savethecitydesu | Dazzling!? Hiyoku-cho nights!!

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Dazzling!? Hiyoku-cho nights!!

Who: Akito Terumi, NPCs, (open.)
What: Night-time in Hiyoku city
Where: Shinku Boulevard
When: Anytime pre-Magic Day.

Hiyoku may not be a city the size of Osaka, or even Tokyo, but it does have its attractions. One of the oldest and fast-changing (and, therefor, surviving) ones is Shinku Boulevard. The Scarlet Road.

You can learn about it, easy enough. There's plenty of people in town who can tell you that their parents met there, for example, or you may have gone there as a kid, no matter your social class, because it's fun for everyone (if you know how far down to walk.) You could also pick up the facts from one of the pamphlets at either of the starts of the street - which runs south to north.

Once upon a time, this was a big street for merchants and performers on their journey from the southernmost ends of the country to the bustling city of Osaka, and then down in return. It made for a place of bright colors, slightly loose morals, and bright attractions. More importantly, a lot of lanterns burning about the sides of the street, under red-tiled roofs or banners of warm colors, dancing, like fire, in the air, visible even at night. The street is now lined with tall buildings, all of which seem to dip into the warm, gold and scarlet glow of the road, and arcades and cinemas have joined with small kabuki theaters and street performers in keeping people entertained. The northern end of the street is reserved slightly more polished entertainment and restaurant, leaving most of the fun stuff for the southern end. The alleys are often where some of the less reputable business lies, hidden behind more wholesome attractions.

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The magician let out a mirthful laugh, and, smiling like he'd won the lottery, full of cheer and triumph, said, "You can call me Akamichi Hibiki. But my stage name is 'Akato-kun'."

He beamed. "Now, you're entitled to a secret, but just one," he continued, starting to eat. "So pick well."

'You can call me' was a flexible phrase Akito automatically noted, along with the growing mental cabinet he was making for Hibiki. It was already filling up with more things than Akito probably didn't needed for someone he'd probably never meet with again but his mind couldn't help but note. If Akito had picked apart that one nagging thought of 'Where is the divide between magic and trick?' he would have less interest, he was sure.

"I'll have to then," Akito replied lightly, but his mind was already running through possible questions and answers. It depended on how 'helpful' Hibiki wanted to be. He could easily see a question of 'how did you do that?' being easily brushed off with one of those irritating smiles and an excuse like 'magic, of course!'.

And even if the magician did give Akito a straight answer to what Akito really wanted to figure out, he wouldn't enjoy it. It wasn't the same if you flipped to the answer section. That was boring and made him feel cheated.

After several thoughts, Akito simply went with the one that would give him something to chew on and follow if he was lucky (and if it got a useless answer, then Akito would figure out his own answer eventually). Without preamble, Akito asked, "Where did you learn to do your magic?"

It wasn't the best question you could have bought with your name, but it was unusual, for sure, and Hibiki could tell that the boy across him had thought it over. Enough that it put a different kind of smile over his face.

It belonged to a chess player that had seen his opponent make an unexpected move, and was respectfully impressed, if not worried, by it.

"It runs in the family," he began, eating a little more before idly adding, while pointing his chopsticks up. "You would find it strange, but that we are: a family of eight! Could you believe it? And all of us are good at it. It's practically how grandpa and grandma came together. He was a merchant, but he dabbled on tricks and wordplay, you know, like most merchants, and now grandmother, ah, she was a lady who liked to play by the rules... but clever as they come. Not to say that they wanted to pass it ON to us, but let's just say when there's people like them around, you HAVE to learn a trick or two. Magical genetics, if you may want to call it that, though oh," pause for a bite, "Ours is a case that makes a very good argument to the whole 'nurture' instead of 'born that way' thing, since it seems to happen even with family that isn't all that related. My side of the family, well, we've always been good at illusions, sleight of hand, that sort of thing."

He smiled then, but didn't immediately ask a question in return. He was waiting for Akito's next move.

Akito's eyes rarely stopped noting what passed on Hibiki's face, even as he began picking away at his plate. Hibiki'd been smiling almost the entire time but those smiles still had their own tells. Based on the last one, Akito had picked a good track to follow.

