[Day: Friday, June 17th. Time: 8:00 p.m.] [Unexpectedly, the replacement-team managed to catch an earlier flight, and thus are arriving a day ahead of scheduel. Having gotten a phone call informing him about this, Peter rounded up the rest of you guys to go meet them. Funny how he's not here to do it himself, though...] [Anyhow, you arrive at the Tokyo International Airport, where the flight (EggAir 771) should be arriving within a short while. Barring delays due to the awful weather, mind. Did a mention the weather is awful?] [You're in the lobby!] [Mini Start!] * Chie sits in one of the uncomfortable lobby chairs, umbrella at her feet. In defiance of all tradition, she's wearing a white t-shirt with red sleeves and pair of olive-khaki cargo pants. Her eyes are closed and she's resting her head on her hands. * Lazar wanders up to the group. "Sorry I late. Was meditating." 'Salright, Laz. * Maria looks to the chair next to Chie and wrinkles her nose. * Chie opens one eye, then lifts her head up and waves at Laz. * Chomei looks around, blinking once or twice when he sees Chie. He walks over to her. "How ya feeling?" * Lazar moves over towards Chie. "How you doing, little one?" * Chie looks at the guys. "Tired, and kinda sore still. But, overall... a hell of a lot better than I was expecting." * Makoto is sprawled in a lobby chair, spinning a yo-yo in one hand and watching passersby with an expression of keen boredom. He's wearing his typical baggy pants, untucked overshirt, and tee-shirt outfit, except that today his tee-shirt is a bright, almost electric blue. * Rei comes running in, hair, clothes, and tail wet due to the awful weather. Her outfit doesn't clash quite as much as it usually does, though it's obvious she tried to cram as many colors in as possible without causing her eyes any harm. The green sneakers stayed, and they squeak on the tile. Her backpack, of course, is with her. "Hi guys sorry I'm laaaaaaaate!" She slips and falls. * Chie winces. "You okay, Rei?" * Lazar grins. "Seem like all little ones tougher than they look. Sure you no golem under skin?" * Makoto sits up a little when Rei falls down. "Heya, cutie. Don't fall." * Chomei looks at Rei as she comes in and winces. * Rei stays where she is. "Ow. Yeah, okay. Ow. Hey, there's lights up there." * Chie chuckles. "Nope. All squishy." * Lazar pokes at his chest. "Big dent almost gone for me too." * Makoto keeps spinning his yo-yo and looks for a moment at Chie. "I dunno, Lazar. They say women are supposed to be tougher than men. Seeing as how the women in this group are the only ones getting beat up, we should just figure that their speedy recoveries are all part of their resilient feminine nature. Or something." * Chomei snickers. "Does that rule also apply to Lazar?" ( Of course. The men just get blood drained. ) (Well yeah.) * Chie sticks her tongue out at Makoto. "You're just jealous that I could kick any of you guys' asses. 'Cept for Laz, of course." * Rei crawls into a chair next to Makoto and sits with an oof. No, Shorts. Lazar has yet to be hospitalized. No reason to go to hospital. It be very hard for them to find pulse. * Chomei nods. "Makes sense." He doesn't respond at all to Makoto. * Rei settles for a bit, then considers and reaches over to tap Chomei on the shoulder. * Lazar turns to Rei. "You better from ice thing yesterday?" * Chomei turns to Rei. "Um... I'm sorry?" * Makoto grins cheekily at Chie. "Yeah, yeah. I'd put money on you in a fight between you and Shorts, at least. Or you and Rei. Or Peter." * Rei punches Chomei in the face. "Apology accepted!" she says brightly. * Makoto ignores the hearty display of violence on his other side. * Maria snaps out of some reverie or another and waves to Rei. She giggles at the punch. * Chie rolls her shoulders, trying to work some of the stiffness out. "You know I'd kick-" She blinks as Rei punches Chomei. "The hell was that for?" * Chomei takes it in the cheek. "Ow... yeah, I guess I deserved that." (I love how Rei punching someone in the face makes people laugh. She's so dangerous. Rar!) He froze me with