Paid in Full [P, Mission]

Age : 29 Posts : 37

Don’t hold me up now, I can stand my own ground…

It had been a very long journey for the orange-haired youth as she trekked through Hi no Kuni, finally on her way out of the place after the prolonged amount of time she had spent here; much too long for her liking. That being said, she had met an interesting boy here that she couldn’t quite shake from her mind, somebody with black hair and captivating amber eyes. It made her feel guilty that she was leaving this country for now, but she would be back. There was something about this place that she both loved and hated, plus, she owed it to Suzaku to return. As she walked down the strangely silent road out of the country, she sighed softly and started to check through her rucksack, bringing it round to the front of her body and rummaging through it. Huh… she was short on tinned food, more so than she thought. It wasn’t a pleasant realisation, because now she realised that it was a necessity for her to stop off somewhere before she left Hi no Kuni in order to refill her supplies and the like. It stressed her out enough having to deal with one of her own kind in a basic conversation, let alone having to interact with a whole crowd of them in one way or another. That aside, the memories of her last ‘mission’ with that utterly barmy environmentalist were still fresh in her mind, and due to it being inside of Konoha at the time, it had stressed her out greatly. Also remembering the fact that she had ruined a wonderful pair of sandals made her very depressed, very much so, and it reminded her that she needed to purchase a new pair since she was now wearing some very old ones at present. They would look perfectly fine to the normal eye at a glance, and in fact made out of good material, but to her she thought they were tacky and old. The ones that had been covered in an unearthly concoction of things had been hastily thrown in the bin.

So, unfortunately for the self-proclaimed misanthrope, there was now a literal necessity to go into a village on the way out of the country and buy some food in order to sustain herself for a longer amount of time. By her estimate, she had enough thus far to last for a few meals, but not enough to take her safely into another country. She had played the whole ‘going into the wild’ role and didn’t like it very much, so she liked to have some earthly comforts at least; like a warm meal of some kind. It wasn’t great… but it was nutritious and kept her going. And all her fine clothes helped her live a more privileged life when considering what a traveller should normally look like while they hopped from country to country. Yuzuki knew of a small village up ahead, right on the border of the Fire Country, that was reasonably quiet most of the time due to the sheer size of the place; it was barely even a village, more like a small cluster of houses and a tiny market. But they sold basic travel essentials, as most of their custom came from travelling shinobi on missions or otherwise. They weren’t typically nosy people as long as money came their way, so this wasn’t a place that the orange-haired girl could particularly flaunt her strength and take what she wanted… unfortunately.

She only had to walk a little further until she rounded a bend and a small signpost was planted in the ground on the side of the road, pointing off down a small beaten earth track to lead to the village in question. Its name was Chiisai, which was rather apt considering its rough translation into ‘small’, or as the villagers liked to say, ‘quaint’. She turned off the main road out of Hi no Kuni and down the small track, soon able to pick out the little thatched roofs on the not-so-distant horizon. As she entered the little village, she was most displeased to find that it was rather busy today and full of life. Banners and streamers were hung around the town, covering houses and the market stalls as they were obviously celebrating some kind of festival. Civilians and shinobi mingled in the market square, buying wares from merchants who were selling things for obscene prices on this particular day, for the spirit of the festival no doubt, and because people were happy and merry; they didn’t tend to care about money when there was a suitable distraction in place. A particularly unhappy girl moved through the crowds and examined the numerous stalls, most laden with festival decorations, lanterns, and nice things that were heaving with people around them. Near the end of the market stalls themselves, a singular man was flogging things for travellers, and it was here that Yuzuki needed to be. She managed to find space in amongst all the other people meshed in tight there, and her indigo orbs quickly scanned over labels and items, finding a small section of canned goods that were ideal for travelling. “Two cans of the dried beef, a can of stew stock and a can of vegetables.” She requested from the stall’s owner, due to being unable to select them for herself with how many people were packed in tight around her.

“Travelling far, are we?” The stall’s owner asked in a very loud, boisterous tone as he packed up the cans into a sturdy-looking bag, appearing to be making mental calculations for the wares themselves. His current customer looked at him long and hard, wondering why he was being so inquisitive when, typically, the people here just took her money and let her go on her way. But, he seemed happy nevertheless and didn’t appear to mean much harm. “Not sure yet. I’ll be deciding when I’ve left Hi no Kuni.” She stated in a somewhat clipped tone, having to raise her voice to be heard over the loud, frantic voices of people around her. Apparently the tone of her voice didn’t reach the vendor, as he remained as happy and chatty as ever, beginning babble on about the festival that was taking place and how it always brought so much tourism and wealth to their village. ‘Just give me the damn price and hand over the bag.’ She thought, growing more and more agitated by how she was being pushed and shoved at this point, as well as being unable to escape the seller’s overly loud, obnoxious voice. “Alright young lady, that’s… let’s see here…” He finally got down to business, it seemed, as he counted on his fingers once more and then held out his hand towards her, palm first, obviously seeking her money. “1200 Ryo, thank you.” His current patron was driven to the point of distraction by the irritating people flanking her left and right, and his demeanour that she opened her purse and slapped the notes into his hand, taking her bag from him and shoving her way out onto the quieter side of the street, set back from the market stall. It was only when she had stepped away from her impending headache that she thought back to the stall itself and the sign positioned in front of the canned foods, stating that each can was 200 Ryo. She had only bought four cans, which would total up to 800 Ryo. That only meant one thing…

