|
|
Post by mugenginga on Sept 2, 2010 21:13:09 GMT -5
Kaido was only partially focused on the arcade game in front of him. Which made how well he was doing somewhat impressive. To the left of his feet was a white bag full of COMP boxes, although a receipt was specifically lacking. He hadn't roughed anyone up or even threatened anyone, although inventory check that night was going to be hell on the store. Apparently special security measures weren't seen as needed despite the Island. Made demons that could turn invisible and other such abilities rather useful.
The lack of focus was more because Kaido was in his own head. It had been something like four months since the world had gone to hell in a handbasket. An out of date English phrase, but one with an almost literal meaning. Abel had been having trouble with his leadership or acting like he should. The most annoying aspect of it all to the man was that he could tell Abel had the potential. He just refused to exercise it. And Kaido wasn't stupid enough to break off relations just because Abel couldn't run things right. Even with the other man's questionable actions, the chances of survival in the current would take an expodential nose dive if he left.
Kaido wasn't very good with the words, either. No, that was a lie. He wasn't good with the words when no one listened to him. He was aware he was skirting the position of expendable dead weight on Abel's team. Having Abel and Cain pointed it out stung, and he showed it by getting pissy. He hadn't been blind to Atsuro's feelings about where things had gone. If he could get the guy alone and not glaring at him for two seconds, he might be able to fix that. He noted a reflection on his screen and frowned.
"What do you want?" he said with a half-hearted growl.
Cain smirked, "Nice to see a lack of biting for once."
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 2, 2010 21:25:11 GMT -5
No one paid any attention to the Japanese teenager entering the arcade. Why should they? Tons of Japanese male teenagers who lived on this island visited the arcade. It wasn't like the phenomenon of the arcade was completely dead in Japan like it was in America.
Actually, the teenager, Naoki Kashima, was looking at a small notepad when he walked in. He flipped it closed after walking in, and sat down a few machines down from where a man wearing a rather unique looking haori and a rather rough looking man were speaking. He glanced at them and shrugged before putting a coin into the machine.
To anyone watching him, it would appear he was rather focused on the game. In truth, he was anything but.
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Sept 2, 2010 22:36:29 GMT -5
Kaido ignored Cain for a few more minutes. If the man really wanted to talk to him, he'd do so. He wasn't unaware of the alarms the COMPs had given before. However, Cain had notified him of a lack of his needed presence. Given the other lack of contacts, it was probable he hadn't bothered telling the others he'd sent the message. He didn't talk to Cain until a few minutes later, when the credit he was on went out.
Cain had noted the entry of another person during that time. He tended to be more aware of his surroundings then almost anyone realized. There were a lot of individual things that on their own he would have filed away as average. The notepad being closed could have simply been a result of the teenager arriving at his destination. The choice of seating simply a result of chance or some superstition the teenager held. Cain couldn't comment on the outfit, it was downright plain compared to his own and really of a standard sort of fashion. The fact that the teenager looked at his outfit could be passed on the haori. The glance at Kaido? He wasn't the friendliest looking sort. Quite franly, even all the things together was nothing to raise suspicion, even the way the teenager had shrugged before turning towards the game.
It all came down to one point. Over his many lifetimes, Cain had learned to listen to his gut. The teenager seemed involved in his game, so Cain was willing to give him credit. If there was reason to be aware of his presence, the teen was doing an uncanny job concealing it. That alone was reason enough to not approach the situation yet.
It would take a level of observance near or exceeding Cain's to pick that the silver haired man was now keeping a mental note on the teenager's presence. Cain had no intention of telling anyone about it, however. He kept a lot from his allies, only revealing when he deemed it necessary. This was often long after your average person would. The whole exchange of observation would come across as most to Cain merely watching Kaido's screen. He hadn't even so much as looked at Naoki.
"The COMPs are in the bag," Kaido stated, digging into his pocket and pulling out another yen coin.
"That's all you're going to say today," Cain was smiling, "Did Abel finally pull your teeth?"
"If the guy doesn't start fighting back soon, someone is gonna pull his teeth," Kaido said in a slgiht growl. He looked over at Cain with a flat glare, "You know, you could tell him a few things Mr. "I'm not afraid of dying I'll come back". All you do is drop stupid ass hints about how he should stand up to that devil guy."
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 3, 2010 15:45:08 GMT -5
Naoki gave no reactions to the words of the two men. In his head, though, he was noting some of the words they were using. COMPs. Abel. Devil. And the rather rough looking man had made a reference to the other man being able to "come back" if he died. It was amazing the kind of things people talked about when they thought no one was listening.