one of his super-lame ice arrow things! He did? Yeah! ( Chomei almost takes damage. ) Hey! Arrows are NOT supposed to reflect that way. * Chie whaps Chomei on the back of the head. "The hell was that for?" * Maria nods. Hmm. Nice form. Should use hips to get more power behind punch, though. * Chomei takes the thwap too. "Don't demonstrate Laz." * Rei rubs at the hand she used to punch Chomei and leans back in her chair. "Ow." * Maria grins. "True. Kinda liiiike..." she balls a fist. I will avoid the obvious pun that presents itself, here. A stone man proficient in boxing, and all... * Maria blinks at Makoto. * Lazar looks at Makoto, somewhat confused. * Chie stands up slowly and somewhat stiffly, and walks around until she's staring Chomei in the face. "You didn't answer my question." There's this old American movie. Cult classic, sort of thing. Guy's name is "Rocky," in English, which apparently translates to 'Stony' or something, in Japanese. ... Okay, maybe it wasn't an obvious pun after all. * Chomei looks Chie in the face. "It wasn't for ANYTHING. The arrow riccocheted off the wall when I shot it at that... toon-thing yesterday. It happened to hit Rei on the rebound." * Maria blinks at Makoto again. "Oooh. Right." * Chie blinks. Then blinks again. Then starts laughing. "You... apparently operate on the world's worst luck." * Rei is finally satisfied that her hand isn't in pain anymore and curls into a more comfortable position on the chair. At least he no fall and make hole in floor. * Makoto reaches across his body and presents his off hand--the one not spinning a yo-yo--to Rei, palm cupped downwards and away from her. "Put out your hand, cutie." * Rei blinks. "Huh? Oh, okay. This isn't one of those things where you give me a poisonous snake, right?" She holds out her hand. * Chomei chuckles. "Yeah. But what can anyone do about it? Do you know of any 'good-luck' charms that work?" Nope, not at all. Now, take this... * Makoto puts a yo-yo in Rei's hand and draws his cupped palm away from her. Don't let go. * Chie grins. "Can think of a few, yes." Maybe get four-bladed cleaver... * Maria blinks. * Rei blinks, but holds onto the yo-yo. * Makoto pulls his hand as far away from Rei as it can go, letting the yo-yo's string unwind. The toy is stationary in Rei's hand, but it clicks quietly as the string is drawn out. He finally stops spinning the other yo-yo. * Chomei looks at Chie pseudo-suspiciously. "Any that work?" Okay, let go. Uhm, are you sure? * Makoto looks behind him. Nobody there. Should be safe. Go ahead. * Rei shrugs and lets go! * Chie nods. "Yep. There's this shrine, see, that has a spring of purification. Supposed to cleanse all the bad luck from you and bring prosperity." * Maria watches the yo-yo trick suspiciously. (The yo-yo's going to eat Maria.) * Makoto grins as the yo-yo leaps out of Rei's hand and shoots across his body like a bullet. It spins rapidly, humming like an angry bee, and seems to leap in one direction and then another, snapping up and down the length of its string and sometimes even bouncing off the floor. Makoto has to stand up to keep control of the thing. * Chomei smirks. "Gets rid of bad luck AND brings prosperity? That's some trick." * Rei watches. "Cool!" Special trick yo-yo I got the other day. There's a little spring- loaded motor inside. * Chie smirks back. "It's not a trick. It's a ritual. You have to bathe in the spring, while the priestess administers the rites." * Rei nods. "Yeah, I was wondering what was making the ticking. Spring-loaded motor, huh?" She considers. * Makoto snaps the yo-yo back and forth, making a show of trying to keep a handle on it. For a moment he pantomimes almost losing control of the thing as it skips on the floor in an apparent attempt to chew Maria's leg off, though the yo-yo never actually touches her. * Maria blinks at the yo-yo, but doesn't stop eyeing it suspiciously. _ ( can't spell pantomime without mime... ) * Chie watches Makoto play with the yo-yo out of the corner of her eye. Hmm. Is were-yo-yo? *grin* ( *points at a random NPC* That's the mime! ) * Chomei