Requiem 03: Calling
The encounter with Mitsuru yesterday notwithstanding, the rest of Thomas's day was fairly
peaceful. The night falls, and Minato and the Skull Man depart for whatever mission they're undertaking this evening. Yukari looks up as Thomas enters the
room from the upstairs - probably after scouring for clothes. "Evening!" She chirps cheerily. "How'd the meeting with Mitsuru
go?"
Thankfully, he did manage to find SOMETHING formal. It took a bit of scrounging, but yes, a suit. He
wasn't wearing it at the moment, though... "Oh, it went well..."
He moved down the short flight of stairs, a heavy 'thud' announcing each step, "Looks like
I'm supposed to be going to a party with her, a ball."
"Oh really?" Yukari chirps, leaning forward on the desk. "Hmmm...you don't strike me as
Mitsuru's type," she notes after a few seconds, "What's her angle?"
"Process of elimination," he says with a sigh... "She said that, even if I'm not
necessarily her kind of guy, I'm still better than the alternatives..."
"But hey, I'm not complaining. It gets me more information in the end." An a chance to be with
Mitsuru. Jackpot, indeed.
Yukari laughs and leans back on the desk, withdrawing a nailfile out of her desk and scoring it across her
fingers. "You're pretty on top of this, huh? You must've done this back home a lot."
"Haha," he rubs gently at the base of his neck, "Which, rub elbows with the upper crust, or
investigate monsters popping out of people's chests?"
"Oh, wait. No, they're generally the same thing, aren't they?" A joke to liven up the
evening. A distinct hunch weighed upon his shoulders- that this night wouldn't likely prove the most peaceful of evenings.
Yukari laughs at that. "I meant the investigating and stuff. You're a lot less direct than the
Boss." Minato's name remains conspicuously absent.
"Oh right, well..." His ass plants itself at the second step from the foot of the stairwell-
makeshift chair, "Often, being too direct means missing a lot of the subtle clues."
"The best way to pull information from a large group of people is to keep them casual, relaxed, and to
not get too confrontational. When a person is pushed into a corner, they get defensive."
"...And if you threaten someone, often they say what you want to hear to get out of the situation, but
then, that information may be false."
"I've found that the key is making people -WANT- to share information with you. It's much
easier for both parties, that way."
She thinks about this for a moment, rubbing her fingers against her chin. "Makes sense," she
decides after a moment, "But you're really going because it's a date with Mitsuru, aren't you?"
Her face splits into a wide grin. "I'm good at reading people too." She
confirms.
"I guess you could say that you'd make a pretty good investigator yourself, Yukari," a chuckle
accentuates the beginning of his sentence. "But even if you're on the money, there are other reasons, too!"
"So be honest with me..." Yukari leans forward, pointing her file down against the desk and
spinning it back and forth under her finger. The sound grates a tiny bit, but not so much that it gets on his nerves. "
Do you think this party's gonna get you any closer to your missing person?"
"After all, with Mitsuru, there's a vibe of 'watch, but if you touch, you lose an arm...'
And yeah, possibly," The cyborg's arms cross over his knees, a cold shiver creeps up his spine at the sound. Not as bad as nails on a
chalkboard, but getting there. "The last guy, the guard, worked at Mitsuru's family's company,
after all."
"I want to see if I can't find any leads there. The thing about the wealthy and powerful: Alcohol
is an indescriminate poison. It loosens the tongue of anyone who imbibes it."
"That's pretty wise...I never pegged you as that kinda guy." She gives a low whistle and
points the nail file at Thomas. "Do you think VitaTech has something to do with the Requiems?"
"Parties with the powerful usually involve booze, and I'm wondering what they have to say about all
this," Silence, for a moment, then he starts again, "It's altogether possible."
"Science is always testing the limits on what's possible and impossible. Who knows what's going
on in those labs, really?"
"I mean, for all we know, they could be spawning floating, tendril brains or miniature power cells in
the form of an adorable housepet."
