Reintegration [Open]

[Mienai]

The thing about rejoining society after years of isolation in a form that was barely solid was that socialization was proving to be a slight challenge. So far the number of people that she had met was limited and precise. Kasen hardly, if ever, came into the village and when she did it was always either the hospital, or the outer skirts of the village. It seemed upper management wanted her to spend more time inside the village instead of toeing the line between an actual citizen and a squatter. Kasen, not to be discouraged, was going to try her best. She had spent a lot of time walking through the lower districts of the village, trying to work on getting her volunteer hours in for the hospital in order to return to active duty as a medical practitioner. However, she would not find herself there on this particular day. Kasen wanted to try to develop actual connections with people. Ones that involved more personal connections with others. It didn't take her long to assess that the only real relationships she ever had with people was her brother, Akujin, her old mentor, the girl from the hospital she met long ago, and Same, her shark beast and Same's consort, Kaiyotero. She felt it was...concerning that she could count on one hand the number of social interactions she had.

Today though, she found herself in the upper districts of the village. It gleamed and spoke highly of wealth and commotion as people walked by her laughing and talking. Stores lined the streets, all displaying things that were probably way too expensive for her to own, lest she consider actually going into one of them. The air was filled with the many wonderful smells of food and the promise of warmth and comfort of a quite evening. And then the sounds of roaring celebration spilled out from many of the local bars. Kasen was curious what it would be like. She had never partaken in just being a normal person. She spent all of her time on the beach or in the water, and anything else usually involved personal or medical advancement. She had spent much of her younger years doing research on prosthetics and digging up information on "Father". While that had made some progress, she could easily say she was no father along than she was before. She had lost a lot of her life from the parasitic plant and from Same going on her rampage. That needed to change. Kasen needed to expand her reaches and build connections. Those things were important. Making up her mind, the blue haired woman quickly turned into one of the bars.

Inside the bar, the noise hit her like a loud wall of sound. It was different. Typically the waves were loud and thunderous as well, but this was different. This spoke of debauchery and a good time. Kasen was eyed by some as she entered, but the lithe woman slipped her way past people and eventually made it to the bar. A bartender stood behind it, cleaning a glass. "What can I get for you?" Having never been in a bar, nor really drank alcohol, Kasen wasn't sure what to pick. Luckily it seemed there was a drink menu nearby. She quickly scanned it, as not to be unveiled as an amateur. There was one that caught her eye and she gave a small smile at the bartender. "Uh, I'll have a sex on the beach"<i></i> The bartender rolled his eyes her, but started to make the brightly colored beverage. Kasen took a seat on one of the bar stools; her drink quickly followed. Kasen took a sip, enjoying the taste of the delightful drink. Her eyes looked on at the crowd around her. Perhaps a bar was not the best location to pick, but it had been the closest and she had made up her mind to go in. She wondered if anyone interesting would catch her eye.

 

[Ryu Hime]

If Kasen was looking for someone that would stand out enough to catch her attention, Akazukin was likely the person for her to notice. Akazukin looks exceptionally young for her age, around late teens at the most. It is believed that this is due to the influence of the demon’s corruption that she maintain such a youthful appearance. However in an establishment such as this one she would appear to be someone that did not belong here. It also did not help how she was dressed; she wore a uniform like some sort of high school student. She had long black hair tied in twin tails and for some reason she seems to be using her hair to cover her one eye.

She was sitting at a table with three other men apparently drunk by how she giggles and sways in her chair. It seems this little student was caught in a dangerous situation. Everyone at the table were playing cards. One guy seems to be trying to impress the seemingly young girl as he does some fancy shuffling, while another goes to grab her upper leg not affectionately. The girl fights him off. “Hey now -hic- we had a deal. You can have your feels after you beat me in a game. Not what was wild again?” The other two guys agree with protest. Each guy wanted the girl for there own and who ever wins gets her as a prize.

Unknown to the three men trying to get lucky, she knew exactly what she was doing. She knows how to hold her liquor and she does not really play fair when it comes to gambling. As a Temporal Strider reading fate was a talent of hers and every action a person does creates a ripple. She can even manipulate these ripples to an extent to tip luck into her favor. They have played three rounds already and she has came out on top every single time. She was hustling them, but they were too blind to see it.

