Welcome to Sparkles!

[oichi]

She was a bit nervous at first but Naomi was relieved that the kid at least had some form of idea where he was going after. She didn't know libraries hired children though. Hopefully it was a family owned library. Nonetheless, she found it quite cute and brave. "Wow! It's got to be an adventure going out to those places! All you need is a good companion to really help you along." she said, glad that they were finally getting food. "Hopefully I can meet that companion soon. Let me know if you need anything else." she walked away. Though with a kid all by himself and the adult next to him not really the companion, it made her a bit worried about them. Baku-kun had sensed this and rubbed his head on her back gentily. It tickled. "Naomi-chan. It will be fine. His adult couldn't be far at all." he whispered. "Maybe so but should I get the police involved? In case there's a chance the little one could be in danger if they don't come back?" she paced on up to the second floor.

[Umbraflamma]

Ryo noticed someone call out the very same address he was about to hail a cab for. "Hey you got the lost kid?" he asked the man was massive 6'4 and a massive physique, if wataru paid attention he would notice his shadow was skeletal. "Tatsu -dono is on the line with me, she asked me for help." he said he looked down at the smaller man, his wild brown hair only tamed by his beanie as he nodded flashing a large wad of cash at the taxi driver. "We need to stop by tatsu's shrine and then we will wardrive" he said, "I aiont about to allow a kid to be at the mercy of kami knows what." he said with utter emotion and intensity behind it. Whatever her spoke about he spoke from experience and first hand knowledge, the haunted look he gave was not possible to fake. not with the shjeer amount of fear behind it. "Tatsu we are heading to pick you up now." he said as he flashed three 10,000 yen bills at the driver. that was the kind of thing only a yakuza did. one on serious business that you might end up in a trash bag in a river if you didnt pplay right. Perhaps he knew of such stories, or perhaps he had dealt with this situation before. Either way the look ryo gave him was enough to chill one's blood. he turned to wataru. "We are getting your kid back safe, no matter how many people i need to kill." he said grimly, ready for action. "Tatsu, making sure this kid is safe, is all the  reward I need!"

Had wataru been involved in the yakuza he would notice ryo's mannerisms, if he was aware of the cage death matches he might recognize Kyoken, the legendary mad dog of the cage who killed countless people only to disappear one day.

[mermalaide]

"Oh? You found Wataru? Well that saves time!" She was cheerful and a bit too rosy cheeked for her own good. Wataru must be having somewhat of a panic attack to see Ryo. Ryo was a good man in Tatsu's opinion, he was kind and willing to help, but he was also the size of a truck. Her grandfather was the same way frankly. Which was funny. In some way, she was reminded of her grandfather when she looked at Ryo.

Frankly, it made her face hot.

But she needed to get her head in the game. Who knew if Raitaro was somewhere scared or not? She thought that it was more than likely he was having the time of his life, possibly running up a tab at the dinner if he didn't have cash on him. When they would eventually pull up, she would have to apologize for still being in her miko clothing. People were going to stare, but she was used to that.

"I know." She smiled as she was on the phone and shook her head. "I still am allowed to treat you though. I just knew you were the right person to call, don't ask me how I gathered that." Tatsu stood there looking for her. Strangely, she felt like she was being watched, and the wind gave her a little bit of a chill but she brushed it away. "Who knows what we will find, knowing Raitaro." There was a gentle smile to her voice as she had spoke.

[Ashken]

"Wow! It's got to be an adventure going out to those places! All you need is a good companion to really help you along."

"Wataru comes with me often" he smiled in response. Not thinking much about the fact that they were asking for who was with him right now. He nodded at her request to inform her if he needed anything, Aito nodded too, though his mouth as currently full of food. Raitaro took the opportunity to start to dig in himself.

---

"Hey you got the lost kid?"

Wataru raised an eyebrow, wondering who this massive man was. He reminded him a lot of some of the people he knew in his previous life, "Your with the priestess?" he responded to the tall man with his own question. 

"Tatsu-dono is on the line with me, she asked me for help."

"Alright, get in" he said as he entered the Taxi. They would have time to talk and get to know each other as they travelled, time was not something he wanted to waste. The kid could be in danger, and he was not going to allow this to be were he failed.  

