824/Secrets, and how not to keep them

Secrets, and how not to keep them
Date of Scene:	29 November 2023
Location:	The Book Nook
Synopsis:	Kyouka and Fuyuko visit the Kiseru Lady for a little after-dinner discussion of how to cheat time and space.
Cast of Characters:	Kyouka Inai, Fuyuko Yuuhi, Kiseru
Tinyplot:	The Game

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Kyouka Inai has posed:
    One might think that, being enemies according to the rules, Kyouka and Fuyuko wouldn't want to have anything to do with each other. But it's clear that anyone who has that opinion doesn't really know them, at least in relation to each other. The two were best friends for years, blood enemies for years more, and now find themselves working for the same boss- an occasional night out getting drinks and food is perfectly par for the course. You just don't talk about work, the same way smart families avoid talking about politics at Thanksgiving dinner. If nobody starts any arguments, it's a great time. You just need to watch what you say.

    It's been one of those evenings. It's now comfortably after dark, but in a city like Tokyo that doesn't mean the streets are much less crowded. Exiting the little teppenyaki place they had been eating at, Kyouka is grinning. A little drunk. Not very drunk, just enough to not be entirely sober.

    "-and that's what I was telling 'im, like... you can't expect to get away with that." She's saying to Fuyuko as the two proceed down the sidewalk, passing still-lit shops, though perhaps half of them are closed by this hour.

    She pauses, upon recognizing a door set in an alleyway. "Hey, its the Kiseru Lady's bookshop." She says, pointing to the door. "Y'know she helped me out with.. some stuff, recently. We should stop in and say hi. For old time's sake, or whatever." And maybe because she's not quite willing to call the night to a close yet, and go back to being enemies when the sun comes up.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
One might think years of being best friends and then enemies and now coworkers might make the waters too murky for a casual hangout, particularly one with drinks involved. One might also be very wrong, and perhaps even naive, or stupid, because with all that Fuyuko and Kyouka have been to each other, they're still here. Still hanging out, still drawn back together by choice, not fate. Brick by brick of decision making, one step atop the next.

Which is a philosophical way of saying, Fuyuko doesn't generally turn down the chance to loosen her tie and have a beer, when it comes to Kyouka, and when it doesn't end in screaming and punches, it often wanders around like this - barely-drunken revelry, a little nostalgic, with a pleasant buzz. "People expect," Fuyuko is saying, starting to respond to that half-begun sentence, when she stops, because Kyouka has stopped, her surroundings familiar in a vague way. "The Kiseru Lady... hey, it's been ages since I darkened her door."

Get it, because she has darkness powers -

"...eh, fuck it, why not? Maybe she'll have something ~spooky~ for my desk." The true ravages of age: when you start getting old enough to want desk decor. Without further discussion, she meanders right over to the door and just - opens it. Decision made, right?

Kiseru has posed:
    Fog shrouds the alleyway even if it shouldn't. It always does, even in the height of summer. But only for the right people. Ordinarily, most people can pass right through and it's just an alleyway behind a bookstore. But those sensitive to the supernatural see the border fog that denotes where one dimension is stacked on top of another. It only takes choosing which plane one wants to walk through from there. And if someone choose the fog? Well... They will find the streets are not quite as they are used to.

    The Kiseru Lady's store is never the same twice. If it has been, then it hasn't been the same twice for the same individual. The number of illusionary set-ups, other dimensions, or hybrids of the two must be ridiculous, along with the cost in magic to support them. But she bothers to put on this show regardless.

    It probably serves no other purpose than to showcase her own vanity.

    Presently, the exterior of the shop, door included, screams 'Hi this is the lair of a 16th century vampire'. It doesn't look like a bookstore at all. Then again, the back of the shop is rather more of a different kind of business. One that trades in secrets, magic, and rare commodities. One can get books back here, but they tend to be the kind of books that describe things like curses, rituals, and demon resurrections, among others. Not because that's all she carries, but because that's what sells to her clientelle. She has fluffy fru-fru books too. If you don't believe it, go ahead and ask for one. She dares you.