She nods and sits back up, a frown crossing her face. "Yeah," she agrees, "But I hope not.
It'd be terrible if Mitsuru got caught up in this stuff because of her family."
"Yeah. If she's innocent, then it'd be horrible to get her involved with the shitstorm
that'd follo- wait, what do you mean 'that kind of guy?" He tilts his head mildly, an inquisitive, perhaps mischevious smile on his
features.
"Well, you know. Insightful, intelligent, poetic...that kind of guy." Yukari flashes him a wide
grin. "I figured you to be a nose-in-the-book kinda guy."
"Hey! Behind this pasty, limbless, yet amazingly well toned shell beats the heart of an
intellectual!" Thomas snickers, "I mean, we've all got our masks, right?"
"Mine just happens to be that of a Chess Boxer."
"A chess boxer, huh? That's a heck of a persona," Yukari teases, "What other secrets are
you hiding behind your mask, Tommygun?"
"Ahh, that's for me to know and you to find out!"
She sticks her tongue out at him. "Nyeh!"
He responds by, almost, biting his thumb. But the fact that his arms were made of metal quickly trumped that
idea. Instead, he just harumphed, defeated in mid-retort, "That's why I don't use those bloggers, you know!"
"It's no fun to know what people want other people to see. It's what they're trying to hide
that's more interesting, and often more fun to explore."
"Hmm. I wonder what Yukari's really thinking right now? Heh... Nah, I wouldn't pry into people
I like. Now, Boss and Headphones, maybe..."
"Boss less, Headphones more."
She looks away at that. "Good luck, then," she says quietly. Her whole demeanor, quite
predictably, shifts, and she goes back to staring out the window.
"Well, nobody's impervious."
"No. Wait. There are SOME PEOPLE who are."
Here's looking at you, Plastic Man. "Even then, nothing can remain a closed book. I can tell he can
relate with others, it's just a matter of getting a foot in the door."
"Anyway, let's stop talking about him. I haven't asked how your day went yet,
Yuka."
"Like?" She asks, sounding vaguely interested, but at the same time quite....distant. She looks up
at him. "Oh...you know...I took phone calls...I
handled filing...the usual..." She still sounds incredibly distant, though she does smile after a
moment. "The boring stuff nobody else wants to do."
"And I convinced Fuuka to come over to Aki's for a drink with me, so that's a personal little
victory."
"Haha, there's the ticket, though. Gotta get someone obsessive compulsive enough to clean on their
own... Fuuka's a hard one to get out of the house, I understand?"
"Heh, yeah. She seems the type to enjoy a quiet evening in front of a warm fireplace with a book and a
cat."
She nods. "Almost impossible. She's really mousy, and shy...like me if I were nothing like
me." She makes a face.
Another snicker. He seems to have brightened back up as well, not that he ever really dipped. Just a bit,
when a reference to 'him' slipped, "Well, I'm glad she opened up to you, Yukari."
"Actually...I think it's because of you," she amends, leaning forward across the desk. The
pink outfit really accents her figure quite well, if one was looking at such things. "She was talking about your conversation with her, and
"We all need someone to connect with. That's how people warm up to each other, after all. Gotta put
some umph into it sometimes, but in the end, it's as good for her as it is for you... Oh?"
I think it really cheered her up to be treated like part of the team instead of the lab
assistant."
...Was he talking about relationships or -relationships?- Some of those word choices were... questionable in
meaning, "Oh, yeah. I really do value her work. He's really great with her hands, you know?"
Yukari's eyebrows skyrocket, and she starts giggling uncontrollably at the poor choice of
phrasing.
"She comes up with things I'd never dream u- What? What're we laughing about?" He smirks.
Poor choices, or ones right on the money?
Who knows?
She finally calms down and waves the thought away with her free hand. "It's nothing...heh...so hey,
are you going out tonight, or are you taking a breather before your big date, stud?"
"Heh, I'm not sure! I don't think any amount of rest will get me ready for Skadi and the rest
of Valhalla tomorrow, so if there was anything you wanted to do..."