None of this crossed Naoki's face as he continued to play his game. One misplaced movement of the joystick later, and Naoki found himself facing a "Game Over" screen. He grumbled to himself and reached into his wallet to grab another yen coin, only to slip and drop the whole thing. The coins went rolling across the tiled floor.
"Shit," Naoki whispered before bending over to pick up the coins he could. It had been intentional. All to make him look as natural as he could.
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Sept 3, 2010 18:18:35 GMT -5
Cain chuckled a bit at Kaido's words. One couldn't blame the man for what he was saying. Even Cain would have been floored had the former gang leader been aware something was going on with the new arrival. Even Cain couldn't be sure they were being watched and he wasn't willing to jump to that conclusion just yet. So far he was just someone to keep an eye on.
Kaido's shoulders had jerked and the figure on the screen had walked right into a bullet as the coins hit the floor, rolling and scattering every which way. He wasn't able to recover before his own screen read Game Over. He gave a string of unkind words under his breath before jerking up his head to glare at the teenager now recovering his change, the wallet propped up next to the joystick. Naoya looked down as one rolled against the geta he'd gone back to wearing recently due to the snow with a dull "thock" sound. He bent over and picked the coin up, walking over to the teenager as he recovered the last of the other coins, holding it out between his right pointer and middle finger.
"You might want to invest in a better wallet," Cain said. His expression was his standard smirk and there was nothing of it that could be read.
Given the mental give and take going on, not even directly observed (but likely suspected) by the two responsible, there were things Naoki might note. Cain hadn't so much looked at the scene after the coins scattered until one had hit his shoe. He hadn't jumped when they hit the floor, demonstrating either an awareness of everything that was going on to his side, or at best an uncanny awareness of his surroundings. The comment about the wallet wasn't notable on its own, but given the other possible observation it was likely he'd gotten a good look at it at some point.
About the only thing that threw a wrench into the whole thing was that for how aware he seemed like he must be, he hadn't stopped the other man from saying what he wa saying. He hadn't even seemed annoyed. Then again, one could almost too easily explain that in the silver-haired man's own attempts at seeming natural.
"He could get his money himself, Cain..." Kaido growled under his breath before refocusing on his game.
(OOC: Given their appearance (outside of anime design), their speaking of Japanese even with a plot language barrier doesn't even count on the radar of things worth note. XD)
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 3, 2010 19:06:15 GMT -5
Naoki looked up at the sound of the man's voice. He looked extremely grateful as Cain handed him the coin. "Oh, yeah, probably. Thanks."
He hadn't missed anything of what had happened. At the moment, he was correctly assuming that Cain was just as observant of what was going on with him as Naoki was of the situation with Cain. Cain hadn't so much as noted the fallen coins until one had hit his geta, but he had noted Naoki's wallet earlier. So he had obviously seen him.
However, Cain had made one vital mistake. He had allowed his companion to state his name. Naoki already had his suspicions about this group, but the other man's growled statement allowed Naoki to realize that these two were members of Abel's inner court. Specifically, this man was Abel's older brother, the one who would come back if you killed him, and then cause the curse to rebound on you. He would have to keep that in mind.
On the other hand, Cain's companion was just a normal human... Yet another thing he'd have to keep in mind.
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Sept 3, 2010 19:38:36 GMT -5
"Not at all," Cain stated in response to Naoki's words, his expression reamining
He didn't wait for another response. He walked back over to Kaido and glanced over his shoulder. His smirk widened a bit at the display on the screen. He'd seen better AI, but Kaido seemed to be having a bit of trouble with things. As things stood, the continued "normal" reactions had informed Cain that whoever the teenager really was, he was as aware of the give and take going on as he was. Kaido was, of course, still clueless.
Cain scanned the game for a few more moments. Well, if they were going to observe then a bit of advice wouldn't hurt. The man wasn't aware at the way a single corner of his lip turned up in a very slight increased smirk. For all he knew, it might work to his favor.
"You're going to die if you don't pay more attention to your surroundings," Cain reached over Kaido's shoulder and pointed at the screen, the tip of his finger touching a point where a monster had come up. Kaido managed to get his hand off the buttons long enough to smack Cain's hand away. Cain chuckled, "Well then, I'm not taking responsibility if you can't watch your own back."