    But right now, it's a tower prison, a palace of blades, black and red and gothic and sharp, with bars over the yellow-stained glass windows, through which can be seen moving shadows as though there is an indefined number of ill-defined Things already perusing the wares.

    The door is a wrought iron, split down the middle into two, with a Dracula-looking door knocker on each.

    And the inside does not disappoint. The floor is red. Red red red. Just an impossibly flat and pristine red surface extending outwards in all directions, with only blackness above, all the way out until vision lapses, and the event horizon of the two colors might meet somewhere beyond mortal reach. There are twisted, silver and onyx-wrapped candelabras standing at regular intervals from either side of the door all the way out to that unseen, unknown vista.

    The repetition and identicalness of everything is enough for someone to easily become lost if not for the door at the backs of the two women. And if someone were to just wander off, and become disoriented, it might be possible that they never find their way back, depending on just how big this space actually is. Illusions can do a lot of heavy lifting.

    However, there is also a black-wood desk just up ahead, with glass display cases in-set in the front with various weird items, from what looks like a heart with a timer and cables woven through it, to a strange book with a black hand print on the cover that would be screaming magic if not for whatever dampners are in place to prevent sensing what's in there. The way the glass subtly vibrates regardless is the tip-off.

    And behind the counter, there is the Kiseru Lady, done up in a style to match the decor.

    Gothic black dress with a high, broad collar, a plunging neckline, and crimson silk up the sides, with her hair up in a bun, and her namesake kiseru in hand, slowly simmering with the scent of some kind of... Blood incense. Gross. Hopefully it's artificial.

    Without even looking up, the Kiseru Lady says, "Arbiters." She is looking at some piece of machinery on the counter in front of her. It might be a stopwatch. Or a compass. Maybe both.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka gives a lopsided grin as Fuyuko just walks right up and opens the door. She follows without hesitation, even given the rather baroque stylings of the shop on this particular evening- to call her a frequent customer would be inaccurate, but she's been a customer enough times to no longer be surprised by... well, the surprises. Most of the time, anyway.

    She wrinkles her nose faintly upon entering, as if smelling something.. maybe not unpleasant, but certainly overpowering. She looks around at the seemingly-endless expanse of red and black, unable to help rolling her grey eyes. She approaches the desk behind which the Kiseru Lady is sat, her demeanor casual. "You know, I really prefer the 'cozy fantasy bookshop' vibe over.. whatever this is. Spanish Inquisition?" Another glance around, before returning her gaze to the woman behind the desk.

    "You remember Fuyuko, ne? My 'other half'?" This said with only the faintest tinge of bitterness, as whether as Lux Tenebrae or Arbiters, it seems there's no escaping that fact "We were just in the neighborhood and decided to stop in." She eyes the stopwatch-ey thing on the desk. "Is this a bad time?"

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
That iron-y, meaty, metallic-y scent can really only be a few things... but despite the torture-esque decor about the place, with all its emphasis on red, red, red, gothic damnation, RED, vibes, there are no pools of that vital substance. That only leaves one source available then, and it's the Kiseru Lady, and her device.

Blood flavor, really? Fuyuko's nose wrinkles just a tad, because it just seems groddy, even for aesthetic, but she has to admit the rest of the set up is nice and moody.

"I don't know, it could grow on me," she's disagreeing with Kyouka entirely because to tweak her other half's nose; honestly, she also thinks the decor is a bit much but it's definitely a statement, and the Kiseru Lady was all about those. "Admiring your work?"

She means the stopwatch-y thing of course - whether it was Kiseru's own creation or the result of her procurements, it almost certainly represented work.

Kiseru has posed:
    The Kiseru Lady looks up, black lipsticked, white-powdered skin, and red eyelinered to really give that, 'I stay inside way too much and am very tired' look that probably all vampires have. She smiles a bit at Kyouka's comment. "Not at all. And of course I remember." She did address both of them as Arbiters, so she remembers that much at least. She tap-taps her kiseru to dump out the ashes, and then sets it down across the brass ashtray so she has her hands free.