 

[Mienai]

It didn't seem like much time had passed from the time that Kasen had gotten her drink that she noted a few individuals of interest. For the most part the crowd seemed like one giant blur of people falling over each other drunk or dancing off beat to the music. However, there was a rather skilled dart player that seemed to be enjoying their time. Kasen wondered if she should approach. She started making her way across the bar, no easy task mind you, but she stopped dead in her tracks as something else caught her attention. There was a gambling table that was currently occupied by 3 fairly large men, and a girl that most definitely did not look like she should be in here. Now, Kasen wasn't exactly well adjusted to what many would call a "normal" lifestyle, nor was she acquisitioned to "normal" behavior, but she was pretty sure that something was off about this scene.

It didn't take but another moment before the men started getting handsy. Suddenly, Kasen felt incredibly uncomfortable. The dark haired girl seemed to take it in a light hearted manner, but Kasen couldn't sit by and watch it. The tall blue haired woman may try to avoid most confrontations if at all possible, but sometimes it was unavoidably necessary. Taken a big swig of her drink, Kasen headed over to the table. She reached into the pockets of her black shorts, glad for once that she had so many layers it all just sort of looked like it merged into a single piece. She laid down a small, but generous stack of money and smiled almost too sweetly at the men. "Hello gentlemen, I hope you aren't giving this young lady any trouble now, are you?"</COLOR><i></i> Inside her head, Samebizu was snickering at her. The nerve of this shark! Apparently Kasen wasn't very good at this sort of thing. The men appeared annoyed with her presence. They already had a deal going without some new broad stepping into their little arrangement. Kasen's eyes drifted over to the rather fair bit of money that the other girl had accumulated. Kasen's eyebrow quirked up for a moment before looking back at the three men who seemed only to grumble at her question. <COLOR color="#479dff">"Listen, how about I buy you all a round of drinks and let me take a turn, hm?" The men, having lost quite a lot of their money already seemed to perk up at the offer of free alcohol and shuffled away.

Kasen was smarter than to believe they wouldn't be back. It had probably only bought them some time, but it would give her enough time to at least talk to the woman in front of her. "Sorry about that, I thought you could use a hand. I hope they weren't giving you too much grief, but based on the money you have there I would say you may have been the one giving their pockets some grief. My name's Kasen, I'm....new, in the village you could say. Care if I play a few hands?" Kasen gave the girl a large smile, her razor sharp teeth only slightly visible in the dark. Her appearance may have changed a lot since her younger years, but that was something that never changed. Between her and her brother, it was one of the more obvious factors that they were related. Kasen took one of the now open chairs and crossed her hand, hoping the girl was ok with the new company.

 

[Ryu Hime]

Akazukin notices the blue haired woman and from the look on her face, she could tell she did not like what she was seeing. As she sees the woman taking a swig and approaching the table Akazukin rolls her eye. Once again someone was going to be her white knight and save the helpless damsel from the gang of growling monsters. Kasen was not there first to intervene in her hustling and she will likely not be the last. Akazukin does have some measures to keep the fighting to a minimum, but it does not make it any less annoying. She could see the woman in question about to reach into a pocket, which naturally Akazukin assume to be grabbing a weapon. Akazukin jumps to action with a World Standstill jutsu, but no one would see a thing. Her positioning may have moved a bit weird for a second like a slide was missing from a reel, but it was nothing too significant.


The first thing Kasen’s hands would feel as she would be a card of some sort. Pulling it out would reveal it to be a playing card, but how did it get into her pocket? If Kasen was observant, she might notice that Akazukin was one card short of a full hand. The card was an Ace of spades and there seems to be a message written on the front of it. The card read, ‘NO FIGHTING.’ Fortunately it seems the woman had no intention of fighting in the first place as she throws a sack of money onto the table. It seems that this one was going to rescue through bribery. Not the technique Akazukin would have used, but to each their own. No surprise that back in Tea Akazukin did her White Knight act buy gambling with the dragon. One of the men happily took the coin purse and the three of them head to the bar merrily. It was a much better scenario than at tea, but Akazukin would not pull innocent girl routine with men that would take hostages when they start losing. Akazukin knows how to pick her marks carefully after that ordeal.


The woman takes an opportunity to chat with her. “Those three?” Akazukin gives a cuckle. “They’re harmless. All muscle and no brains as you have already noticed.” They also were average citizens with no training in the shinobi arts. They were no match for her even if they did get rough. “Pleasure to meet you Kasen. The name’s Akazukin.” Kasen also asks if she could play a hand which makes her raise an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t mind, but how do you plan to wager when you gave away your purse?”