scratches his head and smirks slightly. "Just what are you getting at?" * Makoto snaps the yo-yo back to his hand, where it vibrates ferociously as if trying to escape. "No, Lazar. Not a were yo-yo. I think. Though if I let it go and it tries to bite your neck, will you break it?" Well, I'm sure that I could get Eoi-sensei to qualify me to administer the rites. So if you ever wanted to try it... * Chie grins madly. * Makoto looks at Chomei out of the corner of his eyes. * Maria raises an eyebrow. She seems to be contemplating going after the yo-yo. Shorts, this is the part where you say it sounds like a great idea. If it try to bite neck, it break itself. * Chomei smiles. "Only if you insist, of course." He doesn't seem to hear Makoto in the slightest. * Rei keeps watching the yo-yo, but comments, "How to Hit on Chicks 101. Taught by Professor Makoto Imagawa." She ponders poking the yo-yo. * Chie blinks. For some reason, that wasn't the answer she was expecting. * Rei gives in to curiosity and pokes at the motorized toy. * Makoto lets go of the buzzing yo-yo. The toy promptly leaps to the end of its string and bounces off of Lazar's shoulder. It ricochettes in the opposite direction, apparently a little bit off its intended course. Makoto winces when the yo-yo pings against the receiver of a pay phone and knocks it clean off the cradle, before leaping directly at the doppelganger and smacking him in the forehead. * Chie looks over at Makoto. "Hey, don't push *your* luck." * Lazar taps Chomei on the shoulder. "Maybe things different in Japan, but in Transylvania, when pretty lady offer to do holy bath ritual with you, you say YES." * Rei yipes and tries to grab the crazy yo-yo. * Lazar grins at Makoto. "See? No good come from hitting golem." * Makoto brings his free hand to his wounded forehead, apparently having forgotten that the ~other~ yo-yo is there, and smacks himself in the forehead with ~it~. This causes him to let go of the string of the motoroized yo-yo, which of course tries to run away from Rei. Oww... * Maria blinks at the display of of 'when yo-yos attack', and begins giggling at Makoto's misfortune. Hey. Hey, get back here! * Rei chases the yo-yo. ... were-yo-yo. I knew it. * Makoto calls out to Rei. "Keep after it! As long as it's not going up and down the string, the motor will run out of power." * Makoto rubs his forehead. Maybe you were right, Lazar. You stupid yo-yo! No way you're gonna outsmart me! I'm gonna kick your ass! I mean, you don't have an ass to kick, but we can fix that, and ack! * Chie ponders. "The bad luck is spreading." She smirks. * Chomei looks at Lazar. "Maybe... But, I don't want Chie to do more work than she wants to. That is, if it actually takes work." He winks at Chie. * Makoto grins, abashed. * Maria starts after the Yo-Yo and catches it. 'Cause she's just that good. * Rei nearly runs into another set of lobby chairs. She ducks around them, not bothering to apologize to the nice folks sitting there (who must think she's *completely* insane), and then Maria catches it. "Aww!" I had it! * Maria grins and holds the buzzing yo-yo out to Rei. "Y'want it?" * Chomei notices the Yo-yo fest. "Bad luck is contagious, you know. Let it sit too long and it will encroach on all that are near." * Makoto pipes up. Yeah, I think I've got some bad luck now, and I need one of those special baths. * Lazar facepalms. * Rei eyes it. "Okay." She grabs the thing, then goes yipe as it nearly buzzes out of her hand. She heads back to the rest of the group, looking the yo-yo over. * Chie grins. "Oh, yes, it's very, very hard work. But quite rewarding. Perhaps Rei should learn the rites as well." * Makoto grins cheekily, even though he's still rubbing at the twice-thwacked spot on his forehead. * Maria eyes Makoto as she heads back over to the group and does not sit. Again. * Makoto turns that grin on Rei when she comes back. "You caught it!" Naw, Maria caught it. But I almost did! Really. I mean, I almost tripped, too, but I didn't, but that- never mind. * Rei goes flop in her chair again. Well, the motor should