Match of the Millennium

Description: Lieutenant Yayoi invites Lieutenant Nanaya out to discuss new orders. Plans to handle the nefarious Chain Guy are hatched... and maybe Ragna too.

[TSUBAKI]
With the recent meeting that Tsubaki Yayoi had with one Captain Hazama of intelligence, and the assignment presented with it's chance of promotion, Tsubaki had begun to examine the details of just what had happened to Hazama and Noel. There was a grudging kind of way she had combed the details she knew, but it seemed Noel was laid up in a hospital room and Hazama seemed to have little to know idea of the mysterious "Chain Man's" identity. So it was she was hoping to call in the help of Makoto, not just because Hazama had said Makoto was going to be under her command for this, but it would be good to work with an old friend.

The message that Makoto would recieve would indicate a cafe to meet at in the Business Distrct of Southtown, the red headed young woman was seated and this time, but her uniform was not the typical NOL issue. There was a military cap with wings and a blue eye set on the table atop a book. The crisp uniform over Tsubaki's frame beige and neat, certainly reflecting the orderly behaviour of the Yayoi scion.

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Makoto has had her own reasons to be in Japan. NOL has about six things going on here... that she knows of; there might be more that she's not rated for or that nobody had found a reason to tell her about. For one, they'd really like a Gear to analyze - dead is fine - and where else would you get one of those?

It feels weird to be meeting someone at a cafe when the nation the cafe is in is under attack, but if doing a thing she found weird stopped her from doing it Makoto would have had a lot less interesting of a life. And, Makoto being Makoto, she is not above scrounging a meal off an expense account. Even Tsubaki's expense account.

Which is why the not-quite-human member of NOL practically bounces into the cafe, right on time. Official meeting or not, Makoto is not in uniform (or may not be, it's hard to tell given she's got a heavy black jacket on), but does have a beret perched atop her head - Intelligence doesn't advertise who they work for, after all. Nothing can really cover that tail of hers; in the wake of the Gear unveiling, she's been getting dirty or worried looks the whole way down, but you'd never know it from looking at her grin.

"Hey, Lieutenant," Makoto says, with a not-quite-joking tone. "Looking good! I got your message." A whirlwind of energy, Makoto is sitting down very shortly without an invitation, having slid her chair around to make herself comfortable.

[TSUBAKI]
The energy of her friend on that arrival, is enough to bring a smile even to Tsubaki's normally stoic expression. Standing, she glances over Makoto's outfit, she'd chastise the squirrel girl if she wasn't familiar with the fact Intel generally doesn't want to advertise. 0th Division meanwhile was the opposite, though Izayoi had it's own form that made uniforms generally well..moot. That said, she motions to the other seat at her table, "It's good to see you as well Lt. Nanaya." Tsubaki settling back into her seat, fornow she simply had tea, having not ordered any food as she waited.

"So, you're commanding officer has requested I look into the attack that happened to himself and Lt. Vermillion. Given that Heihachi Mishima has demanded the NOL not involve itself with matters here in Japan, Captain Hazama has placed you and Lt. St. James under my direction to find the "Chain Man" that attacked him and Lt. Vermillion. It also seems Ragna the Bloodedge may have been involved, and if his capture is possible, we are to attempt it as well." Straight to business, and there's that...detached way she's referring to Noel, someone who was supposed to be one of her best friends.

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
"It's Makoto! I know you know my name, you used it for /years/," Makoto says, as she turns the chair just so before plopping onto it. She removes her hat, her ears flicking once as they are removed from a fabric prison, but leaves the coat on. That suggests that either Makoto is actually wearing the uniform (in which case she doesn't want to show it off) or her combat gear (in which case she doesn't want to show off that the coat is hiding her tonfa).

She did not wait for the invitation to sit down.

Makoto had expected Tsubaki to go straight to business, because that's the kind of person Tsubaki is. She had not expected her to be quite so... clinical about it. "I heard that Noellie got hurt, but I haven't been here long enough to get to see her yet," Makoto says, sounding worried. "How bad was it? I mean, if you know, if you saw her." Apparently Makoto is less ... professional than Tsubaki. Or strict, at least. Less strict about titles and names.

At the rest of it, though, Makoto plants her fist in her open palm. Loudly. "If I can find the guy who did it, I'll definitely show him what for. But - Ragna the Bloodedge? Really? /Really/? The Grim Reaper? They think he's involved?" That clearly surprises Makoto.

[TSUBAKI]
Tsubaki seems to blink for a moment before she loosens up, "Sorry, Makoto, I was not expecting everything that happened either." She seems to loosen up, before she shakes her head. "When I met with Captain Hazama he said Noel was unconcious. If she's woken up, I'd like to ask her what she knew. It seems she recieved the worst of it trying to defend the Captain." Makoto's gloved fingers lacing in front of her on the table. She's serious for various reasons, namely, the fact that she may finally be getting herself above the station she seems to have been shuffled down to. Working with a friend to make things better? She can accept that, and maybe Makoto would help keep her focused on the mission and not...the other distractions. Or well, knowing Makoto, keep her spirits up.

"The reports I have state he was in the area, and Captain Hazama says he was there during the attack. I have no reason to not believe him. He is you're commanding officer, you know him better than I. My division is more...loosely organized."

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
"I just want to make sure she's going to be okay." Now that there's the threat of Ragna being involved, Makoto /is/ worried. He's got a bounty, after all, a whopping big one, and it's at least partially because of how he attacks NOL. If he was involved in hurting Noel...

Well, Makoto has a harder job with punching him, that's for sure.