 

[Mienai]

The blue haired woman quickly realized her mistake. She had given away the majority of her money to those men and she definitely didn't have enough to truly play anything. She wasn't even much of a gambler herself, so who was to say if she was going to be able to even pay anything in the event that she lost. Kasen puzzled over this. It was good that the other woman was safe, that the men were really of no trouble to her, but she couldn't entirely be sure. Kasen reached into her pocket once more to make sure that she didn't have any extra cash just hanging out in her pocket, but she withdrew a card instead. Her eyebrows drew together in confusion. She hadn't remembered putting that in there, but then again, it wouldn't be the first time she had forgotten that she had something on her person. It read "NO FIGHTING" over top a regular ace of spades playing card. Kasen placed the card off to the side on the table. She couldn't imagine she had any use for it.

As the woman introduced herself, Kasen gave another polite smile. She had to come up with something to wager, but inevitably, she was sure that the woman would not be interested in much that she could even think to offer. Kasen and Kaen had a stable, if not slightly generous income, but it was nothing that could really be seen as wealthy."I'm afraid you have me there. But, perhaps I could offer something of more value to you? I'm not sure what, but we could probably come to some agreement. Or if you don't mind, we could play without monetary wagering? I haven't really played before, but I'd like to learn over some good conversation?" Kasen looked a bit sheepish. To someone like Akazukin who looked like she cleaned house pretty regularly, it must be laughable to have someone like Kasen strolling up to the table with neither skill nor funds. But, that's why Kasen was here in the first place. These were times of new experiences, and learning to socialize with those of different backgrounds.

Looking behind her, Kasen saw the three men still seemed quite happy as their drinks had been delivered to them. She felt she at least did some good. Even if those men were harmless, it was still something that just didn't sit right with Kasen. Inside, she could feel Same's agreement with her. Kasen turned back to Akazukin, hoping that the woman had spent some time pondering her offer. "So, what do you say?"

 

[Ryu Hime]

Sage Mode is an empowered state that can be entered by blending natural energy with one's chakra. Unlike most sages that draw Natural energy from the environment, Akazukin pulls such energy from time itself. This influx of temporal energy causes her Tokeigan to evolve. This allows her to tap into the natural forces of time, opening up new techniques to her. In order to enter Sage Mode, she must remain absolutely still in order to be one with nature and balance the natural energy with her own physical and spiritual energies. If she puts too little natural energy into using senjutsu, the technique will not work. Conversely, if too much natural energy is taken in, her body will be lost in the river of time forever.

Akazukin holding her cards channels a jutsu through them like a weapon. She then changes before the eyes of anyone around. Her hair is no longer tied into twin tails, but instead let loose and rolls down her back. Her hair seems to grow in length as it is freed from it’s bounds. As she feels herself beginning filled with nature energy, the color she once had seems to flow out of her; Her hair transitions to a soft white and her skin becomes deathly pale. Her Tokeigan, no longer restricted, can now be visible in both eyes as she stares upon her target. Her clothes also changes along with her body. Instead of the academy school uniform that she was wearing, a traditional kimono now adorns her form. However the most unnerving thing about her was likely the giant ethereal clock that floated above her. This might be delusions of grandeur, but in this form Akazukin truly believe she is a goddess.

One would think that such a form would cause quite the rucuse, but not a sound could be heard. It was dead quiet and looking around Kasen could see why. Not a single person was moving at all. They were all still like statues not even breathing. At a table next to them two men were doing a toast or something. The rims of the clear mugs touched, but the liquid inside was motionless. Even droplets of beer were suspended in the air as if time stood still. By combining World Standstill with World Shatter, she was able to freeze time for all but the two of them. All the people here were nothing but obstacles for a person to hide behind. Of course this only affects the immediate area; time was still flowing outside the bar. “Don’t be afraid. I'm just not sure how long your purse would distract them. Now we have time for an entire game. Now about the lack of money. Hmm, something of value to me.” Akazukin stares straight at Kasen’s chest. “That piece of silver you have there will be enough for me.” Depending on Kasen’s reaction, Akazukin might become even more interested in the item.

 

[Mienai]

Not long after Kasen had finished speaking, something suddenly started to feel very....off. Kasen noticed that right before her very eyes the young girl seemed to take on the appearance that was almost the polar opposite of what she had looked like before. Kasen, while perplexed and somewhat confused by the change in appearance, wasn't all that alarmed by it considering she could basically turn into a bipedal shark woman, but it was still quite...unexpected. She was about to ask Akazukin a question when suddenly the loud roar of the bar grew quiet. Not just quite, absolutely silent. In fact, Kasen speculated one could probably hear a pin drop. The girl turned to look behind her, surely something or someone must have appeared for a bar with such rowdy denizens to be as silent as the abyss.

