SPOILER: Click to show

This takes place before the shadow tournament, but after the human gang of misfits occupied a tea house.

The sounds of the night filled the air. Drunken men waltzing around, arguing about whose family had the most honorable history. Geisha's smiling at those walking past their buildings, trying to lure in potential customers. The port city was busy as ever even at this late hour, but the business being done was of a completely different nature entirely. It was therefore a peculiarity to some, and something to grin at for others, when Kagami made her way through the streets.

She had already spoken to many people, and a few of them had actually given proper leads. She was seeking someone adapt with a small blade, a tattoo artist or an acupuncturist. She had spoken to five of each craft thus far, all of them had rejected her request. She was to small some had said, others had asked her to cough up enormous amounts of money for it. She didn't really have that much money, as she had in-fact, no money at all. The girl had been walking for an hour now, and was following another lead. Perhaps this one would take pity on her, and help her with her unusual request. Hopefully she would be able to find someone tonight, as Kagami could feel the integrity of the seal weakening.

Kagami glanced upwards, towards the sky. It was starry, a dark moonless night where the stars danced in the heavens. To her, it was simply a relief that there was no possibility of rain, as she felt her leg touch something, and promptly flipped over it. Reaching out her hands trying to dampen her fall, which she was successful at. Laying chest down on the dirty covered road, began to rise, not thinking of what had just happened. Her progress was impeded however, by a foot being placed on her back, forcefully pushing her down.

For Rikou, rain had always had soothing qualities; the falling water was always cool, for instance, especially once the sun had sunk far 'neath the horizon, and the sound of the falling water pellets upon such covers as the cheap metal roofing he found himself loitering beneath was exactly the tone and volume he needed to keep the voices at bay. And so indeed, for once in a very long time, the voices were stilled, be it by the soothing noises keeping them silent or by the rain giving Rikou a foundation for strength.

The roofing above Rikou bore a hanging sign labeled 'Harisumi', alongside which a long steel needle dangled with a bead of bright orange ink at it's tip; the sign would be barely legible beneath the fire light, but that was all for the better, as this particular business had a tendency to flourish once the darkness crept in.

Beside him sat a small stool, upon which some patrons sat in order to have their works displayed for anybody who passed to see, though behind Rikou a sheet hung in the doorway of the little shack of his labeled 'unoccupied'. This room was the one Rikou used for those patrons who sought privacy with their application, and Rikou was not too stingy to provide them this. It was simply another testament to Rikou's ability to be in the right place at the right time with the right wares that the pink-haired girl would find herself lead down this particularly dangerous road in search of perhaps the only man in Japan currently qualified to assist her in her goals. Not that Rikou knew it, of course.

In his current Gigai, Rikou was much taller than he was in his natural body; as well, his form was much more broad than his naturally slim self, with a long, well-braided ponytail hanging down near to his ankles. The clothes he wore were of Chinese origin, which lead credence to this supposed business venture of his; he found men tended to trust Chinamen well over their own countrymen in the arts of needlework.

Usually, Rikou was not fond of other living beings; in fact, one would be hard pressed to find Rikou doing anything kind for another living being short of a Vizard attempting to find their way in the world. However, there was simply something in the rain that woke up something different in Rikou, so when he saw the small pink-haired girl first stumble over a man's leg, and then find herself pinned by that same foot to the ground, he couldn't help himself sighing before rising from his stool.

As stated before, this particularly street was not a very wonderful place to be; it was in a dark and dangerous road Rikou set his business because it was down roads like these he would be less likely to be found by the wrong sort of inquisitive mind. Word of mouth had always been the key to Rikou's businesses in the Material Plane, as well as in the Rukon districts during those particular times, and so to see any potential customers turned away by riff-raff was troubling for Rikou.

Moving around the counter, Rikou's strides were long as he approached the girl and the man who was surely prepared to attempt either a mugging or something much more vile before he found the supposed Chinaman standing before him; on this road, Rikou had a sort of reputation, and it took only a few seconds for the vagabond to get the message and retreat to the nearest bar to lick his wounds whilst Rikou leaned down to seize the girl by the collar of her clothes, hefting her to her feet. "This is a dangerous road for children to walk. What are you doing here?"