"Not really..." She amends, "I have to stay here all night."
"Oh, well that must be a real downer on your social life."
"Pffft. I make up for it by active day-life!" Yukari flashes him a grin.
"Hah, I bet you don't often see attractive young ladies drinking barside at nine in the
morning."
"Who says 'attractive young ladies' these days?" She jokes.
The phone rings, and Yukari picks it up with a cheery 'Twilight Detective Agency!'
'I do, sometimes...' mumbled, his thumbs twiddling with one another.
The voice on the other end of the phone is that of a woman. Kindly, motherly, producing a vibe that says
both 'You knew me your entire life' and 'What was that just now on your computer screen?'
"Hello? Is my Tommy there?"
"Uh..." Yukari looks up at Tommy and holds up the phone. "It's for
you."
"Huhm?"
"Uh. Well. Unless that thing's steel reinforced... Do you got any speakerphone?"
Yukari taps the speakerphone with a bit of an (exaggeratedly) suffering sigh.
He rises with a grunt, moving closer to the phone, the desk, and the woman seated behind it,
"Hello?"
"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the phone responds, "Is that you, Thomas?"
"Mom?"
"Oh, you're quite the ladykiller, having a woman answer the phone for you. Didn't I teach you
better man-" "Mom, she's the office's secretary, it's her job to-" "Nonsense! I didn't raise you to not pick up the phone
for a lady!"
Yukari leans back, simply content to enjoy and be amused by it.
No more embarassment necessary this time, thanks. He cautiously lifts the reciever and switches off the
speaker, "Yes, I know, mom. No, I haven't unpacked everything yet. Yes, yes. I saw where you put my-
"No! Of course I've been keeping them clean! What? Margie did -WHAT!?" Crack. Shatter. The
reciever is snapped in twine at the neck.
...He looks sheepishly at the mass of plastic and circuitry. His cell phone rings. Slide, click,
"Hello?"
Yukari chuckles at the phone's destruction.
"...Yes, I broke another one. No, no, I got this one, I'm getting paid now too... Tell her I said
congratulations, and please call on my cell from now on..."
"Alright, alright. Love you mom. Bye."
Click.
"Big news?"
He sighs, setting down the mess of a phone, "Sorry about that... My little sister just got herself a
scholarship."
"...Among other things. Sorry about the phone! I promise I'll pay for it!"
"It's okay," Yukari confirms, "Congratulations on your little sister's
scholarship."
"Yeah. They're all really excited."
"Kinda makes me miss home a bit, they're throwing a party for her. Did you grow up around here,
Yuka?"
"Yeah...most of the people who live here grew up here. A lot of families moved here when it was first
founded..."
"Britannia was promising lots of jobs for people to work, but it wound up basically getting bought out
by Mitsuru's uncle."
"Heh, isn't that always how it is, though?"
"So Elevens like me," she continues, making a face, "Can hang out here without fear of
getting bullied, because the town is basically an Eleven province anyway."
"Yeah. It's one thing I like about the place. You don't see the Ghettos, or anything like that.
Everyone lives together peacefully."
"Well. More or less."
She nods.
"Even as dangerous as this city gets, it's still better than a lot of places in Japan...sorry, in
Area Eleven."
"No, no. Japan, Area Eleven, it depends on what you want to call it."
"I mean, they're both names for the same place, right? I call it Area Eleven, you call it Japan,
but if we're talking about the same thing, then there's no reason to fuss over it."
"Compared to most Britannians, you're okay, Tommygun." She offers another grin. "You
should head out. You're burning the midnight oil!"
"Heh, you're probably right! I've got myself a case to work on!"
"And yeah, we've all got our nations, right? It's perfectly natural to feel pride for it, and
to want to protect it."
"But, that being said..." He pulls toward the door. A flapping of fabric signals the retrieval of
his jacket, "Britannia's my country, so I'll protect it."
"Or maybe, to be more accurate, protect the innocent people who call Britannia home, native or not. See
you!"
