Match of the Millennium

Description: Tairyu returns for his sister, though it would seem Echo has been giving the girl some... interesting lessons.

[ECHO]
It had been a week or two since Echo had decided to take the young Miku under her wing... or well, allowed her to stay in the flat she kept above her occult shop in Chinatown. Knowing Echo, however, she likely /had/ taken the young Miku under her proverbial wing, and had not only tried to buy her a fashionable new wardrobe (albiet quite dark, mostly blacks and reds) or at least had tried to. The poor thing was probably unused to designer brands the likes she'd likely never heard of, or were aware of their cost. Not exactly accessible to the middle-class. She'd also tried to introduce the girl to a little bathtub necromancy. Though this hadn't exactly gone the best it might have. The girl was perhaps wondering where her big brother was when the stray cat that had been run over outside had suddenly started to walk around again. Echo assured her things were quite fine.

The bat lady herself would be sitting at the large round wooden table in one of her black dresses and no shoes, lounging as she enjoyed a cup of tea and just seemed to be relaxing. A wide-screen plasma TV had been installed on one wall since Miku arrived, as the girl mentioned there was no large TV present in the flat. So Echo had just bought whatever largest model she saw on a whim.

[TAIRYU]
Being the adopted daughter of a Yakuza boss, Miku's 'family' probably wouldn't really count for 'middle-class' -- but then, outside of Yakuza matters, the foster-father of the Tairyu siblings had made a point of living relatively modestly. Something about staying humble. It would have certainly shown, when Miku was offered the clothes, and she certainly looked more confused than anything else. Pottentially even questioning the practicality of some of the clothing choices.

Or maybe the girl is just a bit of a tomboy. Who knows. At least she seems to appreciate the reds and blacks! She might not identify with the 'goth' aesthetic, but maybe he takes after her brother in some other respects then.

As for the... Necromancy 101. That she probably has taken a bit *less* in stride. At least it's still much better to deal with than the conditions at the biker bar. And she *did* avoid screaming like most other girls her age might have, even if there were some very, very concerned lines of questioning.

If nothing else, she's in a much better mood - and cleaner - than when she first arrived here. Lazing about in whatever cushioned seat is provided, in a loose dark-red shirt with a bucket of ice cream, staring at whatever distraction is on the new flatscreen.

Down below, the bell over the door of the storefront rings up to alert the inhabitants to someone entering.

It's not the first time one of the ghosts lingering around the store have opened the front door for Tairyu, so Echo can likely immediately guess who it is. The steady footsteps approach the stairs with an all-too-close familiarity, too. And lo and behold, inevitably there's a familiar Yakuza peeking into the room, with his weight leaned against a doorframe.

And some heavy bandaging wrapped around his chest peeking through the opening at the top of his partially-unbuttoned shirt.

"Yo."

[ECHO]
To her credit, Echo had been feeding the girl pretty well, and been taking care of her every want and need, really. She might think Echo is loaded due to the occult business she runs downstairs, but... no, that is not quite the reason. Not at all, of course, that's something that Tairyu doesn't know the depths of to date. And speaking of...

The incorporeal undead that she activates on the first floor to open the door for Tairyu knows who it is before they're at the door, that is kind of one of their jobs, after all. So when Echo hears footsteps, she knows who it is. As she has instructions to not open after hours for anyone besides a select few.

"Well well well, look who it is--Onii-saaaaan~" Echo grins and imitates the melodic if high-pitched voice of a Japanese girl in addressing the older Yakuza man, continuing to set the cards she had laid out before her. It might have looked like she was playing Solitaire by herself, though on further inspection it's Tarot cards, a rather old set of them, too.

"You look like something the cat dragged in, but where is the cat?" she raised a brow, she can smell the blood from beneath his bandages, the girl cannot.

[TAIRYU]
While Tairyu looks a bit amused at the way Echo has decided to address him, Miku... She lets out a long-suffering groan with a roll of her eyes, complaining, "Isn't that embarrassing? ''Oba-san''?" Aunt. Oh no.

But, embarrassing or not, Miku still hops off the couch and all but runs up to Tairyu to toss her arms around him. "WHere have you *been*?!"

"Ow, ow, okay, easy--" Tairyu mumbles and winces from the sudden pressure applied to the wounds that cover up his body underneath the shirt and bandages. At least Miku catches on quick enough after he's tapped her on the shoulder a few times over.

"I've had a really, really long day..." The man rumbles, as he pads his way over after getting released from the killer-hug towards the table where Echo has settled herself.

[ECHO]
"Oof, the girl has a tongue on her, doesn't she?" Echo gave a smile worthy of Anjelica Huston, eyes looking over at the girl on the sofa, before returning to Tairyu. "Sounds like big brother has had quite a wild evening, hasn't he?" Echo grins broadly up at the man, getting up in her bare feet and padding across the lushly carpeted floor to address the man directly.

"So, how was she," Echo smirked and gave the older Yakuza a friendly poke against his side once Miku is out of earshot. She is speaking low enough for her not to hear, at least.

"Is there anything I can get you, or perhaps you are in need of a little sit down..." she moved aside for the man to sit either at the table, or the sofa.