be winding down in a second or two. Then you can reward yourself, and Maria, by getting a better look at it. One side of the yo-yo is actually transparent, if you hadn't noticed, so you can see most of the machinery. Ooh. * Rei gets a better look at the yo-yo, quickly becoming engrossed with figuring out exactly how it works. * Makoto smiles at Rei, still rubbing at his forehead. Say, I'm gonna go get rid of this bruise before it bruises. As soon as I find one of the bathrooms around here... * Makoto wanders off. But Makoto, the bathrooms are evil dangerous- aww. Nobody ever listens to me. * Maria smirks. ... were-toilets. Bad image. BAD image. ...thank you, Laz. ... Right. * Chie sits back down, stiffly. * Rei eyes Lazar, then goes back to playing with the yo-yo. Makoto's going to get so lost. ... * Maria rubs her face. She really could've made it through the day without that. * Chomei takes a seat as well. "When were they supposed to get here?" Uhm... good question. Were they supposed to be here by now? They were supposed to be here already, but there's been lots of delays. Rain and things do that. * Chie looks at the clock. "Dunno. Ow. Head hurts." * Rei taps at the yo-yo, then pulls the string back a little and starts it. * Chomei looks at Chie with concern. "Are you sure you're okay?" * Maria frowns. Yeah, I'm fine. Really. * Maria blinks at the yo-yo and goes over to inspect it with Rei. Yo-yo! Should be all better by tomorrow. Honest! (Yo-yo in the hizzouse!) * Chomei blinks. "You got shot multiple times by an assault shotgun and expect to be okay in a couple days? I wish I had your kind of optimism sometimes." * Maria shrugs. "Hey, I was gutted and I was fine the next day. I'm sure Chie can recover pretty well." I guess I just heal really fast. Though I think I shall avoid this sort of thing in the future if possible. * Rei pulls at the string again. You have big rock guy in group. Take advantage of cover. *grin* Yeah... that looked really painful. The doctors did say it was a miracle that I wasn't hurt worse, though. Guess I've got some pretty strong guardian spirits... and I'm probably going to get an earful from them sooner or later. * Maria nodnods. * Chomei smirks. "Or learn how to dodge bullets." Or learn how to dodge bullets. Or hide behind the big rock guy. Guess I just had to show off yesterday, though. Yeah. But that spirit-thing was pretty cool. * Maria nods. You think so? Thanks. It's something I'd been trying to do for a while now. I guess... during the meditation on the trip back from the island, the last bit just sort of clicked into place. * Chomei smirks. "Well, it certainly clicked at the right time. Maybe you should learn how to get out of the way of the big guns next?" * Chie raises an eyebrow at him. "Do you want to get whapped in the head again? Because you're asking for it." But she grins. I could use the yo-yo! * Chomei rubs the back of his head. "I think I've gotten hit enough times today. You wouldn't want our assignment tonight to not have anything to smack around, would you?" He grins back. ( This IS your assignment for tonight :P ) * Chie turns briefly to Rei and smiles. "You could, yes. But it lacks that personal touch that a direct whapping would deliver." She then turns back to Chomei. "They'd better not just walk right in here and start doing that. That's *our* job." She sticks her tongue out at him. (Well fine, be that way. :P) They could beat up Chomei. That seems kinda sorta in the job description. Really? I don't remember reading that. It is. It's in our contract. You did read your contract, didn't you? * Chie pulls a piece of paper out of her pocket and looks it over. "Blah blah blah... hunt dangerous supernaturals... blah blah blah... beat up Chomei... Well, what do you know?" She puts the paper back in her pocket and grins. ( It's part of the health plan! ) See! Toldja so. More people should listen to me. (It's good for our mental health! ;p) * Rei nods. * Chomei rolls his eyes and sighs. "Darn lawyers." * Maria giggles. "Alright!" It say anything about salary? [A digital sign flashes