Kaji Okada’s Hunter Chronicles, Entry №2
Akimichi Titan
Akimichi Titan
Prelude
An old proverb goes, you are what you eat. There is also some saying about drunks trying to find the solution to their problems at the bottom of a glass. It goes without saying that nourishment is a key to life; a foundational requirement for the body to continue functioning precisely, like a well-tuned machine. All living things, from the smallest nanobes found in lumps of sediment, to the fortress-sized basilisks that nearly razed the metropolis of Maruishi to the ground; all require sustenance to fulfill their purposes in this world. All things are born, live, consume, reproduce, and eventually, die. In this endless cycle, all things, living or not, become a part of the tapestry of one broad universe; small pieces of one puzzle so complex, the human mind can only contemplate the place of a few pieces at a time. Caught in this endless cycle of consumption, we all find ourselves constantly serving in one of two capacities in nature: it is a world of victims and victors… Of the prey, and The Hunter.➀
The night sky was darkened by the light pollution from Tanzaku Town, better known as Crater City in recent years. The city was an urban cesspool: the profane cousin of the Hidden Leaf, which was beyond a mountainside, dozens of miles away. In the night, the neon glow of seedy venues lit the avenues in a rainbow of shades, adding color to an otherwise dreary setting rife with poverty and homelessness. Crater City was a host for mankind’s creature comforts, and had a reputation for being as such for ages; ever since the invention of the six-sided die. Here, the world’s oldest trades were regarded as honorable professions, resulting in the mass production of brothels disguised as love hotels, and either taverns or weapon shops on every street corner.
Tonight’s tale began in one of those seedy taverns. All of them were havens for the scoundrels of the city looking to cut loose, but this establishment, in particular, managed some relevance to the hunter. The outside of tonight’s starting point had a weather-worn plaque reading the name “The Delve,” painted with fading yellow paint. Kaji was within, seated on a wooden stool at the end of a long bar. He was half-way through a tall pint of a hearty stout; his second of the evening. The foam was racing down the glass’s side from Kaji’s constant tilting. He needed to make his thirst seem authentic in an effort to maintain his alibi... For four days now, Kaji was stalking the sole bartender of The Delve; a rather rotund and statuesque Akimichi man by the name Kaneda, whom Kaji confidently pinned as an affiliate of the Black-Vein Scorpions. The perp was never far from view, but Kaji was spying on the brutish man modestly. Maintaining his cover was pertinent: Kaji was establishing himself as a regular among the few patrons of the place and came each night dressed like a common pauper looking for a brew after the workday.
In the passing days, Kaji pursued the conclusion of his hypothesis like a researcher on the verge of a breakthrough. Patrons were rare within The Delve, so much that Kaji became one of Kaneda’s best customers since his arrival in Crater City. On rare occasions, the hunter was engaged in conversation by his target, but he often used these instances to secure his alibi, rather than pursue the bartender with intrusive questions. His running lie was that he was a machine mechanic at one of Crater City’s Casinos and usually complained about being underpaid.
For all his efforts, Kaji came to know Kaneda—the allusion of a humble entrepreneur who “built this place from the ground up.” The holes in his story confirmed Kaji’s suspicions that his operation was financed by outside influences and that he was really a Scorpion managing a money laundering scheme through the tavern. At some point during the surveillance, Kaji recognized the scorpion’s brand; a seal with glyphs exposed above Kaneda’s collar. Tonight was the first time Kaneda failed to hide the brand with old Leaf-issued turtleneck jerseys. His findings were enough to take action. Kaji had his fill of passively monitoring his perp and decided that he’d take action tonight once Kaneda closed up for the night, and hit the streets. About forty-five minutes before Kaneda usually began closing, Kaji cleared his tab for the evening and left a couple extra yen pieces on the counter for good measure. “Have a good night, Kaneda-san,” he said before making a casual exit out the tavern’s front. The place was bare with the exception of Kaneda himself, once Kaji slipped through the door and vanished like a specter. The Dive’s best customer wouldn’t be back, and the odds were that it would be Kaneda’s last night at The Dive, as well.
It was a brisk spring night in Crater City that night; perfect weather for hunting according to Kaji, who took his place at one of the ideal vantage points he chose over the days he spent inspecting and planning. He appeared in the classic ANBU uniform of the Hidden Leaf; his polygonal oni mask was over his face, with locks of black hair hanging between the two horns, which were starch-white and curved upwards. The skin of his deltoids and traps were revealed at his shoulders, corded musculature honed by countless hours in physical training and combat. The mark of the Leaf’s ANBU was freshly tattooed on his left bicep, only months old. His gray flak jacket fits him perfectly and contained his trusty blade Eelspine, rigged in its scabbard to his back. While the sword was generally the only tool he required in battle, Kaji came prepared for his unique opponent, as education in the Stone’s ANBU taught him special measures for facing the Akimichi. In addition to his standard toolkit, Kaji left his standard strength steel wire at home in favor of much thicker steel cabling, which he attached on his waist like a whip or lasso. As the hours turned later into the night, Kaji crept along the edge of his vantage point, prepared to find Kaneda taking the route he took each night to his favorite love hotel; the Fidgety Ferret.
- Kaji has entered the thread.
- This is a solo roleplay.
- WC: 1054
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The Hunter Chronicles, Entry №1: Werebear