He had robbed her of 400 Ryo.

Her jaw gaped open at the realisation, and by this point it was impossible for her to fight her way back inside the mass of people interested in the stalls around the travel merchant’s stall. She slowly closed her mouth and gritted her teeth, hand clasping tight around the bag of over-priced goods she had just bought. She wasn’t going to just take this act of injustice when she was actually trying to be a good citizen, and had put up with the immense, horrible din of this pathetic festival around her just to be law-abiding. Not a chance. She seated herself on a bench opposite the market square, indigo eyes seemingly darker and fixed on the place where the travelling stall should be located, waiting, and waiting, for her chance…

I don’t need your help now, you will let me down, down, down…

Age : 29 Posts : 37

Don’t hold me up now, I can stand my own ground…

Daytime slowly dwindled into night, and yet the orange-haired girl sat on the bench hadn’t moved a muscle. She simply sat there, hand clasped tight around the plastic bag of canned food she had bought for a small fortune when she could have got them for free if she so wished. Not through legal means, of course, but such was her ability as a Nukenin that wasn’t affiliated with any village that she could assert this from time to time to get what she wanted. Especially since more often than not, buying things from a stall properly meant that she would have to interact and make small talk with the stall’s owner. It was entirely insufferable, and she tried to avoid this as often as possible. But the one time she had actually made an effort to be good since being in the Fire Country, she had been fobbed off massively. The longer she had sat in her position as the day whittled away, she had seen people being put in a similar position to her. The cheery merchant managed to be so kind (to her, an utter blithering idiot) to his customers that they didn’t realise that he had robbed them blind of at least 400 Ryo with a charming smile and sent them on their way. Not many people even noticed or cared, and simply put it down to a mistake on their part or his part. But she could see how some individuals, the more scrupulous of the bunch, noticed that they had lost more money than they had bargained for when they went to buy supposedly cheap travelling supplies. Their faces twisted with realisation and they turned to talk to their companion, to talk it over, before they narrowed their eyes at the stall while they went on their way. While yes, they had been savvy enough to notice that they had been robbed, they didn’t have the conviction or the patience to wait out the mad rush that currently surrounded the stall. But the orange-haired girl did. She had both in abundance, especially since she was being wronged while she was trying to be a law-abiding criminal for once.

As the sun started to set on that day, the visitors to the small village started to flock away to either stay at nearby inns, or to continue on their way out of the Fire Country, or further into it. Everyone but Yuzuki and the stall merchants had gone on their merry way. The man in question that she was waiting oh-so patiently for was talking to his colleagues and holding up a very large wad of cash that he had made during the day, lauding it over everyone else around him. Some were shocked, and went to speak to him about how he managed to make so much money, while others rolled their eyes and left him to his pathetic boasting. They all knew what he was like. It was only the guest merchants, those that travelled around and set up their stalls at these festivals, that didn’t and were astonished by how this man had managed to make at least double what they did. All the town merchants knew the man well, and they all despised him. On normal market days, he was honest and actually made a decent wage that everyone else did, there or there abouts. But for specific festivals, he was always sneaky enough to put this plan into action; which involved taking advantage of the mad rush to take more money than was actually owed for the goods he was selling. Being so close to the stall merchants, the orange-haired girl was able to overhear their conversations if she strained hard enough to listen. “Ugh, he does this every damn time… just because he never normally does well at festivals like we do. I swear, the reason why this place is declining is because of him.” An older woman said venomously to a younger one, presumably some relation to her due to how both looked to be quite alike. “Yeah, I take it that you heard how he doesn’t pay the full fee for his pitch here? He never does. It’s because he has shady dealings with the mayor. He has links all over the place, and those links are ones that the mayor likes very much.” The younger woman physically spat on the ground having finished her rant, watching with narrowed eyes as the man in question was swanning off with his wad of money and the numerous people he employed to do the hard work of dismantling and transporting his stall and merchandise. Both women packed up their things and made their way in the opposite direction, leaving an old man and his son presumably to tidy up their things. Judging by their scathing looks and numerous curses leaving them, they too weren’t overly keen on the man.