on a column ahead: "Flight EggAir 771 has landed."] Sadly, I don't have the page that discusses salary. Awww. * Maria pouts. "But I have to have a salary. Otherwise I'll have to resort to a life of crime to make ends meet. Again." * Rei notices the sign and cheers. "About time!" * Lazar mutters. "Will have to talk to Peter about that..." * Chomei sees the sign. "Finally." * Chie stands up. "Come, Chomei. Let us greet the newbies. And if any of them tries to beat you up, they have to get past us first." She winks at him. * Chomei gets up. "Newbies now? You're learning." * Lazar blinks at the sign. Alas, he can't read Japanese. He can, however, understand the others, and thus follows them. * Maria grins. Gah! Does this mean I'm going to start speaking in leet or whatever it was that you and Rei were doing the other night? * Rei hops to her feet, rubs a hand over her wonderfully messy hair, and walks after them. J0in 7|-|3 |)4|2|< 51|)3. You're speaking in tongues. Perhaps you need an exorcism. * Maria blinks at Chomei. "What the hell was that? Did you just belch or something?" * Chomei smiles. "Nah, I'm fine. When you understand that, THEN you can start talking in l33t." * Chomei winks at Chie. "So don't get too far in. Because there's no turning back." * Rei rolls her eyes. "You make it sound like some sort of cult. Which wouldn't be that far off, I guess, but it really isn't. Honest. I mean Kirby's more of a cult than- never mind. Bad comparison." * Chie raises an eyebrow. "You are full of very interesting revelations tonight, Chomei." She starts heading off towards the baggage claim. "C'mon, guys." * Maria shrugs. * Maria heads for baggage claim, grinning all of a sudden. * Chomei starts walkin' to baggage claim. "Everyone has their surprises." * Lazar follows. "What baggage claim? Never been on plane before..." It's where people's luggage comes in, Laz. All the stuff they don't take with them on the plane. * Chie walks next to Rei. "He really *did* get lost looking for the bathroom, didn't he?" Ah, okay. * Rei nods, almost glumly. "Yeah. I try telling people, no, don't go to the bathroom by yourself, you'll get lost in the sea of people or maybe the toilet but do they listen to me? Noooo. And then it's their fault for being confused in airports!" * Chie nods. "People should listen to you. You should give him a lecture or something when he gets back. Or threaten to hold his yo-yo hostage." * Maria looks around at all the tourists and buisnessmen with their fat happy wallets. o/` [And off they go to baggage claim, where passengers are collecting their baggage. Duh. There were a fair number of people on the flight, standing around the conveyer belts, but there's three in particular standing at a small booth marked "special class". It must be fairly special, because they seem to already be getting their luggage, while the conveyer belts haven't even started.] * Rei tilts her head, then edges over to the people. Nice people. * Maria walks over to the people. Do they look wealthy? n_n [One of the people at said special class seems to be waiting for you. Because he's looking almost directly at you. He looks about your age, and incredibly handsome, with his purple hair short in the back, but fairly long in the front, and combed so that it almost covers his left eye. He's wearing formal-casual clothes and a black trenchcoat.] [The other two are talking to each other and checking their gear. The first stands out quite a bit: a pretty girl in Chinese clothes. She has very long hair, a headband, and a long thin case that's got to carry some kind of weapon.] * Maria raises an eyebrow. Does she happen to look anything like the girl in Chinese clothes from the incident at the bar way back when? [And the last one is a fairly attractive guy wearing loose clothing, with, oddly enough, a raccoon perched on his shoulder.] (everyone give me mind rolls -2 bonus ) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chie (2d6-2) and gets 8. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chomei (2d6-2) and gets 5. 