloo_Mugen_(FULL_SONG)) Ginji could only stare at this girl as she talked and talked, asking this question and that, his face slowly showing. “Have you possibly heard about these guys? Any idea who they are? Wh-“ “Tch…” Ginji sucked at his teeth, shaking his head slightly. He turned away from her, walking back towards the corner where his goons were. He glanced at two of them before nodding his head which could only say “Follow me.” The two followed behind Ginji as he walked back to where he had left the girl standing. “Back to your questions… I’ll show you my answer.” He nodded for her to follow him, leaving the four other’s to do what they wanted with Kichiro but they would soon find boredom and post back up on the wall, leaving Kichiro to stand there though by the time they left him alone, If Rima followed Ginji, they’d be gone from that spot and could be anywhere in District one. He simply walked for a few minutes, glancing around as he did. Even in daylight, always aware of what’s going on around him. Though he did it in a sort of smooth manner as if he wasn’t doing it out of precaution or paranoia, but out of pure habit, his face was completely calm showing a lack of worry. Along the walk they passed stores with guys standing beside them, looking like he was about to do something reckless as he slowly pulled the hood of his black hoodie up and over his head. They passed numerous groups of guys, some of them nodding to him; other’s giving less respectful looks. Some of the random delinquents they passed would give the girl savage looks. Ginji pulled a cigarette from his pack, placing it between his lips as he pulled out a lime green lighter, attempting to light his cigarette. He had to spark it several times before a small flame rose from the lighter, being just enough to light his cigarette. He tossed the lighter off to the side as he took a long drag from the cigarette, blowing the smoke towards the sky, causing it to float over their heads as they continued on. Across the street was a skinny guy wearing baggy shorts and a t-shirt, passing a small package to a guy dressed in a grey hoodie. They walked without Ginji saying a single word to the girl. It was just like any other day, walking around the District he lived in. Ginji had smoked two more cigarettes after he took her by a store so he could buy a new lighter. He went and got multiple things, but they were things to take on the go. He got a soda and offered her one then got some food, offering to get her some. Sirens blared going down this street and that street. Slowly but surely if she had been paying attention the girl would see a change in the areas they were walking through. Things began to get a darker feel to them and things started to get rougher. Ginji had been walking straight towards the complete gutter of District One. More shady figures were seen on street corners or on the edge of alleyways, each making their own quota for the day. People could be seen lying in the back of alleyways or beside shops and other buildings either wrapped in a blanket or sprawled out. Some would wake up in a few hours, others never would. Guns could be seen here and there whether they were being waved around at someone or just resting on someone’s hip, in the waist of their pants, and even in holsters. Eventually they came to a group of guys who were posted up in front of a rather raggedy looking apartment complex. They nodded to him, one of them stepping up to him. The guy said something quickly to Ginji in a mumble. “Hah? Nani? (What?)” Ginji asked in an almost surprised tone before he shook his head with a smirk when the guy nodded. He walked on past the area, looking around. For the first time he glanced back at the girl before pulling out his simple touch screen phone, speaking in Japanese on the phone. He asked a couple of questions before saying “Okay.” He finally stopped walking and turned to look at her, leaning his back against the wall. “What’d you think of the district? Think it looks like a shit hole huh? You see shit… You don’t say anything. It’s normal fuckin’ shit.” He glanced off to his right, away from her so he could see down the street. “Where you’re standing, nobody knows shit. You came to the worst place to ask for questions. Try those near the border of District Two who stare into privileged life every day and wish they were over there.” A smirk slid across his lips as he slowly shook his head. “Yea, it was a waste of time but I saved you and your friend from a fucked up situation.” He lit another cigarette, taking a long drag before releasing a long stream of smoke. Ginji glanced at her with a calm yet questioning look. “Got anything else?” It seemed as if they had been walking all day, but the sun hadn’t really moved in position. It had only been a couple of hours though, they only walked through the “hood” of District One where gangsters, delinquents, and the poor thrived and walked the streets. It was a lot to take in for someone who had never really seen it with their own eyes which made Ginji examine her facial expression for what she had seen during the walk.