[TAIRYU]
"You don't know the half of it~," Miku chimes back to Echo, sticking her tongue out briefly at the bat-lady (not that she can tell that she is bat-lady but nevermind that).

Tairyu doesn't seem particularly pleased by the implications of what his sister just said, even if he doesn't say anything.

"I'm going to get you some water!" The girl offers quickly, with a quick slap given to the man's chest (which inevitably causes a light wince from him) before running off to the way of the kitchen. She's gotten used to the layout of the apartment by now.

As for what Echo says to him while the sister's gone? He grunts and mutters, "It wasn' like tha-owowfucking--!" ... Only for the words to get cut off into a string of pained expletives from the poke to his side.

The table might have been his original destination, but when it finally comes down to it, he's flopping down onto the couch instead, groaning loudly as he leans against the backrest of it. "...I feel like this is the first time in six months I've gotten to just sit down..."

[ECHO]
"The girl learns well, I'll be sad to see her go, she'd be a lovely sorceress... in due time, that is," Echo nods, stepping back from Tai and giving him some space. "Well, the good news is you're not dead yet, but even then, you'd have come to the right place," she grins, teasing the thankfully still-breathing Yakuza.

"Would you like pizza? the girl seems to be quite a fan," she picks up a box that was left from one of the previous deliveries and handles the slice by the crust, angling it towards the man's mouth.

"Coming in for a landing, nyyaaarowww--" she imitates the sound of a aeroplane buzzing as it flies down, much like one might do with a young child to get them to eat food. It's a pretty regular looking piece of cheese pizza, though Echo seems fit to try and feed him by hand.

"I take it you are no longer needing to hide her here?"

[TAIRYU]
"... You been teaching her some weird shit, Echo?" Tairyu asks with an accusatory narrowing of his eyes. "I wasn't really planning on dying either way, for what it's worth..." A heavy grunt is let out, and he tips his headb ack for a moment.

Up until the pizza is mentioned, that is. "...Yeah, sure..." His head lifts back up in time to see Echo bringing the pizza over... to feed it to him. Literally.

"...You know I'm not a child right...?" He mutters, even if he does open his mouth to take it in.

"Hey, I brought you--" Miku's voice echoes over then while she's stepping back to the room, only to halt at the doorway. And stare at Echo and Tairyu, while the latter's eyes widen from the sheer embarrassment involved.

"...Should I, uh... come back later?"

[ECHO]
"What, me? mentor a human in the black arts?" Echo put a hand to her chest, looking mock shocked and wide-eyed, feeding the man the pizza, while he can't immediately talk back. This is perhaps by design.

"I think I like you like this, I should feed you more often," she quips, before letting the pizza dangle away finally so he can speak, when Miku re-enters.

"What? no, no--he's just a bit tired, dear--rough day at the office, you know, the ladies were a bit too unkind with him, weren't they dear?" she gave him a playful pat on the side again.

"Anywaaay," she segued, artfully, "I rather like to think she's been enjoying her time here. It might have taken some... getting used to, right Miku, dear?" she turned to grin at the girl.

[TAIRYU]
"Riiiight..." Miku's eyes squint at the two while Tairyu takes the quick moment to chomp a mouthful of the pizza held out to him. His sister doesn't seem entirely convinced.

She sighs, either way, and walks up over to the two of them with a glass of water and a packet of painkillers in her hands.

"Getting used to it, sure... I don't know if I'm really cut out for what you do, though." What Echo does, specifically. Still, she holds out the water and meds for her. "I bet he prefers you give him these, mmm?" Oh she's getting sassy with her brother now.

"That's not..." Is about all Tairyu has to offer in protest, too.

"And you know, you don't have to skirt around it all... I know what nii-san and dad do. ...Did." Her expression falls a bit at the memory of their foster father. She never really had the chance to mourn her, with how the timing of her kidnapping worked.

[ECHO]
"Well, they /do/ say to 'take with food', right?" Echo doesn't seem to find a problem with this, putting the pizza momentarily down so that Tairyu can take the handful of pills, and she's ready with the water, off to the side.

"Try to chew them, they'll absorb into your system faster, if you are a big tough man, right Miku?" Echo grins, looking over at the girl then back to her big brother. Echo of course has this kind of cowskull grin on in the process, apparently looking forward to daring Tai to do just that. It's gonna taste really bad, of course, but it's entirely possible.

"Ahhh... girls, they grow up so fast. Soon she'll be interested in what all girls are at her age--homicide," she grins again, finding this quite pleasant.

[TAIRYU]
Tairyu does actually lift his hand up this time around, to take the pills. Even if he had just allowed the woman to... well. Hand-feed him earlier.

The dare makes him roll his eyes, but... he does then, in fact, shove them into his mouth, and a *CRUNCH* follows as they're ground up in between his teeth.

He does *not* enjoy the taste that it results in, for sure.

"Wh-what?!" Miku yelps out at the mention of *homicide* of all things. "What kind of teenagers do you hang out with?!"

"Don't ask..." Tairyu assures his sister. "BEtter you don't know..."