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Maria (2d6-4) and gets 0. ( -2 Maria :P ) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rei (2d6-2) and gets 7. ( Brett> I... oh, wait. But I made it anyway. :P ) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6-2) and gets 5. * Chie briefly looks over the guys. Cute, and not trying to kill them. At least, not yet. This is a good thing. * Maria looks the guys over. She seems to approve. She shoots a conspiritorial grin to Chie. * Lazar eyes the three. They all look rather squishy. * Rei beams and waves. "Hi!" * Chie grins back at Maria. No harm in looking, after all. * Chomei looks at the three. Odd enough to be involved? Definetly. [The Chinese girl looks up and waves back at Rei.] * Maria raises an eyebrow and moseys over to Chie, whispering something in her ear. Are you guys Interpol? 'Cause if so, you're probably filling in for us... I think. I like the raccoon. * Chie whispers back. Raccoon? 'Sat what it is? The handsome guy nods. "We've arrived a bit ahead of scheduel." * Chomei is oblivious to the whispering... which is probably a bad thing for him. Yeah, it's a raccoon. Little furry woodland creature that's really cute. They're brown and black, and now that I can identify what brown and black is, I go one step closer to filling the hundred-and-twenty-eight crayon box in my mind. * Rei looks at the guy and grins, nodding. "Okay. You're filling in for us, then. I'm Rei." She holds her hand out to him. The one without the yo-yo. * Lazar waves at the newcomers. How tall are they, BTW? [The first guy (who also looks Eurpoean, I might add) is about 5'9". The Chinese girl is about 5'5", and the second is 5'7"ish] * Chomei looks at the newbies with suspicious eyes while waving slightly. * Maria is so short. ;_; * Chie is shorter than Maria, so, ha! ;p * Maria and Chie are short. Wah! * Chie breaks off from the whispering for a second and waves up at the newcomers (all quite taller than she is). "Heya. I'm Chie." [The handsome guy takes Rei's hand and shakes it. "Matthias Weiss, from the German branch." His Japanese accent is very good, you notice.] Am Lazar. Is nice to meet you. * Chomei nods. "Hello. Name's Chomei." * Maria looks them all over for anything of value as she waves and says "Hi. I'm Maria." The Chinese girl tugs at Matthias sleeve and points at Lazar. "What he say? I no unnerstand." * Chie speaks in Chinese. "" She looks surprised at Chie for a minute, then grins. "" * Maria blinks at the Chinese. "Chie?" * Chie grins back. "" * Chomei scratches his head. "What did she just say?" * Lazar blinks. People speaking languages he doesn't know. @_@ She just said that she doesn't speak Japanese too well. And that she says hi to Lazar. * Chie smiles at the group. "She's Xiang-Fei, and... yeah, Rei's covered the rest." * Rei makes a v for victory! Ah. Hello. Rei wins round one. Oh. FATALITY! I'll get you next time! Just you wait! * Chie grins. But I'm not gonna pull Chie's still-beating heart from her chest, which is all for the better, I think. * Rei sticks her tongue out at Chie. "Sure you will." The other guy nods. "They didn't exactly call us here for our linguistics skills." His Japanese is pretty good, but the accent is American- ish. Please don't. I'm still not over the last time that happened. Okay, okay. Settle down. No fighting until the next round. Is no problem, I think. I no speak best Japanese, and I okay. Right, right. Not until we have a decent ring set up. * Chie grins briefly at Chomei. "You're taking her side, aren't you?" She turns to Maria. "You all are!" * Chie then turns back to the newcomers and smiles. "Well, hey, glad you all made it." * Chomei smiles back to Chie. "Taking her side? Hardly. I just want her to have a fair chance when you kick her butt." * Lazar grins. "Is more important to no let bad guys eat you than to have good grammar." * Maria walks up the the 'coon and looks it over curiously. Bah. It's not nice to kick your best friend's butt. * Rei nods at the other guy. "Well, it's nice meeting you all, and thanks bundles for filling in for us. This place needs it." The