"I see." Akito chewed thoughtfully. After he was done a particularly tough piece, he flashed his own smile. "It sounds like your family has an interesting history. If they're as good as you are, it's unsurprising you picked a thing or two up from them, one way or another. I don't suppose I would recognize any of them from anywhere?"

"Oh. You're bound to see them. Probably all of them, sooner or later, but you may not recognize them," said Hibiki, smiling a little playfully before turning his eyes up, as if in deep consideration. "We just look rather different from one another. My brother likes to hang out at Kochi Jinja park. He likes the botanical gardens. Grandfather runs an antique store downtown. He's probably around Hiyoku-cho some nights. And I have a brother who tells fortunes. Best fortuneteller there is, if you ask me... but a bit hard to find."

He grinned a little then. "But I'm sure you didn't come hang with lil' old me to hear me vaguely describe my family... I'm sure you're in for something spicier," he said, tapping his lips with his chopsticks, both thoughtfully and invitingly, before supplying an answer. "You'd like to know how I did my act. You were looking for the trick."

'Surprise' crossed Akito's face; it was more auto-pilot more than anything.

"Well..." He scratched the back of his head again, 'anxiously' fiddling with his chopsticks. "It did cross my mind. Though I do believe your family really do sound like they have an interesting history," he quickly added. It was something that would be going away to the back of his mental cabinet for later use if he needed it.

"It's part of the reason for my curiosity," Akito admitted. "But," chuckle, "you know what you say about magicians. They don't just give away tricks."

"No, no we don't. I'm merely pointing out that's what I thought I saw in your eyes," said Hibiki, eating just a little more. Once he downed the bite, he pointed the chopsticks at Akito, "You're a fellow who wants something he can't have. And I respect anyone who wants what they can't have, and on occasion, what they shouldn't have. Let's just say that I'm open to some negotiation here."

"I wouldn't say 'can't'," Akito replied, picking away at the bits left on his plate. "I like having things to work towards."

And there was no point working towards things if there was nothing you'd get out of it. Why bother if the payout wasn't worth the effort? 'Shouldn't' wasn't a word Akito liked either.

"Negotiation implies there's something you want if you're open to satisfying my curiosity." Akito gave Hibiki a raised brow. "So then, out of purest curiosity.... What are you looking to get out of it?

Hibiki smiled then. This was a different type of smile, mostly because it felt honest.

The kind of honesty you have when someone reveals the secret ingredient on a delicious pie, or holds up a murder weapon. Put simply, the sort of honesty that you're not sure you want to see.

"I'd like to integrate you into my act. See, I don't feel safe! Someone with eyes like you... being on the wrong side of the stage. It's unnerving," he said, clicking his tongue. "Tell you what, when are you free to come to the Scarlet Road again?"

That wasn't a move Akito expected, and someone watching very carefully would've noticed how the genuine surprise in his eyes in the briefest instant. It made him instantly wonder what the catch was - what other things were Hibiki playing at?

"O-oh, I see...hmm..." Akito 'nervously' fiddled with his chopsticks in thought. "This weekend but I'm at a loss of what good I'd be for an act like yours. Unless you're looking for a patsy or an incompetent assistant," Akito chuckled, the 'sheepishness' still there. "As I already told you, I'm not a performer."

"We are all performers in a way, Terumi-san," Hibiki said, winking an eye shut. "But trust me, I don't plan to humiliate you on stage or anything. Should I expect to see you on the weekend, then?" he asked, taking out a smooth hand and offering it for a shake. Should Terumi do so, he would find the skin would feel soft, almost silky, and a little warmer than most people would have it.

Then what are you planning?

Akito seemed to consider Hibiki before reaching for his hand. "Perhaps. I'll try to make it. Do I at least get a teaser about what you're planning?"

Akito suppressed a frown as he felt Hibiki's skin. His hand was warm and soft...way softer than what Akito would've expected for someone who claimed he usually helped out carrying crates and such.

It was almost as if Hibiki knew that Akito would notice that. He was smiling a little shamelessly, as would someone who got caught with their hand in a cookie jar and simply took another cookie for good measure.

"Well, I really should get back to my act," he said, slipping his hand away in a lazy way, fingers ticking Akito's palm in the process, in such a way that there was leeway for Akito to think it was unintentional. "Buuut since you were my rapt audience today, I think I owe you a present," he said, reaching into his pocket and taking out some money, roughly about the prize of the meal, which he left before them. "Come on," he encouraged, padding along towards a stall.