Kagami felt slightly surprised as she was hoisted into the air by her clothing. She let her arms dangle at her sides as she was lifted from the ground. Getting back on her feet, she looked at whomever it was that had picked her up. What Kagami hadn't noticed, was that the person stepping on her, and the person lifting on her weren't the same person. She therefore showed no emotion, and looking at her eyes, she almost appeared dead inside. She knew what was going to happen. It had happened many times before, and she disliked the feeling, but such was the world she inhabited.

As her body weight was fully placed on her feet, she just stood there motionless. The words he spoke didn't cause confusion, she had actually heard them several times before. Some had wanted to remove her from the public eye in a non-violent fashion, and had as such often suggested that they take her home, where they actually went however, was someplace far different.

She glanced to his side, noticing the sign hanging on the building. A tattoo artist was here, perhaps that person would be capable of helping her. Her eyes darted quickly down to the opening, where a stool was unoccupied. taking a step backwards to look at more of the building, she could see one of the patrons posing, an elegant dragon tattoo was on display on his back. The tattoo itself was black in color, covering the left half of the mans back. Most likely it was half done, as the dragons head was pointing towards the other shoulder.

Many men were unable to stand the pain and stress caused by the action of creating a tattoo. It took hours to create such a masterpiece, and to those whom were the canvas to the artist, it would often feel like torture. But it was a prideful thing to carry such a beautiful piece of art, and men often competed in being collectors of the works.

Kagami however, was now more concerned with giving the presumed assailant a reply to his question. Honesty was what she was compelled to speak, but protection of herself and delaying her quest was something she would rather avoid. She planned her words out carefully, looking back at him to avoid him feeling ignored. Men of his type tended to get very easily upset and angered. Kagami would prefer to avoid the consequences that often followed such emotions.

"I am looking for a tattoo artist to help me maintain a masterpiece. I don't wish to be escorted home, nor do I wish to have a drink honored sir. I apologize for not paying attention to where I placed my feet and for tripping over your foot."

Whilst saying this, she would kindly bow to the sir, hoping that he would give up his pursuit of entertainment for the night or atleast move on to someone else.

As the young female bowed, issuing her 'apologies', Rikou's lip curled in a sneer. To offer assistance out of the kindness of his heart, only to have it thrown back at him as though he were no more than the vile scum that habituated this terrible alley because it was the only place that would take him? Such a thick insult, and for no crime greater than saving the girl from a fate she no doubt had already faced. Snarling now, the tall form Rikou inhabited raised up it's foot, planted the mud-covered appendage on the girl's shoulder, and shoved none too gently, intent on sending her bottom-first directly into a mud puddle.

"And what does some vile little night-tramp know of masterpieces? Come ye to an artist long seasoned and dare tell him what art is? Fool girl, you know nothing." Sneering still, Rikou would turn and even from this distance face the man whom he had just finished applying art to, the man with a dragon along half his back; bringing his fingers to his lips, Rikou pealed a long, sharp whistle into the air, and after a moment, the dragon of ink and blood upon the man's back seemed to come to life, it's eyes flickering violently as it slowly lurched forward, it's snout just against the man's spine before it's maw opened wide and belched forth a long, wide stream of flame.

The man began to scream as the inky flames licked their way along the broad side of his back, his flesh bubbling and crisping along the edges of the inked fire before turning a wispy greyish-black, giving the illusion of smoke spreading off to the man's sides over hew newly formed burns, which would mold his flesh into burn scars the likes of which few could survive; true art had come to life upon the man's back, and he responded by shrieking and tearing off into the night, howling in pain with his compatriots following in fear for their friend, none of them comprehending what a marvelous work had been done for them.