Nobody was moving. Frozen. Kasen reached out to a nearby person, trying to get their attention but her hand just met their skin as if it was a wall. A mild static shock met her and she withdrew her hand carefully. "What...in the..." Kasen had seen a lot of things in her time but nothing like this. What was going on. Akazukin stopped her mind from speculating much by the implication that she knew what was happening. The other woman must have been responsible. Kasen felt slightly uncomfortable. She could control the oceans and her brother could call forth hellfire, but whatever was causing these people to totally remain still was something of another kind of control. This is some voodoo. This is why we don't socialize. Samebizu seemed a bit uneased by the ordeal as well.

Still, Kasen was not one to immediately shy away from the new. That's why she was here. It just may have been more than she initially expected. At least Akazukin wanted to still take part in a friendly game. Akazukin said that Kasen's wager could be the broach that adorned her chest. Kasen looked downward, seeing the shiny piece of metal. She couldn't recall where she had gotten it, nor what the actual value of it was, but the other girl seemed interested in the shark shaped metal. "My broach? I actually don't think it's worth that much, but...I could just go get my purse back from those guys if they aren't going to notice I have it during our game." Kasen looked over where the 3 men were frozen at the bar. Yep, unmoving. "What is all this anyway? How are you doing it?" The blue haired woman was beginning to wonder if she had gone mad.

 

[Ryu Hime]

Kasen seems thoroughly impressed with her display of power, which does make Akazukin happy. She enjoys showing off just how powerful she could be; being able to manipulate both space and time. However she is also playful and as seen we saw with the three men earlier, she doesn’t mind messing with people. Kasen was just unfortunate to be her next target for a little fun. As Kasen looks over to the three men once more, time would suddenly continue. The sounds of the merry men of the tavern were going in full swing once more and a voice calls out to Kasen. “Miss? Miss? Miss is something the matter?”

The voice was clearly Akazukin’s, but not the voice she had a second ago. Within her sage mode form her voice was deeper and mature. Now her voice was back to sounding like a teenager and looking back at Akazukin she would see that she did indeed revert back to her normal form. Upon looking at her Akazukin would give a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness, I see you returned. You zoned out for a moment there and weren’t responding to me. I was starting to get a little concerned.” Akazukin was a pretty good actor as move her tone of speech and body language both seem to agree with what she was saying. “As I was saying before, I don’t mind playing without bets. You said you never gambled before, right?” Akazukin pauses for a moment thinking. “How about we play Black Jack then. The rules are simpler.”

 

[Mienai]

Just as quickly as it had started, the roar of the bar and the sloshing of drinks resumed, much to Kasen's surprise. In fact, it took her several seconds before she realized that Akazukin had been trying to get her attention. Kasen was very perplexed by the situation. She looked up at the other girl, seemingly slightly paler. The other woman seemed to appear as she did before. "I'm....I'm sorry...what?" Akazukin pointed out that Kasen had zoned out, but that's not true. The girl, she had done something, hadn't she? Time had stood still. Kasen wrung her hands together and her tongue flicked out briefly to wet her seemingly dry lips. "I...um...apologize. Did you see anything just now? Or...I thought I...saw...nevermind, it's probably just the alcohol" Her words were choppy at best and she was having a hard time describing the situation. Akazukin was probably going to think she was a weirdo at this point. Kasen glanced back at the crowd behind her. No one else seemed to think anything odd of the situation. Had she just imagined everything. If you're going crazy, then I must be going crazy because I could see what you did.<i></i> It was comforting at least to know that Same at least was trying to assure her that her time apart from society hadn't made her lose her mind.

Kasen remembered back to a time long ago, one where she was little. Kaen had always spoken of how their mother was mentally unstable. He eventually had to do the majority of raising both him and Kasen as well as making sure that their mother didn't end up lost or harming herself by accident. Kasen hadn't thought much of it, but perhaps her mother felt like this before things got worse. She hoped that was not the case, for she believed herself sane and as long as it seemed like it was in the realm of possibility then perhaps it was true. After all, Same still had her own mind inside of Kasen's so surely if Kasen were going made then the shark's would as well? She did not aim to dwell on the matter for much longer, lest she actually become obsessed with her own paranoia. Luckily, Akazukin brought her out of these musings as well. She offered a game of blackjack. Kasen hadn't heard of the game, but she hadn't played any card games before. "Yes, that's correct, first time beginner. Blackjack, you say? Sure, that sounds interesting. How do you play?" Kasen continued to wring her hands in her lap nervously. She then carefully pushed her drink away from her. Somehow she doubted she would be wanting more of that for the time being, at least until she could figure this out. In the meantime, at least she could enjoy a friendly game.