Rima: ((http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=AtDG-IFAhZo#Adult_Swim_Bump_Samurai_Champloo_Mugen_(FULL_SONG) )) Rima felt her right eye twitch twice when, right in the middle of her question, Blue – the nickname she had given him in her mind, obviously derived from the color of his hair – decided to just walk away from her. 'How rude', she couldn't help but think to herself as her twitching eye followed him while he made his way back toward the other boys. She looked a bit surprised to discover that he had actually planned on returning. Her immediate thought was that he was no longer interested in the conversation and had decided to show it by walking off, but thankfully that was not the case. Frowning at the other two boys he brought with him, she returned her attention to Blue as he said, “Back to your questions...I'll show you my answer.” She blinked as her soft brown hues simply stared at him, wondering what he meant by that. 'What does this mean?' Her inner voice spoke in her mind. 'Is he going to take me straight to Kuroyama? Wait...that's not a good thing, is it? What if he's apart of them? What if we end up right at their HQ or whatever the fuck they call their meeting place?' She could feel a bead of sweat appear on her forehead as she ran the possibilities through her mind multiple times, before eventually forcing herself to calm down, thinking that maybe the boy truly meant no harm. Around the corner, Blue's goons had decided to end Kichiro's torture, a breath of relief practically exploding from his lungs as he sunk into a sitting position against the wall. “Come on, Kichiro!” He heard Rima's voice, but didn't even budge. What had just happened to him left him slightly traumatized so all he wanted to do was sit down and catch his breath. “Uhhh, you go on ahead, Rima. I'm just gonna...hang back and chill for a while. I'll go get us some ice cream or something.” He said, breathing heavily, hoping she would buy it. Rima arched a brow, then shrugged, figuring they could just meet back up later. Focusing her attention back on Blue, her eyes widened slightly when she saw that he was walking away, sucking in a gasp before taking off after him. She noticed that as the small group walking through District 1, he and his boys were completely calm compared to her own nervous demeanor. Being born and raised in District 2, there were plenty of things within D1 that she had never seen before, like the endless amount of thugs and prostitutes posted up on nearly every block. If not them, it was people who looked awfully poor, but seemed content with it, like they accepted their lives just the way it was and didn't care to seek out anything better. She could hear the roaring of engines as cars drove by on one side of her, her light brown hair billowing in the breeze surrounding her curious features. Her soft brown hues wandered about the unknown territory, taking in the various buildings and structures that looked completely different from what she was used to back in her home town. It was almost saddening to see how these people lived. In fact, it slightly pulled at her heart strings more than her nerves. Like she knew that at least some of them deserved better. “My parents used to tell me about this town all the time when I was younger. I was a spoiled brat back then so anytime I started acting out or being ungrateful for the things I had, they would remind me how privileged I was by telling me how they grew up in bad neighborhoods and basically came from nothing.” She said to anyone listening. “I had no idea what they meant by any of that stuff until now.” They walked for several blocks. Taking a tour of the city that Rima more or less enjoyed. She was relieved when Blue offered her a drink since all the walking had made her quite thirsty, but had to reject his offer to get her food. She wasn't one to just take anything from a stranger, on top of the fact that she wasn't all that hungry at the moment. It was no offense to him, just her preference. It wasn't long before she noticed that the district was beginning to darken, having to glance up into the sky to see if the sun had begun to set. It felt as though they'd been walking around the city for hours, but the entire day couldn't have just passed them by like that. But no. From what she could now see, it was the environment itself. Changing before her eyes. Growing darker, dirtier, and sketchier. Hell, she hoped she wouldn't have to use the weapons built into her own body or she'd really have some unwanted attention on her hands. Soon, the group approached a run down looking apartment where a group of boys were gathered, looking similar to the guys Blue surrounded himself with. Judging by the head nod one of the boys sent toward Blue, Rima assumed that they were acquainted. Maybe partners in some illegal activity that she hopefully wouldn't have to find out about. Her brows knitted in curiosity as she watched their interaction, then listened as Blue got on the phone, had a brief conversation, then hung up. It had all been in Japanese, which was a language she didn't speak herself so she didn't understand a single word he had said. Blue had already turned to lean back against the wall, his blank stare looking right at her. Her brows lifted slightly as she quickly straightened her posture with a nervous laugh.‏