They were selling masks. Old-fashioned, lacquered masks of all sorts, a good few fit for just the everyday crowd of the Scarlet Road, but a few were good for Kabuki. Curiously enough, the man selling them was hidden behind so many of them that you could barely see his arms reaching out. You could TRY to look at his face but... well, there's better things to pay attention to, and your mind would immediately invite you to turn your eye to them.

"Pick one."

There was that feeling again that the magician knew what he was thinking of. Akito disliked it intensely. He preferred it when he could read other people, not the other way around, especially when he was still trying to untangle his mental cabinet on Hibiki.

But, like everything else, Akito buried it. The smile snapped on and he chuckled. "You don't owe me anything, especially after a show, food, and even an offer to satisfy my curiosity. If anything, I should owe you." He scratched the back of his head but followed anyway, eyes still studying Hibiki until he saw the stall.

It was strange. Akito rarely paid much attention to this sort of thing, but there was something that was tugging away, nagging at him to look. One mask in particular caught his eye. It was black fox's mask decorated with red and bronze lines. (http://img3.etsystatic.com/000/0/5203101/il_570xN.297934691.jpg)

Out of nowhere, Akato laughed-- mirthfully, charmingly. It was like bells ringing, somehow, an infectious noise of pure relishing. "Excellent choice!" he said, and before Akito could say much about it his hand was going to his pocket again, and he'd produced the money for the mask.

"You take it with you then, it's yours. A gift, a gift for a friend of the people of the Scarlet Road," he announced with flair before putting the money down. An old, wrinkled hand with long fingers came from between the masks and picked it up.

"You don't-" Akito started, but then gave up with a sigh, a 'good-humored' smile crossing his face. "Thank you, that's very kind. Though I feel like I owe you a lot for this evening, really..."

Which brought that thought to mind again: What are you really up to?

Akito barely noticed the hand reaching from behind the masks. The physical details 'old', 'wrinkled', and 'long' registered but the feeling 'Don't look at that...there are better, more interesting things....' repeated itself. Instead, he reached for the fox mask, carefully picking it out from the stall. He held it up to his face without putting it on, testing how the weight and what it'd be like to see through it.

For an instant, ever so brief, Akito would get the weirdest image in his mind: like he was seeing out of someone else's eyes and at himself. If he'd have time to think about it, he would've pinned down just WHOSE line of sight he was borrowing at the time.

But surely you can't just have such out-of-body experiences while wide awake. The brain would correct that quickly, and he would be back to looking through the eyes of the mask, out onto an Akato that was smiling at him playfully. "Well I think that fits you just fine. It's a fine face... I think you should bring it with you when you come next weekend."

Akito blinked rapidly in that instant, nearly dropping the mask.

The moment was over too quickly to pin down the whole picture but the suddenness was startling. In the next instant, his vision was back to normal, complete with Hibiki's irritating smile.

Akito slowly lowered the mask. By the time it was down, he'd slipped back to his usual self, "Hmmm, I don't know. The last time I wore a mask like this was when I was a kid."

"Well, right now this mask isn't terribly heavy, wouldn't you say? They only get heavy the longer you wear them. Besides," he continued, clapping his hands in front of himself to bow slightly, in the typical 'kowtow', palms-before-forehead pleading way, "I would very much appreciate it if you would come with it?"

"Well..." Akito looked skywards in thought, then back to Hibiki with that 'sheepish', 'amiable' smile, "When putting it that way...I guess I'd be hard-pressed to say no. Alright then, next time I see you I'll bring it."

"Thank you so!" the magician exclaimed, and with a smile, Hibiki began to back away, little padded hops from his bare feet getting him some momentum. "Well, 'fraid I should get going. I should get back to my act. I'll see you then, Terumi Akito-san!" he said, and with that, rushed away into the crowd.

"See you then! Good luck, Akato-kun," Akito called back, ending on a teasing note.

As the magician disappeared into the crowd and out of sight, though, Akito's smile faded. He stared after where Hibiki had been in thought, then at the fox mask again. After a several thoughts, many which he discarded or filed away, it did occur to him he could go to try and catch Hibiki's next show. Maybe this time he would see what he'd missed.

However...

He instead walked the opposite direction. He could afford to be patient.

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Dazzling!? Hiyoku-cho nights!!

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