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Post by Miyuki Asuhara on Jan 12, 2017 22:31:52 GMT -6
"Band of Thieves":A young woman with long, black hair and blue-grey eyes strolled gracefully through the marketplace. She wore a dark violet kimono with white chrysanthemums across the skirt and sleeves. Underneath her kimono was a black, long sleeved stealth shirt and black, skin tight shorts. Her kimono was closed properly around her chest, but was left partly open at the bottom so that every so often the fabric would pull back to flash one of her slim, pale legs. She carried a white, paper, folding umbrella with a yin-yang symbol in the middle. She twirled it on her shoulder absent mindedly as she walked, careful not to hit anyone with it. She hummed as she scanned the stalls, still not able to find what she wanted. Her expression was neutral, despite her otherwise cheerful mood. Some people gave her curious and weary glances as they walked by, but the young woman couldn't be bothered with their stares. "Still nothing worth my money. You'd think with all these merchants they'd have more paintings to sell," she said in a soft voice to herself. Suddenly she spotted a flash of color framed in gold out of the corner of her eye. She halted and turned, seeing what she already knew was there. An art broker's stall. And with plenty of paintings in stock to boot. "There. Finally." She dodged the foot traffic as she made her way over to the stall. Fifteen minutes went by before she settled on a painting. The only one that she really felt was worth her money. Even then, it wasn't as good as the others she already had in her collection. Yet regardless of its less than awe inspiring technique and subject matter, it was highly priced. A frown tugged at her mouth. It wasn't that good, really, but she had made the trip all the way out here. She didn't want to leave with nothing. She also didn't want to walk for another half an hour just to find another art broker. In the end, she spent all she had brought with her. The broker rolled up the painting neatly and handed it to her. "You know Miyuki, I could have slipped you some of my money to pay for that. It would have been a much better deal." Miyuki Asuhara turned around to see her younger brother Satoshi, dressed in a red kimono with a black hakama. The kimono was designed with white circular ring patterns. His wispy black hair fell around his face messily. He always dressed so plainly. "No thank you. The merchants here in Seireitei are frustratingly diligent. You of all people, as a counterfeiter, should know that," she said in a tone that only he would hear.
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Post by Satoshi Asuhara on Jan 12, 2017 22:54:07 GMT -6
Satoshi sneered at his older sister smugly. "True. They are smarter here, but just as they've gotten better at sniffing people like me out, I've gotten better at tricking them. Observe."
Satoshi picked a random stall and walked over, not even paying attention to what they were selling. He kept one hand in his pocket and the other grabbed the first thing he touched and held it up, grinning wildly at the merchant. "Morning! Fine day isn't it? I'd like to buy this."
The merchant blinked at him at first, then smiled back and nodded quickly, obviously happy to be selling something. "Yes! A fine day indeed! Thank you for your patronage. That will be ten-thousand."
"Of course, of course," Satoshi set the item down, still not paying attention to it, and pulled a wad of money out of the pocket his hand resided in. "Let's see. Two, four, six, eight and ten. Here you are."
"Thank you! Thank you, sir! Have a pleasant day!"
"No, thank you!" Satoshi could barely contain himself as he grabbed the item and walked away. As he did, he glanced over his shoulder, watching the man check out the money, then promptly place it in his cash box. He bit his lips together to keep from laughing his ass off. He held the item up to show Miyuki. "See? What did I tell you? Given, he was really eager to sell something, but he checked it out and still didn't notice."
"Okay, Nii-kun. You win," Miyuki nodded. Then she smirked. "But do you even know what you just bought?"
"Hm?" Satoshi looked down at his hand to find what had to be the most hideous hair comb he'd ever seen. It was an awful, false bronze color with some sort of smoking paraphernalia as its design. He cringed at it. "Ugh! Who the hell would make such a thing?! Why would he even sell a thing like this?! What a waste of meticulously crafted money! I can't even give this to anyone as a gift! It's the tackiest thing I've ever seen in my life!"