 

[Ryu Hime]

Kasen does exactly what she expected her to do; blame the alcohol. Akazukin bets she is not going to drink anymore of that stuff and her pushing away her drink confirms it. However Akazukin must press on with the act, “Are you sure you’re okay. I am a med-nin.” To be more exact, she was a field medic and thus her speciality is getting people up and moving quickly. Treating mental disorders were better left to the Physicians. Akazukiin would have had no clue that the person she was talking to was also part of the medical field. After a token of reassurance she would then go back to the topic on hand.

She then pulls out a deck from her pocket, which might seem suspicious. It was not like there was not already a deck of cards on the table. Then she does something really odd; she takes the top 21 cards and sets them aside before beginning to shuffle. “Okay, first off, Black Jack is a simple game sometimes referred to as 21. First each person are given to cards.” She then deals Kasen to face up cards and does the same for herself. She then sits the deck down and looks at her cards and Kasen cards to judge her strength. When Kasen does the same she would find something rather odd about the cards.

Assuming Kasen knows anything about cards she would notice the suits are different as she received the two of cups and three of swords. The cards also had intricate pictures on them unlike normal playing cards. Written on the top of the card was the number and on the bottom was the suit to avoid confusion. Looking over to Akazukin’s cards she would see something strange as well. Akazukin had the knight of staffs and page of coins. Knights and pages? This did not sound like stuff found in a normal deck.

 

[Mienai]

Upon hearing Akazukin ask about her overall well being, Kasen could only muster a slight not, her pale complexion still not a proper indication on whether or not she was fine. However, it was not everyday that one begins to question their sanity, and surprisingly Kasen had done so quite often given that her mental space was shared by an incredibly powerful being that loved to narrate and provide often unwelcome commentary to her everyday life. Offense taken. Kasen looked towards the other mednin, making her nod more affirmative. Perhaps this one was more convincing. "Ah, yes, I'm fine. Let us proceed." Kasen watched Akazukin pull out a standard set of playing cards (or so she thought), and recalled how some of the guards in the facility would always play some sort of game or another as they exchanged money. It must have been one of these kinds of games. Kasen could at least begin to understand why one, or most of them, always seemed to end up mad at something. She thought it was perhaps slightly suspicious that they would need to get an entirely different deck for this matter, but maybe different card games feature different types of cards. Considering that she knew very little about this sort of thing, anything was possible, right?

Making sure to listen attentively to the description and rules of the game, Kasen was able to assess the the game sounded fairly simple. "Blackjack? That sounds like a fun game." Now, whether or not that would prove to be the case was an entirely different story. As Kasen was dealt her two cards, she picked them up and noted the pictures on them. Kasen raised an eyebrow. Did cards look like this? They looked different from the ones that the men who were here previously were using. Again, it didn't necessarily prove that this wasn't a different card game that required the use of different types of cards."Um..." Despite that this could make her seem like even more inexperienced, something still compelled Kasen to ask anyway. "What do these mean? It seems like we don't have any similar cards. Is that...good?" Kasen glanced at the woman, the confusion clearly written on her face. Kasen was beginning to feel very thankful that this was for practice. She didn't think she would be this inexperienced when she asked to play. At least Akazukin seemed open to helping her learn. That was always nice.

 

[Ryu Hime]

Kasen asked what the cards mean and instantly Akazukin goes to refer their meanings within the world of tarot readings. The reason behind Akazukin bringing out this deck was so she could get a view on Kasen’s future and her own as well. However Akazukin’s art of divination has diminished over the years. Her prediction has been hit and miss after the pregnancy. Perhaps becoming a mother changed her in more ways than she could have thought. Looking at the cards, the pictures seem to tell the meanings quite well. The two of cups had a picture of a man and woman each holding a cup up to one another. “Romantic love.” The three of swords image was also pretty straightforward as it was a heart pierced by three swords. “And heartbreak.” Akazukin would interpret these cards to mean: Kasen will find someone that she would find attractive, but pursuit of this person will only lead to heartbreak.