"In the time it would take you to clean that filth from your ragged self, I have created and destroyed life and existence the likes of which your feeble mind will never comprehend." He ended this angry tirade by spitting on the ground at his side, growling before storming back toward his ramshackle house of business, throwing wide the curtain into the 'back office' and disappearing into the gloom, though the curtain was left open behind him, caught upon a hook, an invitation for any customers who dared.

Rikou would feel no resistance at all as he firmly shoved her with his foot. Her body simply followed after, almost like a doll she was thrown down, landing on her bottom, with her hands gently placed on each side. She would look up at Rikou, her expression unchanged and unwavering. With her bottom, front and one shoulder covered in mud, she was unsightly to behold. She nevertheless rose, not appearing to have been affected by it in any way. Perhaps she was fooling herself into thinking that it never happened. Maybe it didn't happen, she had just had the urge to sit down very quickly?

She gazed upon him once again as he began to speak in a tone befit an official of the shogunate. This man was an artist? He made masterpieces? Was he perhaps the one who had made that tattoo? Her question was quickly answered as the dragon tattoo came to life, and brought terror upon those around. Kagami could not help but stare in awe of the creation before her. As the man stormed off, Kagami's eyes yet again returned to that of the craftsman. Perhaps she had mistaken his identity, as he seemed deeply offended by her choice of words. Nevertheless, she was determined to ask him to help her maintain her blood seal. If she could not pay him, perhaps he would do so for the mere challenge of it.

Regardless of what might happen, Kagami would gently follow him into the gloomy depths of the small shop, crossing over the line of the curtain that he had left open. Her eyes wandering around the room, as she wondered what sort of tools he used in his craft.

"Ekaki-sama, I apologize for my unworthy behavior. You are not the one I assumed you were, and I am sorry for it."

"Sorry does not begin to describe what you are, filthy urchin." As he spoke, Rikou reached his arm upward to gently tap a small crystalline semi-sphere protruding from the small shack's ceiling; similar to the semi-spheres within his own tunnels, this reacted in a very meager way to the presence of reiryoku in his body, and cast a soft illumination into the room, giving it a more defined appearance; in short, the room was comfortably sized and square, the walls lined with tables upon which were wildly varied selections of blades, needles and inks.

"As you well know, Baita, time is money. You seem to think you've a masterpiece; I think you know nothing, but business is business. Tell me what needs done, and we will discuss payment."

SPOILER: Click to show

I've added a picture of her blood seal in my profile, it's identical, but red in color.

Kagami was unable to see anything inside the room, which is why she gasped as he spoke out. Being surprised, she took a step back and bumped into the door frame with her head. After the bump to her head however, the light came on, as she was relieved to see that it wasn't some sort of den of those activities, but a honest harisumi store. Her eyes went to Rikou and the object he had only gently touched, with it shining as a result. She had never seen such a thing before, and wondered for a brief second on how it worked. She quickly shook her head, casting the thought aside and looked at Rikou as he spoke.

His insults didn't affect her at all it seemed, as she kept her normal neutral expression. She took a few steps forward, so that she held a larger distance to the evil door frame than before. As he finished speaking, she turned around instinctively, and began to remove the clothing on her upper body. Removing the collar and frontal piece by loosening a knot at her neck, and letting it fall forward. She would then tug at her shirt and pull it over her head, bringing her back into view.

The Tattoo like object on her back was a deep red, instantly recognizable as blood. For some reason however, the blood hadn't coagulated and turned black. The issue in question however, became rather apparent visually. Some places, the lines of the seal were cut off, certainly a result of her growing. To Rikou, it would become apparent that it pulsed with power, as each place it had been cut off, reiatsu was leaked at a much faster rate. It was a rather astounding piece of art, but fixing it however, would require a master artist like no other.

"Could you Rejoin the lines of this tattoo?"

As the 'tattoo' became revealed, Rikou visibly sneered; granted, it would be difficult for the sneer to become evident given that the female's back was to him, but it was there, and perhaps it even carried the sort of gravity such a detestable look could generate that she would feel it upon her back. While intricate, the work was mediocre to say the least, amateur of the most heinous level; this was the work of an amateur who fancied himself a master, and put more effort into the design than the practicality - naturally, he could not immediately tell of the efficiency of the thing, not right away, but he was willing to bet any such creation of his own accord could be at a minimum 20% better.