    She slips it back under the counter, where it disappears into wherever the eff the Kiseru Lady puts things when they disappear, and then she folds her hands under her chin as she leans on her elbows. "Mana compass." is the only explanation she gives about it, and more to prevent further inquiry than because anyone truly cares.

    She turns to look over her shoulder as though she didn't pick this layout herself. "Abattoir," she corrects. "There are guillotines further out if you want to have a look. I think an in-ground pool as well? I couldn't get the stains out, but it's just water, don't worry." Then she faces forwards again with a smile. "It probably didn't actually belong to the Blood Countess. Those stories came about long after her death. So it's probably from some other timeline where she was a vampire or something. Can I get either of you some tea? Coffee? A stronger beverage? Red Bull perhaps? I think I have some 1 milligram syringes of adrenaline around here somewhere..."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Funny, do you really need a mana compass? Wouldn't it just spin in circles in here?" Kyouka says with a quirked brow, but she doesn't comment further on the device as it is made to disappear.

    At the explanation of the room itself, or at least as much of one as the Lady is willing to give, she makes a bit of a face yet again. "Lovely. I definitely prefer the cozy bookshop aesthetic. I've seen enough blood in my time to not want to use it for decor." At the offer of refreshment, she again shakes her head. "Thanks for offering, but we're just coming off dinner, and I have work in the morning.. Fuyu-chan as well, if I'm not mistaken. You know those corporate overlords are even less forgiving than the school system, so we should be nice to her."

    She heaves a bit of a sigh. "Hey, so this place might come from another timeline? The image of it, anyway." She glances around with mild interest. "I didn't know your reach extended quite so far."

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"I'm good too," Fuyuko says, waving a hand casually at the offer of refreshments. "I didn't pay for those beers just to burn them off with adrenaline."

The mana compass still has some of her attention - much more than the idea of a blood pool, even one filled with water and possibly belonging to an alternate timeline Bathory. "Does that work in mundane hands, or is it only useful for someone with mana to begin with?"

One was useful, the other not as much. "It seems a bit risky to stock guillotines in here, given the clientele," Fuyuko adds wryly. "Some of them are almost as ruthless as my corporate overlords."

Kiseru has posed:
    The Lady just smiles at the questions about the Mana Compass, and waits for Kyouka to be done. Then she asks, "Are you willing to pay for that information?" One might think there'd be the same answer regarding timelines, but she just says, "Someone sold the tub to me. They may or may not have had the capability to retrieve things from other timelines, or obtained it from a third party who may or may not have that ability." She shrugs. "There are causality loops and temporal shenanigans involved in this shop, for the purposes of actually getting anything done without interruption, but I do not personally possess the means to travel through time in any direction except forwards. And then, only at the same pace as most everyone else."

    She tilts her head and adds on, "For now."

    At further inquiries regarding the Mana Compass, Kiseru just smiles a little bit wider, and doesn't offer anything further. So she's tight-lipped about that, but not bloodtubs or guillotines or chronomancer fences. Hmmmmmm. "The guillotines are pieces of history. Literally in some cases. One is a magical weapon of Beheading. Difficult to use in battle, but nonetheless effective. I wouldn't trust the others to even work at this point. There is only so much restoration you can do to wood without having to just replace it outright. At least when they've been exposed to rain and snow and blood and general wear and tear for ages. If you're interested, it wouldn't be a bother to show you some. Perhaps a very small one for decoration?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka opens her mouth to answer the question about willingness to pay when Kiseru just barrels on with the answer- or an answer, in any case. And then on to explanations of guillotines that Kyouka, for her part, has very little interest in. She shoots Fuyuko a dirty look, as if to say, 'please keep your interest in murder-devices to your own time, thank you very much' before she returns her grey eyes to focusing upon Kiseru.