It then dawns on Akazukin that this was probably not what Kasen was asking, “Oh wait, you mean in the game. Ignore what I said earlier.” Akazukin taps the top of the deck with her finger and in the time it took for her to do that she rigs the deck without anybody seeing. Has she used world Standstill this way before? More than likely. Akazukin lays the top nine cards face up on the table. Mystically the cards came out in order from two to ten in a consistent pattern of alternating suits. “Two through ten are counted at face value.” She then lays the next four cards which was a page, a knight, a queen and a king while still keeping with the pattern. “These cards are all ten points each.” Laying down one more card she reveals an ace. “Aces can count as a one or an eleven.” She then gather the cards she used to explain point value and shuffles them back into the deck.

“A person can draw as many cards from the top of the deck he or she desires.” Though in reality a person normally doesn’t take that many cards, but she has seen a person reach the goal with five cards once. “The goal is simple. Try to have the value of your cards to be closer to twenty-one than your opponent without going over.” Hopefully Kasen would be able to grasp the game from here. Naturally Akazukin will not be drawing any cards as she was already sitting strong at twenty and the risk of busting would be two high.

 

[Mienai]

Looking at the cards once more as Akazukin explained the meanings behind them only lead to Kasen feeling more confused. "Love and Heartbreak?" It felt odd that there would be some kind of forecasted meaning behind cards that were meant to played as a type of sport for gambling or an exchange of hands. Kasen pondered if this was supposed to somehow be part of the game but she imagined that the other woman knew what she was talking about.

A moment later though, Kasen was corrected once more by saying not to pay any mind to the meanings of love and heartbreak. Upon listening to the different meaning and portrayal of how the game was played, Kasen felt she at least had a better grasp on this one. "Ah, ok, I think I understand. Just try to get as close to 21 without busting. Ok!" Unaware of anything out of the ordinary, Kasen looks over her cards once more. Despite the concept of the game being quite simple, Kasen still felt a bit off about the game initially because the values of the specific cards she was holding given that they were tarot cards was slightly hard to grasp. Not wanting to burden the woman by making something so simple seem vastly complex, Kasen did the only thing that she though would make sense. The blue haired woman drew another card from the top, hoping it would be one that she needed, despite not really knowing what exactly she did need. In this instance, Kasen could only hope that she had done the right thing. "Um...how did I do?" Kasen placed the third card down next to her previous two and waited for Akazukin's judgment.

Not a moment later, the gentleman from earlier finally made their way back over, plopping down once more in their seats seemingly ready for another round. Kasen was beginning to feel just a little bit uncomfortable, but the men seemed to respect her at least someone considering she had just bought them drinks. One of the men handed her purse back to her, smiling smugly as he did so. Kasen gave a small smile in return, albeit a stiff one. "Hello, we just started playing a friendly game of blackjack." The men seemed to be disinterested in the game but still stayed at the table ogling the two ladies.

 

[Ryu Hime]

The blue haired woman drew a card from the top of the deck, which was safe, no matter what she drawn. She was not in any fear of busting with what she had, but also would need to draw another card to defeat Akazukin. “You are doing better, but still far from winning.” The card that she drew was the knight of cups. “I’m afraid your prince charming is not enough to defeat my hand.” A prince charming is the meaning behind the card and goes well with Kasen’s other cards and Akazukin’s tarot reading of them.

Not so long ago Senju Kazuki, the leader of the Rangers and sennin to Sand, gave Akazukin a certain mission: a criminal had taken refuge inside the Forest biome. He went by a curious nickname, The Rat. She was to track him down, contain him and bring him to Kazuki so he can be brought to justice. Akazukin succeeds into doing this and does so in a way that would severely embarrass him. Little did she know he was part of some dark organization. The Rat did not head into the forest biome for nothing. He headed there to give information he had gathered to a fellow member, The Rabbit. The organization called themselves the Zodiac and they were a gang of mercenaries for hire. As pay back for Akazukin’s action the Zodiac tried to assassinate one of Akazukin’s acquaintances while she was entertaining them. After this she was determined to hunt down the members of the Zodiac and that hunt led her here.

As Kasen have noticed Akazukin was hustling them seemingly in an effort to clean house. However if Kasen took notice there is one person whose wallet was hurting less than the other two. If Kasen recalls this was the one the was getting a little handsy earlier and now his hand would be going after Kasen’s upper leg. “Hey babe, you wanna know why they call me The Horse?” The man’s breath absolutely reek of alcohol and it was quite apparent that he was completely drunk. With his interest turning towards Kasen, she would need to direct his attention back before she loses her target.