Shaking his head, Rikou sighed before taking a seat, glowering now at the faux-masterpiece the girl seemed so proud of. "If you want the work ruined or perverted, yes, I can 'complete the lines'; any half-simple slug with a knife could do as much. If you want it restored, however, to what little it could claim as a 'former glory', then words must be shared. Words of intention, to begin with; I must know to the greatest specificity what goals were sought with this... thing's creation. Then I must know to what end does each individual marking contribute, if any such cohesion could be ascribed to so garish a thing. The keystone must be provided, of course, to translate the gibberish and find the truth of it's meaning, else the words could become alien things and render the entire thing moot."

As he spoke, Rikou's right hand curled slightly, the fingertips pressing gingerly against the palm of his hand before rising up, the nail of his right forefinger slipping betwixt his teeth and rubbing slowly, thoughtfully, before rotating just enough to be allowed to be caught between the jaw and mandible; the finely cut nail would then be gnawed gingerly upon, whilst a small conference was held within the head of Rikou.

We've seen this one before. At the Hollowization. With the plainclothes Shinigami.

Ah, what fate has befallen this poor lost child? Look at that horrendous thing; surely it's ruined her, if not outright tainted her spirit!

Nothing worse than what the whore's done to herself, you can bet. Begging for trouble, a shitty attitude like hers.

And of course, as the voices spoke at a speed in-congruent with the speeds of reality as comprehended by Rikou or Kagami, the scientist nibbled upon his finger, a single thought trickling away and off toward a shelf some several feet to his side, within which a small stock of chocolates waited. How long had it been since last he ate...?

Kagami slowly reached down into a rather large pocket that she had in her skirt, pulling out her book of many rules. She began to flip the pages, searching for what was a appropriate response. She had only seen the seal on her back through mirrors, and the complete ones of others. Kagami was extremely reluctant to let him borrow the book, but for him to learn of how to do his craft, she would have to let him read what she couldn't comprehend. A series of translations of the text on her back, and their true meanings, a picture of the proper form and shape of her seal. The book itself seemed to consist of hundreds and hundreds of pages, and it was surprising that she was able to fit it in her clothing.
Minor oddities aside, the book had a rather expensive looking leather cover, and as she flipped through the pages, Rikou would be able to glance at the contents, however, he would be unable to understand anything. The book was written in a secret and old language, a language that had been created by Kagami's family to safe guard the true contents of the books, if they were ever to fall into the hands of others. The color of the letters were red, a slightly disturbing red, dark, malicious looking the letters were. From between two pages, Kagami would pull out a folded piece of paper. It had been folded three times, and had quite a surface area. She picked it up, holding it over her shoulder, motioning for him to take it.

On one side of the page, there was complex drawing that detailed exactly how the full piece was to be made. The various symbols that were on her back, were intricately explained, all in understandable japanese. On the backside, the writing was translated in short, but it was detailed. The text that ran on the outermost circle, was translated thus: The fiery depths, the great steps, I bind myself to you, so that I may sow destruction and hatred in my wake. I bind myself to others, to help sow hatred in this world. As my contract to the depths grant me power, I must repay in blood and soul.

Each word and phrase had the proper symbols right above it, so that it was easy for him to understand what word was which series of symbols. Kagami seemed rather detached from the whole thing. She gazed at her book, enticed by it, captivated by it. She suddenly closed it, and slid it back into her pocket.

"All you need to know is written on that piece of paper Ekaki-sama. I humbly ask you to do what you can to restore it to it's former pride. I will be unable to pay you with money for your services, so I ask of you to find a different way for me to pay you for the work you do here."