"We need to stop by tatsu's shrine and then we will wardrive"

"Okay" agreeing for them to reroute to pick up Tatsu first. He tapped the floor with anxious energy, barely able to focus enough to hear much of what Ryo was saying. He tried to focus on that connection he had between himself and the child, but it was barely palatable, he rarely was this far away from Raitaro and the emptiness was hard to describe. He let out a sigh, and looked to his side, as the Taxi drove. He got a better glance of Ryo, something about him reminded him of his time in the cage. Though he was a much different person at point in his life, "I know the priestess, she did me a solid a while back, the name is Wataru"   

Once they arrived at Tatsu's Shrine he waved her in, "Thank you for helping" he said though he was clearly tense, "The kids fine..." he said out loud mostly to himself than to anyone else, his voice wavered knowing that he could not be certain till he got closer. At this distance it was just a void, and it was making him feel sick. 

[oichi]

Naomi hopped up to the second floor, the skirt of her dress following behind and catch up when she reached the top of the stairs. Baku-kun followed behind her, being careful to not dent the steps with his legs. A couple of the servers on that floor bowed to Naomi but also had slight confusion on why she was pacing so fast. She acknowledged the wait staff waving but still pacing towards her office. Baku-kun had closed the door behind them. "Hime-sama at least wait a few minutes observing before we do anything." He said sitting down on his bean bag. Naomi was worried, if the kid would've gone missing, she would have felt very guilty. "Can I at least send a few of my guards to protect him in case something happens? I think I can call father and try to get some guards that are not busy over here..." she said looking at the phone. It wasn't like they were on good terms but it also wasn't bad terms either, or she could leave an anonymous note about the kid in her restaurant in case anyone was looking for him.

She had to get back to the floor as she was still waitressing. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Baku-kun. Stay on the security cameras. I want you to see if there's anything suspicious. And let me know by calling the 1st floor phone." he nodded as she went out her office door back on the floor. She was going to wait a couple of tables around them to try to keep an eye on the situation.

[Umbraflamma]

"tch... Tatsu-dono asked me to help and i know what can happen to lost kids." he said in response to the thanks. There was a grim tone to his words, as if he was speaking from experience. he spoke back into his phone, "We'll be over there soon, be ready to go." he said before hanging up.

"Tatsu-dono, saved my life, and i plan to make sure i return the favor." he said intensely as he looked out the window. "If she wants the kid saved i'll carry him through a hail of gunfire if i have to safely."

AS he sat he checked himself. the massive coat he wore had so many repairs and alterations to it, it was clear it held great significance to him. he looked back to wataru, and one look in his eyes could tell that they had seen far far too much. his hazel eyes looked up and down wataru. Sizing him up. "You look a bit young to have a kid, but i suppose its not impossible. You said the kid is fine? how old are they? What do they look like?"

He was collecting information, gathering a profile, and ready to pick the kid up, and turn into an accordion anyone that might be a danger to them. "Where was the kid last? Do you have any enemies or anyone who might  have a grudge against you and the kid?" he asked as he sat back. "We should be pulling up to the shrine any minute."

[mermalaide]

As they were having this conversation, the cab rolled up to the shrine's front. Tatsu stood there in her robes with her purse waiting. If the cab driver or anyone was surprised to see her there in the traditional uniform of the shrine, no one hinted, which made her feel a bit better about that. She waved to them, ready to step in when things were opened up. Ryo and Wataru had taken up a good bit of the back seat, so she had to really squeeze in. What had surprised the cabby a little was the conversation that was going on in the back seat, to which the older man raised an eyebrow. He might have joked about it, had the big man in the green coat not looked like a bear in a hunting jacked, ready to rip someone's arms off.

"Where was the kid last? Do you have any enemies or anyone who might have a grudge against you and the kid?"


She heard the last bit of Ryo's questioning when she had got in. "Hi guys." She got comfortable, as much as she could before shutting the car door. "I think there was a tracking bit? That's how Wataru knows where to go. I think." She sure hoped nobody wished Raitaro, or Wataru  for that matter harm. But, there were people out there that were scary. She knew about that, even if the memories were blurry. Her chest tightened a little in the cab, mostly from everything being a bit closed. She cracked the window and felt a little better.

Wataru looked like he had been frantic really. She felt a little bad for him. Tatsu knew he didn't mean harm, children generally didn't. It was like the time she went down the road to the little combini for a snack and left the house unlocked. Grandpa looked like he was going to burn the neighborhood down, all over a banana nut muffin. She showed the cabby the address for Sparkles, and he nodded quietly, kicking the sedan into drive again, and pushing away from the temple. 

She looked at Ryo with a lot of warmth in her eyes and quietly said, "Thank you for coming."