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Post by Minako Asuhara on Jan 14, 2017 15:35:19 GMT -6
Minako Asuhara, hearing the commotion, joined her siblings and sighed “Well, that’s a waste of our prowess. Have you lost your eye on what is worth stealing and what isn’t, little brother?”
A tick formed in Satoshi’s forehead and he glared at his elder sister in her revealing outfit, low cut top and skirt with slits up to her thighs. Every time she moved, she revealed more skin, getting more oglers, and she knew it. “I wasn’t stealing,” he hissed, pointing at Miyuki. “I was proving a point! And it’s that old man’s fault for selling something so stupid and not knowing the difference between a real bill and a fake one!”
Miyuki looked around, scanning for art and trouble, and Minako shook her head. “Still, you were so busy doing that that you didn’t even notice what you grabbed in order to make your statement. What can you even use it for now? I mean, really with as ugly as it is, was it really worth even 50% of the trouble and fuss you’re making?”
Satoshi growled. “You’re not getting it! That wasn’t the point. It was what I could get away with!”
“If you can only get away with something as unfortunately put together as that comb, then I worry about your eye,”
“Fine!” Satoshi sneered, shoving the thing at her. “Fine then, dear sister. You can have the pipe, I mean comb. WHATEVER IT IS! I DON’T WANT IT NOW!” He stalked off.
Minako put the comb into her pocket and caught up with her brother. “Don’t be like that, Satoshi-kun. I’m just being a good sister. You know that,” she cooed, clinging to him.
“AGGGHHHH! Get off me! Get off! Damn it, Nee-san. People are staring!” Satoshi cried out, to his shame blushing deeply as Minako had his face pressed against her well-endowed chest.
Minako let him go as the onlookers started to move along with their work and kissed his cheek.
“Damn, Minako….” he grumbled, “you’re always upping people. Especially your own family….”
“That is what this game is about, isn’t it~?” she purred and strutted back over to the merchant, pulling out a cloth and wrapping the gaudy comb as she went.
“Excuse me, sir?” she called out. “Do you think you could help me?”
Satoshi grumbled further as his sister spun an elaborate hoax, about an ex boyfriend and another girl cheating on her and leaving her. Tears in her eyes, she held out the wrapped comb. “I can’t bear to look at it, sir. How could they? Believing something like this would make everything all right? When they went and did something like - like that.” She sniffed and her lips quivered.
Satoshi looked on with a blank look. “I hate itsuwaribito,” he muttered. Miyuki patted his shoulder.
Minako was in her element and held onto the stand, as if to keep away a faint. “Please, sir. Can I sell this to you? Or exchange it for something that will make him look twice at the coming festival? I know I'm asking a lot - But I know it comes from your work, sir. All - all our gifts did. He’s hurt me so many times, and now he’s made another friend join him. I just want to make him regret it..”
A few minutes later, after the merchant had helped her to calm down and a couple costumers had gathered and offered their own condolences, Minako returned to her siblings with one of the best combs in his meager collection, a wood comb with red stained glass flowers in the center. She tossed her hair behind her shoulder. “That was fun~”
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Post by Naoru Asuhara on Jan 14, 2017 16:18:24 GMT -6
Naoru strolled up to his siblings as they crowded around their sister. "I didn't know we were here to spin elaborate cons?"
All eyes turned to him, his hand coming up with a piece of paper between his index and middle finger. "If you're going to pull a con or heist, don't you think it should be worth your time?" He looked over to the merchant Minako had just put through the ringer with her tears and outlandish tale.
He looked back to her and smiled. "Good con, Minako, but you can do so much better with your talents than that."
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Post by Minako Asuhara on Jan 14, 2017 17:19:02 GMT -6
Minako smirked and adjusted the slip under her shirt. “Practice makes perfect, my brother, and it’s been a while since I have used the old ‘jilted girlfriend’ ploy. I needed to test it out again.” She held up the comb against the light. “And this comb will work quite well with my outfit for the festival."