    "I'm not willing to pay for anything," She says, with an exhaled chuckle. "Right now. You know I think your prices are too high... Rika-san, was it?" Using the name the Kiseru Lady had told her after their last interaction. "Too high for anything but desperate circumstances, anyway. But I've always been pretty stingy, so I'm not here to tell you how to do your business. Clearly it's working for you."

    She glances around again, then back. "However, I am somewhat interested in temporal shenanigans.. or at the very least, the ability to see outside our own timeline. And I might... might.. be willing to trade tidbits for tidbits." A sideways glace at Fuyuko, as if wondering if the other Arbiter is going to try and shut her up or something.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
Fuyuko listens with keen interest, noting that the mana compass gets nothing, even when weapons get more. She responds to the dirty look from Kyouka with an angelic look of her own, implying an innocence she's never possessed, even as a babe in the womb. A magical weapon in beheading, huh? That sounded like something that could get the job of execution done rather nicely.

"You'd have to share your idea of the fair price, first," she says, shifting her weight to stand in a more relaxed posture. "Buying price unseen is for high rollers, not working women like us."

But then Kyouka makes her own little offer, and Fuyuko's eyes widen before she tightens her jaw, smile professional and cordial for a moment before it passes. As if utterly unbothered, she drawls. "Still sure you'd be a baseball star in some other life?"

Kiseru has posed:
    The Kiseru Lady's expression doesn't change when Kyouka calls her Rika, but her voice is a bit more chilly. "That was my name." she corrects. Well, at least she gained information from this. Kyouka can't keep a secret even if it's just a personal matter between them. The information tap that has been drip-dripping all this time is now firmly tightened off.

    "Would you like me to direct you to someone of aid in that matter, or just retrieve information?" she asks calmly, regarding timelines. Then she looks over to Fuyuko. "Depends on the item. The magic guillotine is going to be much more expensive than one sized for children's dolls. I also have a novelty cigar-cutter version if you just want something cheap and quirky. 300 yen for that last."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Hey whoa now, The Kiseru Lady never said her name was a secret- and besides, assuming Kyouka would keep a secret like that from Fuyuko anyway is just wishful thinking. Not that Kiseru would have any particular way to know that. Either way, if Kyouka notices that Kiseru's response to having her name casually bandied about is a chillier tone in her voice, she shows no particular sign of having picked up on it.

    "I would like," Kyouka says, returning Fuyuko's wide-eyed look with one of brow-arched 'what' energy, "To talk to my boss. Our boss." She includes Fuyuko in her gesture. "Face to very punchable face. In a way which is not just a voice from nowhere. We have reason to believe he does not inhabit our particular timeline- or rather, perhaps, exists outside the concept of timelines as we know them. And I am very interested in securing a way to accomplish this. Preferably without his knowledge. Though that may be a lost cause."

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"Sold. On the cigar cutter, not the fae lord killer," Fuyuko says idly, taking note of the newly icy undercurrents. She supposes Rika was a secret, but it hardly matters to her - Kiseru wasn't a name someone gave a child, and there were probably a hundred newborn babies named Rika a day. It was a pretty name, but hardly identifiable. Or maybe it was a secret shared between friends, and Kiseru was learning that Kyouka spent secrets as easily as she gained them when she felt there was nothing to be lost in the telling. Sucks to be her, if so. Fuyuko had long since accepted (note: no she had not) that Kyouka would do whatever she wanted with information once given to her.

For example the information about their boss. Fuyuko is a mature adult, so she doesn't jab her elbow into Kyouka's side. This was supposed to be fun, not a chit chat about work!

"More like you want the chance to deck him when he earns it," she says, just before Kyouka says punchable face, then nods to herself. Yep. Called it. "It might not be something even your connections can solve. But depending on the price, if you can offer up the means for a face to face on our terms, we'll be open to negotiating."