"If you cannot do the work yourself, do not presume to tell me whether or not what I need to know is in a single location." Rikou intoned just loud enough to be heard, snatching the paper from the girl's hand and unfolding it easily, his eyes skimming over each side of the parchment, barely registering the written words... immediately, anyway. Even without devoting thought to understanding as he read, the words themselves were burned into his memory, and dissected by the voices in his mind. As they argued and debated, a light sneer lifted the corner of Rikou's mouth; amateur work, through and through.

In any given place, Rikou saw how the glyph could have been improved, made better, worded more succinctly; it took little time at all for him to decide that he could have added in more words where necessary, imbued the scars with spiritual commands that would make the entire damned thing more self-sufficient, easier to use - as was his lot in life, Rikou looked fully upon an item that had been created by others, and saw only the ways in which it could have been improved. He was a man who had made his mark in life by creating solutions to problems man didn't even know they had, and then by making existing solutions even better.

"Further, do not insult me by attempting to tell me what I should or should not desire as price for my work; it is mine and mine alone, and therefore it is my place to decide it's value. That you would even bring up something as mundane as physical currency when dealing with something who's existence should be considered supernatural to say the least is the most obvious sign that you are the last person who should be defining prices for anything." The words flowed from the scientist quickly, not quite as though in one breath, but certainly as though they were making slight haste to make themselves known; he was an intellectual, and as those types were wont to do, he was eager to put one not like himself 'in their place'.

Folding the paper along it's pre-formed creases, Rikou tucked the 'instructions', as they were, into his kosode, allowing them to fall to where his sash bound the cloth to his midsection. Slowly Rikou's fingers steepled, his forefingers bouncing slightly against his lips as his eyes unfocused, staring off into a distant corner near the top of his shack, allowing his mind, briefly, to wander.

How ludicrous, these 'incantations'. It would seem some fool thought to bind themselves to something they could scarce comprehend.

Hardly the first time. Foolhardy mortals always think they're so smart, trying to 'make deals' with Shinigami or Hollow or the like.

Shame to think it equally effective to simply make a 'contract' with another living human; that takes ideals from the masses, who simply must presume there is something greater than themselves.

Who wants to believe that the only thing greater than oneself is their peers? Easier to claim more powerful things exist. Things born and bred on a level far higher than one's own.

There was a slow exhale at this, Rikou's consciousness slipping back to the physical realm, his eyes flicking again to the nearly-uncompleted sigil on the girl's back.

"Before there was currency in the shape of coin, currency was information, goods and services. Men and women traded thing for thing, those things debated between the two for relative value; what you ask me to do is something that is clearly worth much to you. The question, naturally, is what is it worth? Your life? Your soul? These are things that are not valuable to me, of course; I have no need to work for either, and even if I took them, I could put them to no use that I could not put any other's.

"The idea of having you offer any type of service is, to say the least, ridiculous; there is no feat you can accomplish that I could not do twice as easily, at least none that I desire from you. This leaves you broken down to information; so tell me, Baita, what information do you have that would be as valuable to me as this act is to you?"

She wasn't particularly interested in his attitude and ranting. His mood was rather foul, but considering what she had just done to him, it was excusable to a certain extent. His words quickly spiraled into revealing his main characteristics, and she contently placed him in the top 30 worst people she had ever met. With all her traveling around Japan, she had met quite a few people, and it was almost an honor to be placed on that particular list.

She gazed at him, turning only gently and looking over her shoulder. Her eyes followed the piece of paper as it was tucked into his clothing, making a mental note to ask him to return the piece of paper afterwards. Such information wasn't to be given to just anyone, and she had only done so out of necessity. Her eyes trailed up along the arm he had used to tuck the paper away, and ending her gaze at his neck. As this person took great value in himself, it may offend him if she looked him in the eyes directly. The book had said so when dealing with nobles and those who thought highly of themselves.

He then went on to rant about how she and any service she could offer in the form of work was more or less useless to him, not that she actually took offense to any of what he said. She had no pride to be hurt, and no principles to uphold. He would have had more luck making a ant eater eat his eyes out than making her feel angry or degraded. Alas, there was one thing he didn't quite yet to seem to understand. She wasn't directly stupid, she just had no real concept of the reality she found herself in, and was lacking in the common sense department. All her knowledge came from her book, and whilst it covered a wide array of different subjects, it did not cover how to appraise value, bartering with coin or with physical services and perhaps most importantly, the fundamentals behind trade itself. With a honest and completely straight face, she spoke.