guy nods. "Yeah, it was pretty hectic, but we ought to be able to take care of things while you're away. By the way, I'm Shiho Yamaguchi, from the American branch." ( Annnnd.... Everyone except possibly Lazar would know that Shiho is a female name :P ) * Maria smirks at Chie. "It's not? Why doesn't anybody tell me these things?" The raccoon looks over Maria, too. * Maria doesn't seem surprised, and goes back to raccoon inspection. * Chie smiles briefly as Shiho introduces herself. Far be it from her to pass judgement on how someone wants to look. [Maria and the 'coon exchange gazes.] * Chomei blinks once, then nods. "Nice to meet you." * Rei eyes the raccoon for a moment, then digs in a pocket and pulls out a shiny ten yen coin. She flips it to the 'coon. * Chie looks back at Maria. "Well, you haven't done it yet, have you?" Matthias says to Rei, "I've heard that Japan is rapidly becoming a new 'Hell on Earth', as they like to put it." [The coon snatches it.] Yeah. It's no joke, either. Lots of nastiness has been happening. That's an understatement. * Maria giggles. "No, not yet." She jerks a thumb to indicate Chomei. "Doesn't mean it hasn't crossed my mind." I bet some of it might end up following us, though, which should make your job easier. * Chie winks. "Since when was Chomei your best friend?" The girl grins at Rei. "It okay. I know Kung Fu!" Bah. Japan like playground compared to Transylvania. *small grin* Really? So does Maria! Maybe you guys can beat each other up in Hong Kong or something. * Rei considers. * Maria raises an eyebrow at the girl who just announced she 'knows' Kung Fu. "Oh?" * Chomei chuckles. Matthias: Statistically, Africa is the most dangerous place. But that's probably because they won't allow us in there to clean-up." Xiang-Fei nods at Maria "Uh huh!" Their loss. Well. Perhaps we could get in a sparring match sometime? Xiang-Fei: "Okay!" Can I get winner? * Maria grins. "Good. It's been too long since I've had a sparring partner." Laz, are you really that eager to pound something into the ground? Because if you are, I'm going to stand a bit further away... * Chie refrains from commenting at Lazar's statement. She's sure that Makoto would have, if he had been there. * Rei eyes Lazar when he says that, then folds her arms and frowns a little. Matthias looks Lazar over. "Perhaps I'll offer, when you return." ... was joking. See smile? * Maria smirks. "Yeah, what's with ya' lately, Laz? New rune still givin' ya a headache?" * Lazar points at his smile. "Am smiling. That mean I no being serious." * Chomei looks at Lazar. "Ah, there it is." * Maria giggles. Anyway! Welcome to Japan and things. Want us to show you around? I always wanted to play tour guide! Shiho nods. "Suppose it couldn't hurt." * Lazar turns to Matthias. "Probably no good idea. I no make good sparring partner. Good hiding place, bad sparring partner." * Rei grins at Shiho. "Shouldn't, yup!" Matthias shrugs. Matthias: "I'll simply offer. It's your choice whether to accept or decline." * Lazar shrugs. "We see." [The raccoon stares at Maria again.] * Maria experimentally puts her finger on the 'coon's head. [The coon flashes the yen piece at Maria just long enough for her to see it, then hids it again.] (Hee!) ( I'm a better thief than you! Nyaaah!) * Rei idly toys with her tail as she grins, watching Maria and the raccoon. * Maria grins, and snatches the yen piece from the 'coon. [The coon hides it!] * Chomei snickers. Oh yeah. Whatever you do, guys... * Chie closes her eyes, and leans slightly against the nearest person/pillar/wall/whatever. ( Lazar. He's all of them ) * Rei looks left, then right, then drops into a conspirational semi-whisper, "Never go to the bathrooms in this airport alone." She nods sagely. ( He slices, he dices, he stirs and fries! ) * Chie opens her eyes and laughs. Don't forget to pick him up on the way out, Rei. * Rei sighs. "I know. I'll probably have to call for Makoto over the intercom. Makooooooto! Where are yoooooou? I'll give you a doppel snack!" Yeah, that'll bring him out. Yup. * Lazar chuckles. [Mini has ended!]