Setting the comb back into her pocket, she focused on her twin brother once more. “You’ve been flashing that paper around for a few minutes now, Naoru. What’s it for? A gossip column about your latest conquest?”
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Post by Naoru Asuhara on Jan 14, 2017 18:07:56 GMT -6
He offered her the piece of paper. "Read for yourself, dearest sister. I think you will like what you read." Naoru stepped over to a nearby fruit merchant after she took the flyer. He looked over the pieces of fruit as he and the others listened to her read what was printed on the page. Shino Academy presents this year's 223rd Annual Fall Festival!
This year's theme:
Masquerade
Come join us for the dates of the 18th, 19th, and 20th of September.
All age groups welcome and be sure to come in costume.
*Hand-on masks only (Security reasons)*
This year's features include:
Game Booths
Craft Stands
Merchant Stands and Tables
Food Courts
Drink Bars
Firework Stands and Display His twin stopped reading and looked to him as he paid the merchant for his pear, then turned and looked at her. "Why did you stop? You have not even gotten to the best part. Keep reading, dearest sister." |
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Post by Minako Asuhara on Jan 14, 2017 18:37:41 GMT -6
Minako raised her eyebrows and looked over the flyer. "I don't see anything else, Naoru. And we already knew about the festival. It happened nearly every year before the Takeover. It's obvious they would bring it back." She paused as her eyes caught smaller print by the mask on the poster. Fine Arts Auctions to raise funds Paintings, jewelry, kimonos, and more from a private collection Support the cause.
Minako looked back to her brother. "Is there something you know about this auction, brother? It's rather public for one of our heists, isn't it?" She pointed to the flyer. "And people like the festival. It's not our kind of job."
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Post by Miyuki Asuhara on Jan 14, 2017 20:47:12 GMT -6
Miyuki sighed and brought her umbrella down to cover her face so that the sorrowful expression on her face didn't show. "Riku-chan was instrumental in putting the auctions together. He's on the committee that planned the festival. The word around Seireitei is that lots of nobles are going to be there. The way it sounds, he's really gone all out for the charity event. He's really showcasing his skills."
The thought of their younger brother brought tears to Miyuki's eyes. She missed him so much, but he was expelled from the family by their father, and their father's word was law. Riku betrayed the family by denouncing the family business. He chose the Gotei over his family. That was something that the Asuhara patriarch could not stand for... at the time. But the younger of the siblings began to notice his steadfastness waning. He missed Riku just as much as they did. However, Riku's actions were still unforgivable. Miyuki didn't see their father accepting him back into the family any time soon.
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Post by Satoshi Asuhara on Jan 14, 2017 21:05:48 GMT -6
He began to talk a bit loud, "You know. With the merchants making the best items for this festival and jacking up prices. And with thi-" He heard what his dear sister said about their little brother, his eyes narrowing, "So our little brother is running the auction."
He went silent before laughing, "Come on, now I can't do anything there because he'll know!" He scratched the back of his head and sighed, looking at the ground, "Wish he was here with us instead of there."
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Post by Naoru Asuhara on Jan 14, 2017 21:44:57 GMT -6
Naoru huffed as he tossed his half eaten pear over his shoulder into the trash. “Stop it! He is not coming back." He looked to his siblings with narrowed eyes. "Riku was the one that abandoned us. Not the other way.”
He then reached over to his baby sister and lifted her umbrella so to look at her. “Stop the tears, Miyuki. Riku is not worth them.” Releasing her umbrella he reached across taking the flyer from his twin, looking at it again, suddenly his free hand lifted and he smacked the paper with the back of his fingers.
“Even if this is not a normal job for us, the pieces are coming from a private collection. Either the person passed and we all know,“ Naoru chuckled, “they wouldn’t be needing them again, or the person just has too much shit and wants to clean house. Either way, it will be like taking candy from a baby. They will never expect something like this to take place.”