"Is what was on that piece of paper not enough information? I do not understand the concept of bartering with information."

She would pause for a moment and let it sink in, before asking another question with her head tilted a bit more.
"How much is one information worth?"

In her assumption that Rikou spoke to draw the girl into a rage, Kagami failed to comprehend the most obvious aspect of what was happening: Rikou was not insulting the girl, but attempting to guide her line of thought, albeit in a very blunt manner. She did, after all, come across plainly as simple, being incapable of defining whom was her attacker and whom her savior, among other 'little' things. At the point concerning the 'information' already passed to Rikou, a grunt was the response before Rikou lowered his head lightly, bringing his right hand up to rub at his eyes; this would be difficult.

"The information you passed to me cannot be information as payment, because it is information that is absolutely necessary in order to complete the job as you have requested it. To put it in similar terms, you cannot ask a man to repair, say, the chair's leg." As he spoke, Rikou leaned back again in his seat, bringing his right hand back to spread the fingers into his hair, stretching briefly before scratching slightly at his scalp.

"The value of information is measured by the two sides of the deal. Where money is intrinsically valuable to both sides, information must be weighed by both sides in comparison to the deed being requested. The task you want performed can only be done by myself, and will not be simple; therefore, you need to be able to furnish information that is similarly worth the amount of time and effort that will be put forth. In other words, you need to decide precisely how important it is for you to have this job done, and then what information you value as much as the job itself."

Kagami just looked at Rikou with a blank stare, she didn't seem to understand his explanation about value. It was difficult for her to comprehend, as she had no understanding of what value actually was, and unable to appraise value as a result. The book also said she wasn't allowed to have money unless given money to buy things. Money to her was pieces of metal, how to calculate their was something she had yet to figure out either, but the book said it wasn't important to know such things, and so she didn't.

She tried to process his words, but they didn't match up with anything that was written in the book. The book said that anything not in the book was unimportant, so this man must not be important because he knows things that aren't important. But he knew how to fix her seal, but she didn't know how to pay him. She shivered gently where she sat, goosebumps forming on her skin. She did not know what to do. In such cases, there was always one phrase that helped her out.

"I don't understand."

At the admission of failure to understand, silence dominated the shack, aside from the sound of a light rain pelting the thin metal roof. After a few moments, Rikou sighed and rose off his stool, moving to the previously mentioned cupboard and taking from it's depths a small bag with chocolate balls inside. Taking one from it's confines and popping it into the mouth of his gigai, the disguised Vizard contemplated carefully before turning to the girl.

"The restoration of your symbol is, to you, important. The question you must ask, then, is how important? If you were to awake tomorrow without your symbol, would you be able to simply shrug it off and continue with your day? Would you be upset for a day and then move on? Does your life in total revolve around the symbol? Once you have that question answered, you then must ask yourself, what is equally important to you? What could you pay, what sacrifice could you make that you would weigh against the symbol? It is a system of balance; for anything you require, you must give something up of equal worth. Men could trade a hammer for a hen, a bucket of water for a sack of rice, a home for a horse. What, then, would you trade for your symbol?"

SPOILER: Click to show

By request, you have been given a 24 hour warning in regards to needing to post due to the activity rules. If you don't post in this time frame, you will be exited from the spar.

Unfortunately for Rikou, this proved entirely too much for the girl: the pink haired child broke into a mess of tears and wails, utterly incapable of comprehending the situation at large, and with a sigh, the Vizard simply grabbed the girl by the collar and ushered her, perhaps more stiffly than necessary, out of his shack and into the rain, throwing after her the worthless paper she'd been so adamant about keeping. Shaking his head, Rikou turned back into his shack, slammed the door shut behind him, and waited for the storm to end.

[Kagami exited, Rikou exited]