“… Riku doesn’t have get on mah nerves.” The old man had a rather thick accent and raspy voice, accentuated by how he was wearing dentures that made him whistle on ‘s’ sounds. “You’re tellin’ me, pops. Freakin’ bastard manages to get away with too much for it to be natural.” His son responded in an accent just as thick, but without the raspy undertones and whistles on his ‘s’ sounds. So now the irritating man had a name, given by the older man of the two; Riku. “Him and his fancy house up on that hill.” The old man slammed a trunk shut after he had packed it full of the wares he had been selling, obviously resentful of the fact that such a horrible individual had managed to bag a nice house in a nice spot within their town. Both men finished packing up and left just as the skies were turning a dark bluish colour, signifying the coming of night over the small village. All that remained in the market square itself were a few empty shells of larger stalls that were presumably being left to be packed up at a later date, and a lone orange-haired girl innocently swinging her legs where she sat on a bench. Deciding that she had stayed here long enough, she slowly got to her feet and cracked her neck to both sides, taking a deep breath and exhaling it in a long sigh. She really hated having to do something like this, especially to an individual who was by all means a civilian and not a person who could defend himself nor do anything about what she was planning to do. That wasn’t to say that she was wishing to kill the man. No, that would be too harsh and it would get her found out if she didn’t do it cleanly enough. Her confidence in her skills to assassinate somebody weren’t up to par, and instead she would do something that she could be sneaky about without worrying too much.

Her aim was to break into the home of this man named Riku and steal what he had that seemed particularly valuable, while also taking back the money he had robbed from her. Well… and all the rest of the cash he had made for that day. It would come in very handy for her, and it would be able to feed her terrible habit of buying/ stealing fine clothing. Due to her previous visits to this small village, she knew where the hill was and she knew how to get there. That wasn’t to say that she would rush, not by any means. She had a long time until it would be safe for her to attempt to break into the house, at least another four or five hours, which, she estimated, placed it at around two o’clock in the morning for the break-in.

Luckily for her (and rather unlucky for her target), she had an abundance of patience when it came to revenge.

I don’t need your help now, you will let me down, down, down…

Age : 29 Posts : 37

Don’t hold me up now, I can stand my own ground…

Due to the sheer size of the town, or rather, the sheer lack of size, Yuzuki managed to reach the hill rather quickly. It was towards the rear of the town, and was one of the most revered places for the most wealthy to aspire to getting a house on, or around it. Her indigo eyes flashed around the surroundings, taking everything in and seeing who was around at this point. Nobody she could see. It was getting late, after all, and families would have probably eaten their dinners and were starting to wind down for the night. They would be complacent. And most importantly, they wouldn’t hear her when she was being stealthy. Numerous small shrubs and other planted trees were gathered in a small outcrop at the bottom of the hill, and this was where she took refuge; crouching in amongst the undergrowth with her eyes scanning her surroundings. Up at the top of the hill, a single house had been built and it appeared to be rather new. Not only that, but it was immensely gaudy and over-the-top. She guessed that this was her target, considering the houses built at the base of the hill were nowhere near this singular house in pride of place above the town. She couldn’t help but think about where the mayor’s house was, and why they had allowed the grandest house to be built by nobody more than a petty merchant that liked power far too much considering his social standing. There was probably a lot more about this place that she didn’t understand, and she wasn’t bothered about this in the slightest. All she wanted to do was accomplish what she had come here to do, and get out of this damn place as fast as possible so that she wouldn’t be caught; nor would anybody know it was her that had done this. When her knees started to hurt from the crouched position, she slowly lowered herself down into a sitting one instead, legs crossing as she leant forward to examine the house itself.

From this distance, it was difficult to know many specifics about the place. But she was only looking for general things. There was a white door at the front of the building, with three white-paned windows overlooking the town on the lower level; one on the far left, with two on the right of the door. Due to the way in which the house had been built, she noticed that it was on a slant, with its right side facing the town more than the left. It was also presumably due to the way in which the top of the hill levelled out. As such, she could see the windows down one side of the house (excluding the front of it), and the both chimneys where they protruded above the house by four metres or so. Was there really any need for such large chimneys? The more she looked at the property, the more she wanted to start snickering about how it appeared. It was obvious that the owner had wanted to build it as a means of saying ‘Look at me, I’m so damn rich that I can afford all of this and the foundations to build on top of a hill’. It was any wonder that the whole place hadn’t fallen down. By the looks of things, the people who had been tasked with building the place had been expected to build into the side of the hill itself in order to create the foundations in that way. And to say that the foundations looks shoddy were an understatement. They were a mess, and obviously a desperate addition to make sure that the whole place didn’t go tumbling backwards away from the town. The ex-princess buried her face into her palm as she realised that not only would she have to contend with the typical ‘Door or window’ question of how to break in, but she would have to be careful not to send the whole property down the damn hill. ‘He might be clever enough to swindle money out of his customers, but he’s not clever enough to know where he shouldn’t have had his house built.’ She thought to herself with an inward groan, shaking her head slowly as she settled there for the next few hours or so, when she was sure that everyone in the area would be asleep, or far too tired to notice the quietly suspicious sounds of a girl breaking into a jackass’s house. Judging by the popular opinion of the town, however, she wouldn’t be surprised if everyone cheered her on while she got her revenge on Riku. It would be just her luck if she managed to disturb the mayor of the town, who, by all accounts, was very friendly with the man who managed to con everyday citizens and travellers out of their money on a daily basis.

