5/22/2003

04:57 PM

Logfile from Chase.

The East River Docks

The farther east you go in this part of New York City, the darker it seems to get. Shadows cast by the Brooklyn Bridge and the raised parkway, the F.D.R. Drive, seem to keep this area in constant shade and perpetual semi-darkness. The air is somewhat cooler here as well, nearer to the waterfront. Apart from the South Street Seaport, which is located slightly north of this location, the area is mostly deserted by the tourist trade. Only hardened New Yorkers come here - the ones that can fend for themselves.

Dirt and grime are the keywords as they blanket every dark corner. The smell of fish permeates the air as a number of old werehouses, each probably garnering at least ten different building code violations, line the shores of the river. With so many places to hide and lurk, the dredges of New York consider this a haven.

Sayuri is here.

Obvious exits:

Bowery St. (WE)   The Mended Drum   Abandoned Warehouse

 

Sayuri

Darkness shadows Sayuri, from the inky blackness of her hair that cascades down to her shoulders to the dusky porcelain tips of her toes.  Warm mahogany peers out at the world from beneath a soft fringe of dark lashes, the delicate almond shape of each eye tipping upwards at their far corners.  Taller than most Asians, she stands at an average 5'5 in her bare feet, although her leather boots add an extra two inches to her height.  There's nothing about her features that makes her stand out from other Asian girls, but there's a danger that dances in the depths of her irises, a challenge in her defiant stance or devil-may-care swagger.

Not one to care much about fashion, Sayuri sticks to the school uniform as it's been given to her.  The stark whiteness of her blouse with the school emblem on the left front pocket embroidered in the red and yellow colors of the exclusive private school that she attends skims loosely over her boyish torso, her sleeves left buttoned at the wrists.  The soft fabric of her red and yellow plaid pleated skirt falls just below her knees, her simple white stockings rising just past her calves leaving a bare expanse of skin to demurely peek out between the material.  Her shoes are the sensible flats that the school requires, not her footwear of choice but forced onto her by the dictates of the headmistress who wouldn't allow any of her girls to wear boots with two-inch heels.

Sayuri appears to be 16 years, 7 months, and 22 days old.

She is awake, but has been staring off into space for a minute.

 

Chase is perched upon a wall that attaches to one of the many abandoned warehouses of the area. His back is drawn up against the bricks of the building, one leg dropping down off of the wall to dangle somewhat. And whatever is the teenager doing now? His gaze is trained over to an equally dilapidated building kitty-corner and across the street from him. Well, his gaze often flickers there before dropping down to faux read the comic in his hands. Well, would you look at that, the boy finally found something to do with his time.

Sayuri looks out of place in the waterfront slums of the docks, her pristine, prestigious school girl uniform setting her apart from the rest of the locals.  Walking towards the Mended Drum, she frowns at the door and then checks her watch again.  Pampered Japanese student just exudes from her every pore, but there's something in her gaze as she glances around the area, her eyes focusing briefly on Chase, that seems to suggest the opposite.  Hrm, the boy seems to be watching for something or someone.  He could get in her way.  Better try to distract him.  "Anou," she interrupts, trying on the lost foreign student persona, her accent even more pronounced than usual.  "I find that I am lost.  This is not the way to the... anou... what is the word?  Ferry, ne?"

 

Chase licks a finger before turning another page. He has only read this silly comic about a bazillion times now since finding this perch, and you can only look at the same pictures on one page for so long. Another glance through the fringe of his hair to the doorway further along, only to sigh in boredom. His rear is getting numb from sitting here. Girl in uniform is definitely noticed. Don't see many of those down here, if at all. And when she actually approaches him, he studiously tries to look enthralled in the comic. But she speaks, and apparently to him. A flicker of annoyance before he glances down at her from the wall he sits upon, "Kind of the wrong place to be lost in, don't you think? How'd you get way down here?"

Sayuri just barely keeps from grinding her teeth together.  The boy could get on her nerves.  She hates these cocky American types, they're almost as bad as the men back home.  It takes all of her effort to keep her gaze guileless and innocent.  "I am thinking that is correct," she returns shyly, lowering her lashes bashfully.  "I had wished to visit the Statue of Liberty.  But I find myself here instead."  Her English is painful to hear, the accents on all the wrong syllables.  "And now I am in need of assisting, ne?"  She casts a helpless, wide-eyed look upwards again, clasping her hands in front of her.  "Anou... will I be too impolite to ask for directions?"

 

Chase arches her a glance, a flicker of annoyance once more making an appearance. He shifts a little, pulling away from leaning against the back wall of the building and sitting more straight upon the wall. "You are /way/ off track." Glance flickers down the street for a moment, prepared to point her in the right direction before he seems to sigh, "You really should not be out here. How about I call you a cab to send you where you are supposed to go? Safer."