The encounter with Mitsuru yesterday notwithstanding, the rest of Thomas's day was fairly
peaceful. The night falls, and Minato and the Skull Man depart for whatever mission they're undertaking this evening. Yukari looks up as Thomas enters the
room from the upstairs - probably after scouring for clothes. "Evening!" She chirps cheerily. "How'd the meeting with Mitsuru
go?"
Thankfully, he did manage to find SOMETHING formal. It took a bit of scrounging, but yes, a suit. He
wasn't wearing it at the moment, though... "Oh, it went well..."
He moved down the short flight of stairs, a heavy 'thud' announcing each step, "Looks like
I'm supposed to be going to a party with her, a ball."
"Oh really?" Yukari chirps, leaning forward on the desk. "Hmmm...you don't strike me as
Mitsuru's type," she notes after a few seconds, "What's her angle?"
"Process of elimination," he says with a sigh... "She said that, even if I'm not
necessarily her kind of guy, I'm still better than the alternatives..."
"But hey, I'm not complaining. It gets me more information in the end." An a chance to be with
Mitsuru. Jackpot, indeed.
Yukari laughs and leans back on the desk, withdrawing a nailfile out of her desk and scoring it across her
fingers. "You're pretty on top of this, huh? You must've done this back home a lot."
"Haha," he rubs gently at the base of his neck, "Which, rub elbows with the upper crust, or
investigate monsters popping out of people's chests?"
"Oh, wait. No, they're generally the same thing, aren't they?" A joke to liven up the
evening. A distinct hunch weighed upon his shoulders- that this night wouldn't likely prove the most peaceful of evenings.
Yukari laughs at that. "I meant the investigating and stuff. You're a lot less direct than the
Boss." Minato's name remains conspicuously absent.
"Oh right, well..." His ass plants itself at the second step from the foot of the stairwell-
makeshift chair, "Often, being too direct means missing a lot of the subtle clues."
"The best way to pull information from a large group of people is to keep them casual, relaxed, and to
not get too confrontational. When a person is pushed into a corner, they get defensive."
"...And if you threaten someone, often they say what you want to hear to get out of the situation, but
then, that information may be false."
"I've found that the key is making people -WANT- to share information with you. It's much
easier for both parties, that way."
She thinks about this for a moment, rubbing her fingers against her chin. "Makes sense," she
decides after a moment, "But you're really going because it's a date with Mitsuru, aren't you?"
Her face splits into a wide grin. "I'm good at reading people too." She
confirms.
"I guess you could say that you'd make a pretty good investigator yourself, Yukari," a chuckle
accentuates the beginning of his sentence. "But even if you're on the money, there are other reasons, too!"
"So be honest with me..." Yukari leans forward, pointing her file down against the desk and
spinning it back and forth under her finger. The sound grates a tiny bit, but not so much that it gets on his nerves. "
Do you think this party's gonna get you any closer to your missing person?"
"After all, with Mitsuru, there's a vibe of 'watch, but if you touch, you lose an arm...'
And yeah, possibly," The cyborg's arms cross over his knees, a cold shiver creeps up his spine at the sound. Not as bad as nails on a
chalkboard, but getting there. "The last guy, the guard, worked at Mitsuru's family's company,
after all."
"I want to see if I can't find any leads there. The thing about the wealthy and powerful: Alcohol
is an indescriminate poison. It loosens the tongue of anyone who imbibes it."
"That's pretty wise...I never pegged you as that kinda guy." She gives a low whistle and
points the nail file at Thomas. "Do you think VitaTech has something to do with the Requiems?"
"Parties with the powerful usually involve booze, and I'm wondering what they have to say about all
this," Silence, for a moment, then he starts again, "It's altogether possible."
"Science is always testing the limits on what's possible and impossible. Who knows what's going
on in those labs, really?"
"I mean, for all we know, they could be spawning floating, tendril brains or miniature power cells in
the form of an adorable housepet."