[ECHO]
"There we go, I'm sure he'll feel fine in just a moment," Echo then looks over casually at Miku, making sure Tairyu drinks down a fair bit of water afterward--it's helpful to wash the crushed up pills with, very much so.

"Hmm? Seemed pretty normal where I am from, darling--especially for girls around your age," the sorceress smiles, this time a bit less of a huge grin than before, but she seems pretty relaxed and casual about all of this.

"Your first date, your first kiss, your first axe, ahh... that takes me back~"

[TAIRYU]
"Where are you from exactly?!" Miku just kind of... stares with a hung-open mouth at the woman while Tairyu's drinking up the water.

Miku huffs a bit, crossing her arms and looking off to the side. "...Besides, I've already had a date before..."

Tairyu promptly sputters up some of that water.

"What?! I'm not that young anymore, you know?!" She huffs some more, even if her cheeks are a bit pinked up.

It's Echo Tairyu's eyes snap up to though. "You better *not* be giving her an axe too!" As if somehow her having a date is *her* fault. Somehow.

[ECHO]
"An axe...? What, like one of those things firemen break down doors with? Haha, oohh Tairyu~" Echo thought this was genuinely amusing, as in 'oh, how silly of you to ever think I'd do such a thing,' as she moves over to stroke his hair, smiling down at him.

"I'm quite sure I'd arrange for a proper steel piece to be smithed for her, some crude human implement?--I don't think so," she leaned down, still smiling and using an index finger to tickle beneath his chin.

"Your sister has grown on me, so far, like lichen on a tomb, I'll be sad to see her go--as I assume you've gotten a place, yes?"

[TAIRYU]
"Yes, exactly like that. Like the thing you *just* mentioned having earlier!" Tairyu points out in what's practically an accusation, eyes still narrowed at Echo.

Miku, though she's been a bit put off by a lot of what's been spoken about with Echo, does now rub her fingers along her chin thoughtfully. "I mean, maybe I could..."

"NO!"

Tairyu lets out an exasperated breath of air, even though he might be subtly leaning to the finger of the bat-lady aimed along his own chain.

"It's not that we didn't have a place," he explains. "It's more it wasn't... safe. But..." He sends a meaningful glance to Miku. "They won't be bothering us now." Nevermind that he's probably going to be assigning someone from the Family to watch duty with her. At least Miku looks relieved... even if her brother isn't going to be mentioning *that* part.

[ECHO]
"I see, and you're certain you two will be safe...? Well, you're always welcome to stop by," Echo grinned a little, apparently taking this pretty well. She /had/ been footing the bill for the girl while she was here, and it's not like she *cooked*, that was likely going to be a lot in takeout bills... Then again, the UberEats deals had been reasonable.

Somewhere, Echo is perhaps a little sad to see her go, but there is also the idea of getting some time to herself in the near future. It was probably time to start looking for some more work, and maybe attend to a few assignments.

[TAIRYU]
"It'll be safe, don't worry," Tairyu assures Echo - and by proxy, Miku, too, while he's patting the younger girl's head - and flashes a faint smile over towards her. "We'll be out of your hair. Just..."

Another groan, and the Yakuza slumps a bit more heavily against the couch. "...I'm gonna... just sit here for a bit longer..."

"He always does this, you know," Miku points out with a little laugh, poking Tairyu's side lightly. "Does too much stuff and then crashes hard. But hey, I'll come visit too! As long as you don't have any weird maybe-dead cats walking around again..."

Tairyu's eyes snap over to Echo upon hearing that. "What was that?"

[ECHO]
As if on cue, what looked like a gray-furred stray cat lazily strolled in from another part of the flat, and proceeded to make what was a hairball-esque coughing noise. Of course, on closer inspection one might recognize that the cat's coat looked a bit... lumpy, as if it was matted in ways it shouldn't be. Wait... was that a... tire tread mark?

"Ohh, don't be silly, you'd be surprised what the wonders of vetinarian medicine can do these days!" Echo surripticiously then shoos the small animal away with one foot, where it likely proceeds to slink into the guest room.

"I'm sure it's just her imagination~"

[TAIRYU]
"What?! No, that cat was definitely ran over!" Miku insists, even pointing accusatorily at the cat upon spotting it, while it's still there. "Look! It even--!"

"It's just dirty," insists Tairyu then, reaching an arm over to tug the girl over against his side, prompting a surprised little squeak from her. "I tell you, Echo, you gotta stop keeping those strays in here so long..." He's playing it off in a calm voice, though while his hold on his sister prevents her from seeing his face, he does direct a meaningful glare at Echo. "Right?"

[ECHO]
"So, you're saying I should stop letting guys like you come over?" Echo grins at Tairyu, apparently turning his comment a bit back on him, in a playful manner--after all, she /did/ kind of take in both he and Dennis lately, after all. She'd even renovated the place to accomodate them, in fact. It had been a lot more... ratty, and spooky there. Spookier perhaps than it was now!

"Anyway~ I'll order you two up some dinner, if you don't mind some Chinese takeout again, I might have to buy a decent fridge, with all this stuff piling up..." she mutters under her breath.

Log created on 15:00:08 11/27/2020 by Echo, and last modified on 17:38:27 11/28/2020.