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Post by Minako Asuhara on Jan 14, 2017 22:06:51 GMT -6
Minako swapped the flyer from her twin and looked at it again. “Even if they won’t expect it, this auction is being used to keep the festival going. Dad won’t approve, either.”
“I don’t really care!” Naoru growled.
Minako raised her eyebrows at her twin before walking over and hugging Miyuki who had started to shake. “You’re making an awful lot of fuss for someone who doesn’t care, Brother. Face it. You want him back. We all do.” She paused. “But Dad kicked him out. If we want him to change his mind, Riku must have no choice but to return.”
She looked to her brother. “Do we have enough funds to buy the art?”
“Maybe,” Naoru murmured. “Why?”
“If we buy enough to support the festival and stash the rest away somewhere only Riku will know, then they will blame him. But it might only lead to expulsion, not jail. Without a road to the Gotei, he will see things our way. What do you think?”
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Post by Miyuki Asuhara on Jan 14, 2017 23:00:45 GMT -6
"I agree with Minako-nee," Miyuki said quietly. "I may be upset with Riku-chan about him choosing the Gotei, but I don't want him thrown in jail, or worse. I just want him to come home. And if we can get him home this way, then we have to try."
She put her umbrella down and folded it up. "No matter what, Riku-chan is still our brother, and I still love him. We all do. Even you Naoru. You and Father may share the same position, and I don't blame you for that. However, don't let it breed hatred for Riku-chan. He may deserve to be taught a lesson about family, but he doesn't deserve our hate."
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Post by Satoshi Asuhara on Jan 15, 2017 16:31:25 GMT -6
"Sorry, Nii-san, but I'm with the women on this one," Satoshi shook his head. "Not to mention Riku has his own set of skills just like we do. He was always the best at getting in and out of a heist location without disturbing so much as a hair or a grain of dust. He's not just our brother, he's one of our most skilled family members. He and Kuriko are our power team. She plans and he executes. We really can't afford to cast him aside anymore. And we can't get him back if he's in jail or put to death. And you know that's what will happen if he goes down for a heist this big."
Satoshi took the flyer and held it up in front of his elder brother's face. "So think to yourself, Naoru. Do you want Riku punished for his betrayal, or do you want him DEAD?"
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Post by Naoru Asuhara on Jan 15, 2017 16:53:04 GMT -6
Naoru rolled his eyes at the bunch, his hands sliding into his pockets as he turned away from them. "Where in the hell do you get I want Riku to take the fall for this and be killed of sent to prison? This job would be too big for one person anyway. They would never blame him for this." He looked back to his twin.
"Now the way Minako planned it out, I could see the blame being pushed off on him." He paused and looked around the merchant area. "But if you spend too much time there." He turned back looking at them. "And we will have to buy up enough pieces to support their cause. Riku will notice one of us, if not all of us, before its over, said and done with."
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Post by Minako Asuhara on Jan 15, 2017 18:49:06 GMT -6
Minako looked at her siblings. “The first thing we need to do is distract our brother, or as you said, he will notice us and become suspicious. And since he has already hurt our feelings, I see no reason to spare his.”
She looked to her younger siblings. “Satoshi, I want you to approach him at the festival. Talk to him as if you are trying to understand why. Be as honest as you can or he will see through you. And ask him if he thinks Miyuki will see anything she likes at the auction. Miyuki, you will juggle between buying pieces and stealing. Be careful, people will be looking at you. Naoru and I will join you as guests to others attending the events. As far removing enough big pieces, I will talk to Risa and Kuriko.”
She looked to her twin. “If Riku confronts us, you and I will take our turn at exploiting his feelings. We will create a scene about him not trusting family and then leave, offended, not buying another thing. We will return, if he tries to apologize, later. If he doesn't believe in us, there are two options with our skills. We use a disguise and go back. Or one of us goes back just to defy him, grabbing his attention, while the other gets into his storeroom near the academy to create space for the artwork.”
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