She nods and sits back up, a frown crossing her face. "Yeah," she agrees, "But I hope not.
It'd be terrible if Mitsuru got caught up in this stuff because of her family."
"Yeah. If she's innocent, then it'd be horrible to get her involved with the shitstorm
that'd follo- wait, what do you mean 'that kind of guy?" He tilts his head mildly, an inquisitive, perhaps mischevious smile on his
features.
"Well, you know. Insightful, intelligent, poetic...that kind of guy." Yukari flashes him a wide
grin. "I figured you to be a nose-in-the-book kinda guy."
"Hey! Behind this pasty, limbless, yet amazingly well toned shell beats the heart of an
intellectual!" Thomas snickers, "I mean, we've all got our masks, right?"
"Mine just happens to be that of a Chess Boxer."
"A chess boxer, huh? That's a heck of a persona," Yukari teases, "What other secrets are
you hiding behind your mask, Tommygun?"
"Ahh, that's for me to know and you to find out!"
She sticks her tongue out at him. "Nyeh!"
He responds by, almost, biting his thumb. But the fact that his arms were made of metal quickly trumped that
idea. Instead, he just harumphed, defeated in mid-retort, "That's why I don't use those bloggers, you know!"
"It's no fun to know what people want other people to see. It's what they're trying to hide
that's more interesting, and often more fun to explore."
"Hmm. I wonder what Yukari's really thinking right now? Heh... Nah, I wouldn't pry into people
I like. Now, Boss and Headphones, maybe..."
"Boss less, Headphones more."
She looks away at that. "Good luck, then," she says quietly. Her whole demeanor, quite
predictably, shifts, and she goes back to staring out the window.
"Well, nobody's impervious."
"No. Wait. There are SOME PEOPLE who are."
Here's looking at you, Plastic Man. "Even then, nothing can remain a closed book. I can tell he can
relate with others, it's just a matter of getting a foot in the door."
"Anyway, let's stop talking about him. I haven't asked how your day went yet,
Yuka."
"Like?" She asks, sounding vaguely interested, but at the same time quite....distant. She looks up
at him. "Oh...you know...I took phone calls...I
handled filing...the usual..." She still sounds incredibly distant, though she does smile after a
moment. "The boring stuff nobody else wants to do."
"And I convinced Fuuka to come over to Aki's for a drink with me, so that's a personal little
victory."
"Haha, there's the ticket, though. Gotta get someone obsessive compulsive enough to clean on their
own... Fuuka's a hard one to get out of the house, I understand?"
"Heh, yeah. She seems the type to enjoy a quiet evening in front of a warm fireplace with a book and a
cat."
She nods. "Almost impossible. She's really mousy, and shy...like me if I were nothing like
me." She makes a face.
Another snicker. He seems to have brightened back up as well, not that he ever really dipped. Just a bit,
when a reference to 'him' slipped, "Well, I'm glad she opened up to you, Yukari."
"Actually...I think it's because of you," she amends, leaning forward across the desk. The
pink outfit really accents her figure quite well, if one was looking at such things. "She was talking about your conversation with her, and
"We all need someone to connect with. That's how people warm up to each other, after all. Gotta put
some umph into it sometimes, but in the end, it's as good for her as it is for you... Oh?"
I think it really cheered her up to be treated like part of the team instead of the lab
assistant."
...Was he talking about relationships or -relationships?- Some of those word choices were... questionable in
meaning, "Oh, yeah. I really do value her work. He's really great with her hands, you know?"
Yukari's eyebrows skyrocket, and she starts giggling uncontrollably at the poor choice of
phrasing.
"She comes up with things I'd never dream u- What? What're we laughing about?" He smirks.
Poor choices, or ones right on the money?
Who knows?
She finally calms down and waves the thought away with her free hand. "It's nothing...heh...so hey,
are you going out tonight, or are you taking a breather before your big date, stud?"
"Heh, I'm not sure! I don't think any amount of rest will get me ready for Skadi and the rest
of Valhalla tomorrow, so if there was anything you wanted to do..."