 

Patting at her lack of pockets, Sayuri blinks towards Chase rather pathetically.  "Anou... I have spent my last dollar trying to get here," she admits guiltily.  Would Chase believe that story?  Waving her subway pass, she adds, "It is far more expensive than I had believed to be a tourist here."  Ugh, she hates to pull these stunts, but as Chase is so high up on the wall, chances are pretty slim that she could knock him out before he caught on to her plans.  Safer to try to lure the boy down.  Even if he is only an innocent bystander that picked the wrong place to read his comic book, she can't take the chance that he'll see her contact.  "I will walk if you would be so nice and show me where I need to go?"  And once again she tries to look about as fierce as a bunny rabbit, and about that smart.  It works well back home in Japan, so perhaps she'll luck out here as well.

 

Okay, now Chase is going to look really, really annoyed now. He flickers a glance over to the other building, very reluctant to lose an entire morning and half of the afternoon's work sitting on his ass waiting for for a certain someone to come out of that building so that he can take his picture and be /done/. Easy money. Very easy money. Imagine all the CDs and DVDs he could buy with it, along with some actual food. He sighs softly, fidgeting slightly while he looks at the girl. "Yeah, New York can really thin out the pocket book." Although he is fairly sure that it costs a whole hell of a lot more to live day to day in Japan -catching the gist of the accent. But, you know what, sometimes being one of the good guys can really make the wallet a lot less thick too. "You shouldn't be walking around out here alone, even in the daylight. I'll show you where." And so, he hops lightly down off of the wall.

Sayuri tries to look suitably grateful as she inches closer to the boy, blabbering on about how thankful she is.  And while she's distracting him to maneuver close enough, she lifts her right hand, summoning her dagger forth.  Lucky for Chase, she's not out-and-out ruthless.  And hey, he didn't jump down to try to take advantage of her, so she'll attempt to brain him with the hilt of her dagger rather than going for the killing slice.  He's taller than she is, so there's not that much power behind her swing, but if she calculates things correctly, there's enough to knock him out for a suitable amount of time.  Enough time to make contact and leave before he wakes up.

 

Chase curls up the comic in his hand, reaching around to shove it into the back pocket of his jeans. "No, really. It's fine. I... wasn't doing much anyway." Besides hoping to make a good 'tax-free' thousand dollars for this day's efforts. Resigned to do his good deed for the day though, he looks back to her, only to get that flicker to his senses that can only be attributed to the use of chi. No chi he recognizes either. But that really isn't the point now as he startles, blinking across to the girl already on his guard. "Whoa." Not exactly a Keanu Reeves 'whoa', but more an astonished one. Arm is immediately coming up as he tries to dodge to the side, stepping back a couple of paces from the girl.

Sayuri's features change instantaneously from guilelessly innocent to rather frustrated.  She missed.  She never misses.  Narrowing her eyes, she studies the boy in front of her, repositioning her dagger in the palm of her hand as she takes a defensive stance.  "Well that did work as planned," she notes wryly, her accent much softer now.  "You've got good reflexes, I give you that.  It was almost as if you knew what I was going to do before I did it."  Peering over at Chase again, she cocks her head to the left.  "Too bad I'm too busy to find out exactly who you are.  Might be an interesting story."  And then she's charging forward again.  Poor guy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

Chase is being attacked by a girl in a school uniform, holding a summoned knife. Now, this doesn't happen to him every day. In fact, he can't honestly recall this ever having happened to him before. It is usually thugs that try to pull this kind of crap on him. You know, like Kenny. "If you're looking for money, you picked the wrong guy. But if you want the comic, it's yours." At the charging though, he simply can't believe his eyes. He drops back another step, hand flashing out. Whoops. Watch your footing, charging girl. Sidewalk just got really slippery.

 

"Do I look like I need money," is Sayuri's snarky response.  "And your American comics are boring."  She must add that because she's not happy to be here, thus everything American is targeted in general dislike of things.  "You should try manga."  And that's all she'll offer outside of a grunt of surprise because all of the sudden she's slipping.  Say usually doesn't have any problems regarding gracefulness, but she wasn't expecting an ice slick to just appear in front of her.  Thus there is much arm waving and squealing until she lands *thud* on   her rump.  "Itai!"  Ice in May?  Granted, it's grey and drizzly, but there's no way that she's going to believe that it's a natural occurrence.  Looking up at the Genbu, she narrows her eyes again and wonders, "Just who are you?"

 

"You aren't the only one to believe that about the comics," Chase adds as well. Especially when you've been looking at this one as long as he has been. As the girl falls on her rump, eyes aren't exactly averted -after all she /is/ wearing one of those schoolgirl uniform skirts. Actually, it is more to keeping an eye on her than any of those often accused hentai tendencies. He is a guy, you know. Standing at the ready, he smirks down at her, "Someone who /was/ going to be nice, but isn't going to become your sucker. You finished yet?"