Kiseru has posed:
    The gothic woman drums her black fingernails on the counter a few times, then says, "I understand. I will see what I can do. Did your mutual boss always dictate your actions, or was there a point in time you were free of constraints? That is a rather critical piece of information to have for moving forwards. Or backwards or sideways, as the case may be." While she waits for an answer, the Kiseru Lady gets out her little red book, and a pen from somewhere, and opens to a page with a list of things in some sort of flowery, cursive chicken scratch utterly indicipherable to anyone but her solely due to how lazy her lettering is. It might be deliberate, or maybe her writing is just trash. "Payment up front for the information: My price is one week off the life of one of your pupils. Or, you can owe me a Favor."

    Then she copies that information down, more legibly, for Kyouka's sake. "The only hurry is if you have a deadline. Otherwise, this may take some time." She smiles perfectly pleasantly. "I am also willing to wait and see which price winds up lighter on your scales when the time comes. You needn't commit. And if you change your mind entirely and want to back out..." Bare-shouldered shrug. "That is also your prerogative. Nothing is final until the transaction is complete."

    Then she reaches under the counter and pulls out the novelty cigar cutter. "For what it is, and how cheap, it does the job and is reasonably sturdy. Remember to sharpen the blade periodically, and avoid getting it wet." Yes, the irony of avoiding getting a guillotine wet is not lost upon her. She holds out her hand for the three-hundred yen expectantly.

    "Arranging a meeting will also take some time, as I explore my options." And contact a bunch of people, probably, to ask discrete questions of. "We can negotiate on that later, I agree."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "You know," Kyouka says, suddenly with a sing-song tone to her voice which Fuyuko may recognize as her feeling devious, and generally about to cause some trouble. "You'd think that just the information pertaining to this request would be worth something to you." She saunters forward a bit, towards the desk, leaning one arm on it and peering with ash-grey eyes across the surface at Kiseru.

    "After all, I know you've always been curious about what 'Arbiter' actually means. What we," a gesture encompassing both herself and Fuyuko once again, "Actually are. What we're doing here. You have a unique perspective, because you knew us both before. But I know you know that it's different, now. After all," A lopsided grin, "Inai isn't my real name, either."

    She glances back at Fuyuko again, perhaps expecting that elbow in the side at any moment. She skillfully dodges putting her hand on the miniature guillotine. "So just by helping me... us... with this," let's be honest this is mostly her deal, at the moment, "You'd be learning a lot. Knowledge is power, isn't that what you always like to say?" Or something like that, anyway.

    No response is made to the outrageous asking price- though clearly this is her trying to negotiate it down.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
Three hundred yen is handed over easily. What's a few hundred yen to her? There's no change in expression as the price is named though Fuyuko wonders if the students had to be human. She could a youma from Inhuman Resources under her wing if it would meet the stated requirement. "Would we pick the student or would you?"

She has no intention of paying that price, but more information won't hurt.

"Inai isn't wrong, anyway. Knowledge is power and you like knowing things, adding to your little collection of secrets. The three of us trading little tastes back and forth is just a whetting of the appetite."

Kyouka may have dragged her on this ride, but nothing about that is new.

Kiseru has posed:
    Kiseru tilts her head. "That certainly depends on how much you want to share, and the content. Not everyone is so forthcoming about their Origin." She tap-taps her pen on the page, looks towards Fuyuko, and then slides the paper she offered to Kyouka back towards herself, and crumples it up. Then she writes in her book again, copies the new information over to another sheet of note paper, and slides it over. "Very well. Payment on delivery. I won't ask for anything until I am certain I can provide what you want. A secret, once shared, cannot be returned to being a secret, after all." She gives a smile at Kyouka. If there's a hidden meaning in that, it at least isn't apparent in voice tone or mannerisms. But there is probably totally a hidden meaning.

    "Your choice." she answers. "Though they do, in fact, need to have at least one week left to live. Though it rather looks like that is irrelevant now." Putting away the money, she passes over a receipt, along with care instructions. "Would you like a box?" she asks politely. For transporting the guillotine, presumably. "Also, do read the warnings. Keep fingers well away from the blade. It is sharp, and I am not responsible for anything that gets cut off that you did not want to have cut off."

    Well, it looks like she has her next big project to work on. It may take time, but that is the one thing she has an abundance of. She is her own boss. But her boss is still Patience.