The silver haired man walked over and lifted the bag Kaido had indicated earlier. If there was any reason for this teenager to be watching them, he doubted Kaido could hurt the situation more. He opened it and confirmed the contents before turning and heading towards the entrance. Kaido barely seemed aware of it. Cain rolled his eyes and looked back at Kaido.
"Everyone back home will worry if you aren't back by dark," he stated, before walking off.
Kaido continued to ignore him.
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 3, 2010 20:12:19 GMT -5
Naoki noted Cain's comments, and afforded himself a bit of a smirk when he was sure he wasn't looking toward him. If the man felt the need to say that, he was underestimating him a fair bit. Once Cain was out of the arcade, Naoki returned to focusing on his game... for about five seconds. He could tell Kaido was nowhere near as observant as Cain was, and so Naoki could intentionally throw his game. Once the game over screen came up, Naoki sighed and looked toward Kaido with a concerned look. He seemed to be debating something before standing up and going over to the machine next to Kaido.
"Uh, hey, do you mind if I sit here?" Naoki asked as he reached to pull the stool out enough so he could sit down.
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Sept 3, 2010 20:26:39 GMT -5
Kaido wasn't blind to his surroundings despite not doing a great job at showing it in light of the two that had been there before. He was aware that the kid had looked at him with a concerned expression. His hopes that the guy wouldn't come over and be a pest were shot as he stood up and walked over.
"It's a free country," Kaido said, the words a bit choppy due to his focus on the screen, "Just don't be a pest."
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 3, 2010 20:31:18 GMT -5
Naoki looked a bit put off by that, but he sat down anyways and put a single coin in the machine. He had been playing for a few moments before he finally spoke again.
"Who's Abel?" Naoki asked. "That guy who was bothering you mentioned someone called that."
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Sept 3, 2010 20:39:13 GMT -5
Naoki had timed it so that the question came as Kaido was digging into his pocket again. His hand slipped at the question, which felt a bit out of the blue, and he managed to jab himself in the upper thigh. He grunted, more annoyance coming through in pain, before he managed to dig out a coin. He was way off his game today, and Cain's earlier taunt hadn't helped. He didn't put the coin directly in, looking at Naoki with a rather critical glare. That question... so the guy had been eavesdropping?
"Just a guy I know," Kaido said. The unspoken subtext was louder than the words, with the tone warning Naoki it was none of his business.
That question had shot Kaido's observance of the situation into new levels. The guy had been paying far more attention than he'd realized. And he'd asked a question about Abel...? Had Cain been trying to tell him something before?
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 3, 2010 20:47:21 GMT -5
"Oh."
Naoki actually looked a fair bit intimidated by Kaido's expression and tone. His expression would show he was regretting sitting over there. He gave a small mumbled "Sorry" before going back to his game. It was actually a fair while before he asked anything again, and it was mumbled when he said it.
"That other guy's name was Cain, too, right? Isn't that from the Bible?" Naoki mumbled. He winced immediately after asking that, and one could see he was regretting asking that.
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Sept 3, 2010 20:53:06 GMT -5
Kaido's expression darkened as Naoki spoke again. He didn't answer immediately, focusing on the end of stage boss he was fighting. He hadn't even said that part very loud. That hadn't been part of the main conversation. He could tell this behavior, he'd seen it to various extent in turf wars. He was being seen as the weak link. And given what this guy was focusing on...?
"This isn't something you want to be getting involved in, trust me," he warned.
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 3, 2010 21:02:43 GMT -5
Naoki flinched again at Kaido's words. Of course, Naoki was already more involved than Kaido realized, but there was no reason to tell Kaido that. He'd already picked out the group's weak link.
"Is someone trying to kill you?" Naoki suggested. "Is that why you don't want to tell me? Because I'll get killed too if I know?"
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Sept 3, 2010 21:09:51 GMT -5
Alright, Kaido wasn't quite sure what to do with that. He'd thought for sure that this guy was trying to dig out information from him. How the hell he'd taken that and jumped to Kaido's life being in danger took a few minutes to sink in. His face had shown the confusion at the comment and there was a delay in his response as a result. He cleared out the current screen and turned to Naoki, only a bit of his focus on the game. Odds were he wouldn't save his character at this point even if an unlikely respawn happened.
"Look, I don't know who you are and I don't give a damn. If someone sent you to look into us, I can promise you'll have a better chance running from them then fighting us," Kaido glanced at the screen a minute before standing up. The game was still running, "This isn't some simple gang thing. Get out while you're ahead. Last warning."
He seemed to be getting ready to leave.
|
|