Her shoulders relaxed slightly when he spoke, listening to his questions before looking away and shrugging with another nervous laughter. “A shit hole? Noooo. I'd say it just looks...uhh...different!” She shouted the word accidentally. “Yeah, different. Not that different is a bad thing. Different can be a good thing! Hehe.” Rima forced herself to laugh. The smell of the cigarette he was smoking was awful, making her nose twitch slightly as the white cloud drifted in her direction. Her father, Argis Lannister was a smoker, so by now she thought she would have been used to it. But no. She couldn't stand it. She listened to the rest of what Blue had to say and through it all, her facial expression went from that forced smile of hers to one of both surprise and disappointment. Though he'd delivered his answer in a very street-like manner, the message was pretty clear. Whether or not he knew a damn thing about Kuroyama, he wasn't going to say a single word about it. That made Rima's heart drop, but despite wanting to pout and raise her voice like she was used to doing when she didn't get her way, she instead decided to keep her cool. Maybe the nice approached she had used earlier just wasn't enough. Yeah, that had to be it. “Look, I know you're probably keeping quiet because we're complete strangers to each other, but maybe we can fix that.” She said after taking a deep breath, stepping forward to stand closer to Blue. It was obvious that she wasn't going to give up this mission that easily. She'd come a long way to find information and if Blue knew something, she was going to get the answers out of him one way or another. “I didn't introduce myself earlier, but my name is Rima. Back at the corner is my friend Kichiro. We aren't here to bother anyone per se but it's important that we find out as much about this Kuroyama as we can. I know the policy around here is to keep your mouth shut, but we think our city is in danger. You might not give a shit, but we're willing to do anything to find out about them. If it's money that you want, we can give it to you.” But looking into Blue's empty stare, she could see that tactic probably wouldn't work. Not only that, but he already had wads of cash in his pockets so money probably was no object to him. Sighing, Rima rolled her shoulders back and lifted her chin up. “Well...alright...fine. It doesn't look like you're going to speak up any time soon but,” She paused, reaching into her handbag to pull out a small piece of paper. Crushing it in her palm, she stretched her hand forward to drop it into Blue's hand. Whether or not he took the paper from her, she would give him a serious look before saying, “Just in case you change your mind. This is yours.” If he unfolded the piece of paper, he would see a phone number written across it with no name. Rima then turned her back on him and was just about to walk away when she suddenly remembered something that Blue had said. Frowning, she looked over her shoulder at him, “Wait a minute.” She said. “What situation did you just save us from?”

Ginji: Ginji had listened to the things she had said during the walk though he didn’t respond to her. He stared at her with that same blank expression after having asked her questions about what she thought about District One. A smirk slid across his lips in response to her slightly frantic answers, as if she were trying to find the words to say but ended up blurting out something random on accident. The smirk quickly disappeared as she tried to deduce the reason why he wasn’t telling her anything. There had been word here and there about a new organization on the scene but Ginji hadn’t seen anything himself. Even if he knew something he wouldn’t tell her. That’s what he was taught as he grew up, even by his father. What happened in this world should be left alone; nothing was going to be helped by just talking about it and spilling every secret one knew. The look on his face practically told her that her reasoning was wrong. It had nothing to do with the fact that he didn’t know who she was; it was a rule that was engraved into his being. Don’t say shit about what you see and what you hear, there was no point in it. She introduced herself to him, her name repeating in his head, ‘Rima’. He flicked his cigarette off to the right, in the opposite direction of her before releasing a slow sigh. He looked at her, his almost golden eyes looking into her brown eyes as he spoke. “Ginji.” The two goons behind her exchanged glances, wondering why their boss was giving out his name to this random, privileged girl who came from the second district. He blinked a few times as she stretched out her hand to give him a piece of paper she had crumbled up. He took it from her, unraveling it for a second, seeing a number on it. He slid the piece of paper into the same pants pocket that held his wad of money. She turned to walk away, s eyes trailing down her body to see what she looked like from the back and truthfully, he liked what he saw. He had glanced off to his right when she looked over her shoulder, asking him what he meant by saving them from a situation. “After that walk, you still gotta ask?” He turned his head to look at her, a disbelieving look on his face. “You got lucky approaching us instead of some other random group or person on a street corner… Of all places. You could be lying naked in some rundown apartment right now drugged up surrounded by some fuckin’ junkies.” He spoke with completely brutal honesty, knowing that a girl with her looks who didn’t have a single clue about the area she was in could have easily have gotten snatched and from there, the things that could happened to her were endless. “Tch…” He glanced off to his right again as if he were watching for something. A guy suddenly walked out of the alleyway a few buildings down in the direction Ginji had been looking, making his way over to Ginji. He pulled a wad of money from his pocket, handing it to Ginji only to turn right back around and walk off as if nothing had happened. Ginji pushed the money into his other pants pocket, glancing towards the Sky. He turned towards the girl named Rima, walking past her, not even turning around as he said “C’mon.” She had no business being here and he figured since he took her this deep, he may as well take her back. He didn’t know why he even gave a fuck but something told him to take her back to the boarder.