But Makoto is always one to look on the bright side: "I'm sure she will be. She's /Noel/ - and we can definitely hunt down this Chain Guy so that she doesn't have anything to worry about!" She grins again, showing the faintest hint of teeth. It dims slightly about Captain Hazama: "Well, I work for him, but I wouldn't call him my friend or anything. That's you, after all!"

And with that Makoto reaches across the table and thumps Tsubaki on the arm. Lightly. Very lightly. This might be part of keeping spirits up, but if so it's not something Makoto is doing intentionally. She's just... like this. "So, what, it's you and me and a couple others? I can work with that," Makoto agrees. If Captain Hazama ordered it, it takes precedence over her standing orders - those weren't for her specifically, she just happened to be part of a group assigned to it.

[TSUBAKI]
That positivity from Makoto is indeed something Tsubaki had been counting on. The concern for Noel from Makoto is to be expected as well. Tsubaki may have her own...reasons for not being as enthusiastic about Noel lately, but those were secondary, if she could complete this mission? THen she'd be on the way to fixing things for herself, getting back up to where she was supposed to be.

The light thump draws a blink and a smile from Tsubaki again.

"I understand, he did seem rather...different, and I would not expect all commanders to be friends." she finnally reaches over to pour herself some tea from a nearby teapot that had been steeping, and offers some to Makoto as well. "For now it's you, myself, and Clio St. Jeanne. She was in our class at the academy, if you remember her?"

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Makoto shakes her head. "I just don't know him very well personally," she says, which is true; she's never really connected with him. Or tried to. Makoto makes friends easily, but Captain Hazama isn't the sort who she'd try with - he's too boss-like, for one.

Makoto does accept tea. Tsubaki is very aware that Makoto will try anything... well, almost anything; she's learned to stay away from anything Noel has done experiments with. But anything from a cafe, certainly. That includes tea, no matter if Tsubaki has picked something kind of exotic.

"Of course I remember her! I've got a great memory for people." Makoto wraps her hand around her teacup once Tsubaki has put something in it, with a thankful nod. "So us three...? Well, that's not so bad. I'm sure together we can handle an awful lot."

[TSUBAKI]
A nod from Tsubaki, "I was hoping she would be able to meet us here, but I'm not certain where she's currently stationed. Depending which division she's with, and her specialties, we can better coordinate efforts." Lifting her tea she looked down into the reddish liquid, the scent a mix of things, she was told it was the cafe's special house blend. She then took a sip before setting it back down. "I was hoping at least you and I could visit Noel, once I recieved word she was able to see visitors." Tsubaki seems to relax a bit.

"As Intelligence I imagine you may be able to tap some connections around the city. Depending on Clio's specialties we can have her focus where she'd be useful and I...once we can box the suspect in, should be able to take him down."

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
"Maybe..."

Makoto is, indeed, in Intelligence. She does know some people. But she graduated mostly on the back of her physical capability. If you want her to break into a building and get something without being caught, Makoto is great. If you want her to follow a bunch of subtle clues, not so much. And as for asking a bunch of people around town? Well...

Makoto lowers her voice. "I don't know if you've noticed," she says, "but anti-Darkstalker sentiment is preeeeeetty high right now, what with the Gears." She only sounds a little unhappy, and turns it into a (slightly forced) smile. "I'll find what I can! But there's a lot of people who won't talk to me right now. I bet I can find something, though..."

For one, nobody knows you're a squirrel when you're online, and Makoto has a surprising number of connections on the weirder side of the Internet, where crackpots and conspiracy theorists chat. But hey, sometimes they know about weird things and bounties.

[TSUBAKI]
The reminder about that bit about Darkstalker sentiments gets twitch from Tsubaki. Is it anger at others for being so foolish? Perhaps. "Well, I hadn't accounted for that. See what you can find? I can make some inquiries of my own with local headquarters." she was going to have to make her presence known to Kagura at some point. Even with 0th Divisions mandated goals, assuring the head of the Duodecim, and the local NOL branches Commander that her presence there wasn't targeting him would be key. Who knows, maybe he'd be able to offer some information as well.

Then there's that memory of what Hazama had hinted, she could always crawl to Mutsuki and beg him to get her out of 'garbage detail'. An inward glare, that wasn't who she was though.

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
If Makoto could control other people's reactions, sometimes her life would be a lot easier than it is now.

Still, she's smiling again. "I definitely will," she promises Tsubaki. "I'll check in with HQ too, maybe they'll have gotten something - either from Noellers if she's awake now, or forensics, or /something/. 'Chain Guy' is kind of a... well, it's not going to help until we find him and then go 'oh, he had the chains all along!'"

Somehow, Makoto's tea has been drunk during her conversation. She's good at tucking food away, and tea is almost food. "Who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky!"

[TSUBAKI]
A nod, "Sounds like a good starting place for both of us then." She says, sipping at the tea and calming her nerves. "I hope so, though when I met with Captain Hazama he was oddly...guarded on it." a slight shrug. "If we are so lucky, that would be fortuitous." she smiles and seems to have finished the briefing bit of everything.

"If you're hungry Makoto, please order something, it would be nice to lunch with a friend." For now, she can indulge these moments and have some calm, even with the potential looming threat of the "Chain Man".

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
"Maybe he just doesn't think we can do it. Well, we'll show him wrong if that's his issue." Makoto is firm on that, at least - if there's one thing she has, it's energy. And optimism. ...those are two things, but it still counts.

Makoto keeps a smile on her face, and it seems honest now instead of forced as earlier. "That sounds pretty good," she agrees. Offering Makoto food... well, it isn't going to go poorly, that's for sure. "And it's been a while! I want to know how you've been doing..."

It hasn't been /that/ long.

Log created on 19:14:00 12/07/2017 by Makoto Nanaya, and last modified on 22:15:21 12/07/2017.