Table For Two

Another end to another long day at work for one Machiko, Head Enforcer for the Hatake Company. Another long day had come and gone, and it had left the dark-skinned woman quite tired after all was said and done. She had broken down at least seven door's in today's collection spree, which was quite frantic compared to most other times.

But it was all over now, and that was a relief to her. After a quick shower and change into her casual clothes at the office, Machiko set out into town for a chance to relax herself. If only our customers tried to pay their dues on the day we told them, we could have avoided all of this trouble easily... She thought tiredly to herself as she made her way past the crowded streets of the city. But still, we still got what we came for, without too much dirt and grime as well. I can't exactly complain about that too much.

She adjusted the strap of the bag that rested on her plain blue dress shirt and smoothed out the tiniest wrinkle in her khaki slacks as she took a few turns down several alleys until she finally neared her destination for the rest of the day: The Second Circle Adult's Club. Seated back in a nondescript part of the city, the club was a haven for those who participated in the more... alternative methods of adult entertainment. Like Machiko.

A nice evening in the club would be just the thing that she needed to unwind after a long day, she hoped. It was sort of freeing to just... give yourself over to someone else for while and not have to worry about anything.

"And don't come back without the milk!" A grating voice echoed down the narrow stairwell of the Xun residence. Hua Xun winced, her face scrunching at the sound as she quickly hurried down the steps, trying to escape the house. She'd gotten into a little argument with Mama. Nothing serious, just the usual grumpiness that occurred when one of them was in a mood. This time it was just Mama so Hua was all too happy to get out of the house on errands.

"Make sure it's the almond kind!" Mama called out as Hua was almost gone.

"Yes, Mama." She called back with a scowl. She sighed and was almost out the door before, somehow still audible despite the distance.

"Why not tell your mama you love her, huh?!" Hua sank a little, sighing quietly to herself.

"Of course I love you, Mama! See you later!" She picked up a wicker basket, checking herself over before heading down into the street. She took a little walk to calm her mood from the argument before picking up some things. Some fruit, Mama's dumb almond milk that tasted gross, some flowers for her room. She tucked them all neatly into the basket, which she carried in the hook of her elbow as she walked along, trying to figure out if she needed anything else, peering up at the night sky for a moment.

Machiko checked her phone to make doubly sure that her appointment was for today as she rounded another corner of the backstreets, drawing ever closer to her destination. This club wasn't simply you could just show up for, after all. Plans needed to be made in advance, and Machiko had made sure to set everything up before her work had ended for the day. Once she had confirmed once again that it was for today at the time she chose, Machiko placed her phone back into her pocket.

There's no such thing as being too careful, she thought to herself as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder especially when it comes to my line of work. And also how I choose to spend my time off as well. Every turn of the corner was followed by a check behind her to see if anyone was following, and so far things had been perfectly fine. It wasn't exactly like she was hiding anything, Machiko just wasn't sure that'd she'd have the time or patience to try and explain herself right now.

"Ah, it seems like I'm going to be a little early." The Yakuza officer realized as she glanced back down at her watch. "It seems my pace was a bit quicker than I realized, hmm." A brief smile flashed across her face as she turned the last corner, only to bump into... someone she wasn't expecting.

"Hua?" It had been a while since their last meeting, and the other woman had been concealed in shadow for most of their encounter, but Machiko still was able to recognize the person currently walking down the street towards her. But... what is she wearing? I wasn't expecting... hrmm. The Fullbringer woman gripped the straps of her carrying bag tightly for one moment before letting out a small sigh and continued walking forward. No need to be rude, after all.

"Miss Hua," Machiko began as she bowed her head slightly at the Bount. "Pleasure to see you again."

Hua looked around, her posture dropping a bit. Who was calling her? God, what if it was the police. What if they were on to her? Oh no, what if it was someone from her community and they needed her help! That was the worst! She should hide! She needed to... oh.. wait... who WAS that? She stopped, staring at her for a moment confused before it clicked.

"Oh! The Yakuza woman! It was hard to recognize you looking so much less. Hrm.... Scary?" She hoped that wasn't offensive. She didn't scare Hua, after all, but she certainly seemed like she tried to look intimidating before and she looked anything but right now. She walked up with a pleasant smile. Hrm. She felt a little bad about the scary comment. And the woman had probably come here to get her that dinner...

"Here! Have a flower!" She pulled a lone stem from the bundles in her basket and held it out for the woman to take. "Least I could do for the trouble I caused!" And for calling you scary just now.