"Not really..." She amends, "I have to stay here all night."
"Oh, well that must be a real downer on your social life."
"Pffft. I make up for it by active day-life!" Yukari flashes him a grin.
"Hah, I bet you don't often see attractive young ladies drinking barside at nine in the
morning."
"Who says 'attractive young ladies' these days?" She jokes.
The phone rings, and Yukari picks it up with a cheery 'Twilight Detective Agency!'
'I do, sometimes...' mumbled, his thumbs twiddling with one another.
The voice on the other end of the phone is that of a woman. Kindly, motherly, producing a vibe that says
both 'You knew me your entire life' and 'What was that just now on your computer screen?'
"Hello? Is my Tommy there?"
"Uh..." Yukari looks up at Tommy and holds up the phone. "It's for
you."
"Huhm?"
"Uh. Well. Unless that thing's steel reinforced... Do you got any speakerphone?"
Yukari taps the speakerphone with a bit of an (exaggeratedly) suffering sigh.
He rises with a grunt, moving closer to the phone, the desk, and the woman seated behind it,
"Hello?"
"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the phone responds, "Is that you, Thomas?"
"Mom?"
"Oh, you're quite the ladykiller, having a woman answer the phone for you. Didn't I teach you
better man-" "Mom, she's the office's secretary, it's her job to-" "Nonsense! I didn't raise you to not pick up the phone
for a lady!"
Yukari leans back, simply content to enjoy and be amused by it.
No more embarassment necessary this time, thanks. He cautiously lifts the reciever and switches off the
speaker, "Yes, I know, mom. No, I haven't unpacked everything yet. Yes, yes. I saw where you put my-
"No! Of course I've been keeping them clean! What? Margie did -WHAT!?" Crack. Shatter. The
reciever is snapped in twine at the neck.
...He looks sheepishly at the mass of plastic and circuitry. His cell phone rings. Slide, click,
"Hello?"
Yukari chuckles at the phone's destruction.
"...Yes, I broke another one. No, no, I got this one, I'm getting paid now too... Tell her I said
congratulations, and please call on my cell from now on..."
"Alright, alright. Love you mom. Bye."
Click.
"Big news?"
He sighs, setting down the mess of a phone, "Sorry about that... My little sister just got herself a
scholarship."
"...Among other things. Sorry about the phone! I promise I'll pay for it!"
"It's okay," Yukari confirms, "Congratulations on your little sister's
scholarship."
"Yeah. They're all really excited."
"Kinda makes me miss home a bit, they're throwing a party for her. Did you grow up around here,
Yuka?"
"Yeah...most of the people who live here grew up here. A lot of families moved here when it was first
founded..."
"Britannia was promising lots of jobs for people to work, but it wound up basically getting bought out
by Mitsuru's uncle."
"Heh, isn't that always how it is, though?"
"So Elevens like me," she continues, making a face, "Can hang out here without fear of
getting bullied, because the town is basically an Eleven province anyway."
"Yeah. It's one thing I like about the place. You don't see the Ghettos, or anything like that.
Everyone lives together peacefully."
"Well. More or less."
She nods.
"Even as dangerous as this city gets, it's still better than a lot of places in Japan...sorry, in
Area Eleven."
"No, no. Japan, Area Eleven, it depends on what you want to call it."
"I mean, they're both names for the same place, right? I call it Area Eleven, you call it Japan,
but if we're talking about the same thing, then there's no reason to fuss over it."
"Compared to most Britannians, you're okay, Tommygun." She offers another grin. "You
should head out. You're burning the midnight oil!"
"Heh, you're probably right! I've got myself a case to work on!"
"And yeah, we've all got our nations, right? It's perfectly natural to feel pride for it, and
to want to protect it."
"But, that being said..." He pulls toward the door. A flapping of fabric signals the retrieval of
his jacket, "Britannia's my country, so I'll protect it."
"Or maybe, to be more accurate, protect the innocent people who call Britannia home, native or not. See
you!"