As the hours ticked by, she became aware of how the chimneys of surrounding properties began to stop excreting a long trail of smoke, and lights started to be turned out as families went to sleep. The last household to settle down for the night seemed to be Riku’s, as at least three hours later than she had set up camp in the undergrowth, the lights had only just been turned out and the curtains were drawn. She waited for what seemed to be an eternity longer, as she didn’t wish to enter the house while the family inside were still settling down for sleep and therefore draw attention to herself as she robbed the place. Finally, when she felt like it would be safe to start approaching, she got to her feet slowly and quietly, beginning to make her way up the hill on the grassy areas as opposed to the crunchy gravel pathway. Her sandaled feet barely made a sound, perhaps only a gentle whistle as she moved through the grass and up to the obnoxious house on the top of the hill. She stopped at the front of the property, crouching down beneath a window before slowly peeking inside to notice that the entire place was in darkness. Feeling encouraged, she approached the front door and drew out a single senbon from her Medical equipment, using it as a method to pick the lock that was separating her from the money she had been robbed of. She finally managed to prise the stubborn lock open with nothing more than a gentle clicking sound, which made the door swing inwards slowly; granting her access.

The girl moved inside with light steps, closing the door behind her silently as she moved into the main living space of the property. The décor was just as tasteless as the building itself. It was obvious that the owner had just spent obscene amounts of money on kitting out the space just because he could, not because it matched or it looked tasteful. Large, round golden vases were scattered on numerous jade coffee tables (the vases being empty), with the odd picture in a large diamond frame accompanying them. She saw the man that she was after, Riku, pictured with a very sad-looking woman who appeared to be at least ten years his junior. And thus, he had married a trophy wife. No sign of children were present in the house, nor in the pictures that were positioned around the living space. No wonder the man was able to spend so much money on such pathetic things. Shaking her head in a disapproving manner, Yuzuki opened up her rucksack and started to pile the expensive decorations into it, being careful not to make a sound. She took a golden vase, some ivory figurines, a set of jade coasters, fine bone china, solid silver monkey figures, and numerous other things before she ran out of room in her rucksack. But it was still more than enough to flog on the black market and get a pretty penny for. And last, but not least, she started searching for the money that her target had made during the day. She couldn’t find it after scouring the living area and kitchen, and she even checked the bathroom just in case he kept money in a bizarre place. Nothing. It seemed like she would have to go upstairs in order to find it, which made her grimace, but it had to be done. This man had to be taught a true lesson. She made her way up the lavishly made marble spiral staircase with a golden handrail, and into a small, narrow corridor fitted with ebony floorboards with the walls being painted a tacky magenta. She checked each room she came across, finding nothing that she was looking for. The only room she was faced with at last was the master bedroom, which she entered with great caution.

Riku was fast asleep in a grand four-poster bed, sprawled out and leaving little to no room for his wife to sleep. She was twitching nervously that almost signalled that she was awake, but was breathing softly with her eyelids flickering slightly which indicated that she too was in a state of deep sleep. The thief in their bedroom moved around precariously, rifling through bags and boxes aiming to find the money, with no luck. After what seemed like forever, the orange-haired girl chanced upon a small box that had been hastily hid in a half-open drawer on the vanity table. She pulled it open and took off the lid, finding a wad of cash, plus far too many gold coins to be counted. A sly smirk touched her lips as she revelled in her find, carefully depositing all of the money in one of her weapons pouches at her lower back. ‘Jackpot.’ She thought delightedly, leaving the box out open on the vanity table and then swiftly exiting the bedroom, rushing to leave this property and all its terrible décor. She let herself out into the fresh air via the front door, and left it open with a very gentle snicker leaving her lips, wanting to make it obvious that she had been here, while leaving no traces of it being her of all people. With that, she made her way off into the night, her rucksack jingling with all the fineries she had found, as if singing of her impending riches.

Revenge tasted pretty damn sweet.

[Mission End]

I don’t need your help now, you will let me down, down, down…