Hrrm, yes I suppose 'Yakuza' woman would be the appropriate thing to call me. Not to mention this is only our second time meeting. "It's perfectly reasonable that you wouldn't recognize me, Miss Hua. It was dark in that alley, after all." Machiko conceded. But scary? Hmm, I suppose my demeanor would look that way at times. What enforcer worth her salt isn't at least intimidating?

It was almost a compliment more than the insult Hua thought she gave. Even still, Machiko was still in the middle of an alleyway with a woman she convinced to give her 'meal' to in order to interrogate. Life was... complicated sometimes. And just because she was on her way to an appointment, it didn't mean Machiko could just blow Hua off either!

"What brings you here today, Miss Hua? Do you happen to live nearby or something?" Judging her intentions from her... outfit didn't really give her anything to go off of for an idea of what else she could be doing. Or leave anything to the imagination... Now now, focus Machiko. Remember your appointment.

"O-Oh." The sudden flower however was a definite surprise, and Machiko reached out with her gloved hand to carefully take it. "Thank you... But you mustn't fret over that day. You weren't really trouble at all, Miss Hua. I feel in some part that I should also thank you. You helped us find our target quite well, I must say." Machiko studied the flower briefly as she held it in her gloved prosthetic hand before gently placing it in the front pocket of her bag. A bit odd as well, but I suppose no harm done either. I was not expecting flowers from a... wire woman. Hmm.

"Nonsense. It's rude not to recognize someone. Besides, you're fairly distinctive looking. You just look much less... Yakuza-y today is all. Day off I take it?" She asked with an inquisitive raise of the eyebrow, making friendly conversation. "I'm just running some errands. Bit of grocery shopping, saying hi to a few of the people around the area." She shrugged. She wasn't sure if she should mention anything too personal.

Machiko seemed nice, especially now, but she WAS a Yakuza enforcer. And while she seemed to be thankful for their meeting now, things had almost gone down violently the other day... Machiko may not have KNOWN that but well... Hua wasn't prone to giving up food normally... or leaving a lot of witnesses...

"Really? Well if I helped then you most CERTAINLY owe me that dinner. I wasn't going to collect on it, but now I feel like I'm owed." She said with a self satisfied chuckle.

“Yes… I suppose I am quite distinct looking.” Dark skin and tall height notwithstanding, Machiko had to admit that she cut a pretty unique figure among the rest of the Japanese citizens living in the city. Which was both beneficial and a bit annoying when it came to her job. Sneaking up on people wasn’t exactly her strong suit, but at least when they saw her they knew what was going to go down. Usually. “But I actually took an early leave from the office today. Today was rather… involved, and I was asked to relax for the rest of the day.”

Which I am quite close to doing, I might add the Fullbringer thought to herself. She could easily see over Hua to the ‘club’ she was headed to, but she also wasn’t about to brush the woman off rudely either. Instead her hand absentmindedly squeezed the shoulder strap of her bag as she continued to talk with Hua. “And that’s very outgoing of you, Miss Hua. Is flower delivering her job?” The woman’s attention was quickly drawn back to the enticingly dressed Bount in front of her as the conversation continued, a fact she caught on to quickly.

I truly need to stay focused, but… She’s a much different person than we last met. Not that I’d want to ignore anyone in the first place, but…

She also recalled the ‘payment’ for Hua letting her take the man back to her Company, and her promise to uphold the deal until the moment that she decided to call it in. Even if she did have her appointment already scheduled… Her pride wouldn’t allow her to back down on a deal she made for the good of her Company either. Machiko’s eyebrows raised slightly as she took one last look towards the club, before falling back down to bring her full attention back down to Hua.

“It’s true. I made that deal with the fullest intention of fulfilling it, so if you wish to do so now I wouldn’t have any objections.” Without letting a hint of disappointment show on her face or in her voice, Machiko quickly shot a text to her appointment manager to cancel today’s event, receiving a slightly saddened message back, but coupled with another message to quickly schedule another appointment soon that brought a slight flush to Machiko’s cheeks before she put her phone away. “Very well, shall we head off? Or do you wish to run your errands first?”

Hua's mouth turned ever so slightly into a bewildered smirk. Office hours? Wasn't she a Yakuza enforcer? Hua wasn't aware they had office hours. "Do they have a company dental plan?" She couldn't help but ask. "I'm sorry. That was mean to tease. I've just never heard of criminal organizations having hours before." She said, giving a little wave to reassure Machiko that she wasn't being malicious.

"Hm?" Her who? Her Hua? Her mama? The woman seemed a bit distracted. Hua hoped she wasn't keeping her from anywhere. Especially because now that she'd been offered food she wasn't going to turn it down, whether Machiko had somewhere to be or not. "Oh, I work in an antiques shop. The flowers are just for my room." She said with a shrug. Her eye quickly bobbed from Machiko to the phone the woman was holding. What was she texting? Hua's eyes narrowed slightly before returning to their happy expression. She might need to get a look at that phone. It was a touch suspicious that she ran into Machiko on the street, then when she was invited to dinner, there was sudden texting....