Sparkles of Hope and Shadows
<p class="MsoNormal">Rima: ((http://listenonrepeat.com/?v=oXIv70GVfss#Adult_Swim_Bump_Piano_(FULL_SONG) )) Rima's wondering brown hues simply stared at him unblinking as he explained what he'd meant when he said he'd saved her from a fucked up situation. A big part of her was relieved that he wasn't speaking about anything specific and had instead given an example of what COULD'VE happened. Her lips pursed together as her shoulders rounded back slightly, as if his words had struck something in her. And they had. She knew he was right, right about the mess she could've gotten herself into from coming to this side of town in the first place, yet she knew it was not in her being to let trouble go about unnoticed. Trouble such as Kuroyama, whom she had a feeling weren't going to stay under wraps for long. “You're right.” She gave a simple nod, her brows furrowing slightly. But she knew what risks she was taking trying to hunt down Kuroyama. 'Ginji...' She'd wanted to add the name to the end of her statement, but simply said it in her mind instead, arching a brow when he started walking back in the direction from which they had come. Realizing that he was going to walk her back to the border, something in her was surprised. She hadn't expected him to even bother, but then again, after touring her around through town, he couldn't expect her to know how to get back either. As she followed him closely, her eyes couldn't help but wander about what she had already seen of District One, but now she saw it much differently. Mostly because her head had trailed off into deep thought. Within the deep reaches of her mind, an idea sparked that she would be returning to the district to further investigate. With or without help from Ginji and his...uh...gang. He'd taken her number, but she wasn't expecting him to call it after all, because of his “code” that he wasn't going to speak up about any criminal activity he witnessed. A bit disappointing, but Rima was a clever girl and knew she could work her way around that. Besides, he was right about what could have happened to her if she'd approached the wrong group, but what he didn't know just from looking at her sweet heart appearance was that...she always came prepared for any sort of danger. Most would not believe that based on her looks alone, but she had made the discovery of what she was capable of and it was something she would never forget. Her “gift” was stuck with her...forever. She did not have a full grasp on her ability to control this gift, but with time dedicated to training, she could see herself mastering it on a grand level. The pair soon reached the intersection where they had met hours ago and it wasn't long before Rima spotted Kichiro waiting with one hand in his pocket while the other held an ice cream cone to his flickering tongue. She scoffed, “Well geez, Kichiro, where's MY ice cream??” Thrusting her fists to her hips with attitude. Kichiro froze solid, his eyes moving toward her. “Uh...” He said blankly. “Never mind that.” Rima said with a roll of her eyes. “We're pretty much done with everything here. For today that is. So let's head on back to District 2.” She stated firmly, then turned to Ginji, facing him completely as she said quietly, “Thanks for everything.” Although he hadn't given her much of anything except for a tour of his home town. “Remember...if you change your mind at all...even slightly...” She cut herself off to point her finger down at the pocket where he'd stashed her number. Part of her doubted that he would change his mind, but there was nothing wrong with holding on to a sparkle of hope. She turned back to walk beside Kichiro and a moment later, a taxi had pulled up in front of them. After climbing into the back of the cab, the engine roared to life as the average-looking vehicle took off into traffic, driving the two teenagers back to their side of town as they had requested of the driver. Through the passing events, none of the youth involved in the day's ventures had known that the entire time, they were being monitored very closely. In fact, the eyes that had watched Rima and Kichiro step out of their first cab into the district were the same eyes to watch them leave. They had even been watching Ginji's gang members torment Kichiro while he took Rima through a tour around town. Planted into a face that was masked by the shadows he stood within, the tall mysterious figure went unnoticed in the dark of a nearby alley and once the cab had disappeared around a corner, his gaze moved from the two figures seated inside the vehicle toward the one named Ginji. A masculine voice chuckled in the dark. “Children.” He tsked. “Always sticking their noses in business it doesn't belong in. When will they ever learn?” A cigarette burned from between his lips, the thin trail of smoke it produced floating up toward his gaze which seemed to glow from within the darkness of the alley. “Don't worry, Rima. You'll learn soon enough who the Kuroyama are and what we want.” Exhaling a cloud of smoke into the air about his face. “Soon enough...EVERYONE will know...” The words spoken by the mysterious figure ended in a deep chuckle, the evil sound rumbling through the darkness surrounding him.