"Hm, I can carry my basket with me. I think it suits me. Bit of the flower girl aesthetic." She said with a self satisfied smile. "So. What sort of food am I being treated to? I don't eat at nearly enough actual restaurants that I can be expected to choose."

"Actually, we do" Machiko replied plainly, nodding slightly at Hua. "I apologize, but I forgot to mention that we double as a women's shelter and rehabilitation clinic. Not only does it give us a more professional public appearance first and foremost, we employees get a bit of a bonus as well. Providing you work hard enough, of course." Machiko herself rose up pretty far in the rankings once her Fullbringer powers manifested, but she also liked to believe it was her hard work that help push her to that in the first place. Magic metal-controlling powers or no.

"Also I may have embellished 'hours' a bit as well, again my apologies. We do have specific hours of the day when we need to be on call at all times, but during the evening hours you have more of a free reign to do as you please. My boss simply decided I could do that a bit earlier today than others, and I'm grateful for it." She ended her sentence with a succinct nod and adjusted the strap of the bag on her arm. There was a brief moment of panic that immediately sat in her mind of Hua looking into her bag of... equipment. I'll just need to... not let that happen. And hopefully steer conversations away from it, yes.

Working at an antique shop seemed quite nice to Machiko. Small trinkets, a quiet environment, nice orderly things; Quite a nice sounding occupation indeed. "Very well then, I at least thought I should ask to help since this dinner is my treat. I wouldn't want a guest to feel put-out by anything I did." Turning her head to the side, Machiko cleared her throat before quickly adding: "The outfit does suit you, yes."

Quickly passing off that comment, she turned her head and looked out around where they were, getting a better bearing on their surroundings so that she could make a well educated guess. Her favorite kind, after all. "There's a very nice bistro around the corner here, if you'd want to eat there. They have a fantastic beef stew that can warm you head to toe, I highly recommend it."

Hua nodded, listening to the talk about various covers for their illicit activities. She felt a nagging "justice"y sort of sense brewing deep in her, but kept reminding herself that they sounded like an okay sort for Yakuza and shouldn't be eaten. Especially not this nice person who was going to buy her food. Still... the thought slowly eked into her until her stomach rumbled. Hrmm... she'd need to go find some thugs or something tonight, but for right now, actual food would help.

She popped out of her own little world when Machiko moved her bag, her eye darting at it before back up to the other woman's eyes. "Hm?" Her outfit? She glanced down. "Oh. Thank you. I don't like to wear too much cloth. Feels restricting." She said with a smile. She'd just mentioned the basket... Why was Machiko focusing on her outfit... A few inklings of suspicion passed through her mind but she let them go for now.

"A bistro, hm? Very well. Lead the way, miss."

"Ah, yes..." Machiko muttered offhandedly. As much as she wanted to project the air of someone totally professional at all times, the matter of the fact was she had just called off her appointment for something quite carnal that she was looking forward to. Now she found herself taking the rest of her evening off with a... much less dressed and attractive woman. Needless to say her face wasn't as quite trained to hide emotions as she wanted it to be at times.

This is no time to begin blushing like a schoolgirl when treating someone that you owe a favor to! She thought scathingly to herself as she took a steadying breath. I am a grown woman, I can keep myself from acting like this in polite company! I just need to begin moving and keep my cool. "You're welcome, Miss Hua. Now then, if you would follow me, I'll take us there in no time at all." One deep breath and a step forward was all that Machiko needed to get her mind back on track and start their short trek to dinner.

Her mind now starting to get back on a more proper track, Machiko lingered on Hua's statement about working in the antique store during they day as they made their way on the crowded city streets. Was her mother aware of the back alley hoisting-a-man-into-the-air shenanigans that her daughter got up to? She supposed that it wasn't entirely her business to find out, unless of course that information was needed for her Company's wellbeing. Truth be told, Machiko really just wasn't the best at making small-talk most of the time either...

"So, Miss Hua..." The enforcer began, trained eyes scanning the faces in front and around them as they made their way to the restaurant. "How long have you been at the back-alley business sorts of things? You certainly conducted yourself like someone who's had plenty of experience in these things the last time we met." Yeah, it was inevitable. With no other immediate things to think of to talk about with the Bount, Machiko had to move on to the one thing they had in common: Beating up goons.

Also the fact that one doesn't simply meet a wire-controlling woman in a back alley and never ask what or why either.