 

"I don't know, are you going to cheat some more?"  Rising and brushing down her pleated skirt, Sayuri can't help but frown at Chase, her eyes narrowing.  "Just how did you do that ice thing anyway?"  Obviously he's not the usual type she runs into on the streets.  That could make things fun.  And now she'll be prepared for the ice.  "I was being nice too, you know.  If you'd just collapsed like a good little boy, we wouldn't have to take things to the next level."  And now she's getting into her fighting stance again.  "Bring it on, comic-boy.  Let's see what you've got."

 

Chase's eyebrows nearly jack up to his hairline at that. He snorts in contempt, "This coming from the girl that just tried to attack me after acting all virginal and pure as the driven snow! You've got to be kidding?" He shakes his head, drawing back a few more paces. Now, he can hold his own in a fight, mostly in the ability to avoid getting the holy living crap beat out of him, even if it does happen on occasion, but wrangling with a wisp of a girl who summoned a knife isn't exactly on the top of his priority list. Hand drifts to his back, reaching under his shirt to briefly touch the handgun hidden back there. Sometimes, that durn bow can be a bitch to carry around. But his hand moves away, without the gun in it. "Who the hell are /you?"

 

"It worked, didn't it," Sayuri casts a wicked grin over at the boy, not apologetic at all.  "Well, almost," she adds, her frown returning.  "I still don't know how you knew that attack was coming."  But that answer can wait until later.  Instead, she waves her knife back and forth in a tsking motion, "I asked my questions first, but I'll make you a deal, you answer mine and I'll answer yours."  Say may seem genial, but she doesn't change her stance, just in case if he's trying to catch her off-balance.  And she did see his quick movement, making her wonder exactly what he's got hidden under that shirt of his.

 

Chase watches her for a long moment, eyes shifting to the glimmer of her knife before looking back into the teenager's face. "Let's just say that I've got /really/ good reflexes. You picked the wrong bystander to mess with, little girl." But, he does actually answer the girl, "I'm Chase. And you are definitely new around here -or at least to me. Definitely not Yang. Don't think you are Yin... you must be another of those extras that keep popping up around here."

 

Oh, Say doesn't like being called a little girl.  "Bah, I think you're reflexes just make things interesting, Chase-kun," she retorts with the glimmer of a smile.  Blinking at the Yin and Yang mentions, she just rolls her eyes and shakes her head.  "Oh good Lord, you're not one of those New Age freaks that I keep hearing about, are you?  Tsk, what a pity.  You had so much potential."  And with that, Sayuri drops her stance, her dagger disappearing in a *poof* of blue smoke.  It doesn't look like her contacts coming after all, or more likely, he showed up, saw that she was distracted by the comic boy and decided to forego their meeting.  "Hrm, extras eh?  Like me?  Perhaps New York's not that boring after all."  And she'll attempt to saunter off, dismissing Chase all too easily.

 

Hey! Wait just a moment here. Chase was all enjoying this, actually a touch of a smile pulling at the corners of his lips, and then she goes to walk away?! Of all the nerve. "Potential?" he echoes, disbelief in the tone of his voice. "Okay, now I know you are kidding me." Now, he knows enough not to get too close to her, but that isn't going to stop him from darting forward to try to stop her progress by standing before her, "Yes. Extras, like you. Who make sharp and pointy things appear out of mid air." Yeah, he got another tweak as the thing disappeared, further solidifying his opinions.

 

"Hai, potential, but too crazy to be any fun," Sayuri returns with such disappointment in her voice.  "You would've been a fun toy, but alas, I don't play with the mentally challenged."  She stops and blinks as he darts in front of her, raising an eyebrow before cocking a brow at the boy.  Crossing her arms in front of her, she just studies Chase for a moment.  "You know that I can - what was it you said... 'make sharp and pointy things appear out of mid-air' and yet you're getting in my way.  Definitely not smart."  Eyes narrowing, she decides to lean in to threaten, "And that's only my little party-act.  I can do so much more than that, you see."  And with that, she'll sidestep the Genbu and start forward again.  "Go play with someone else who won't hurt you, comic-book boy."

 

Chase is like a puppy-dog. Pique his attention and he'll happily follow you around to get more of it and see exactly what fun there is to be had as well. But, dood, he is being insulted left and right here. That is so wrong. As she walks past him, he simply bursts into laugher, falling back against the brick wall of the warehouse in his obvious mirth. Laugher slowly dissipates to snickers, "A fun toy?" Alright, so he'll snicker a little more at that. "She huffs and puffs, and doesn't show me jack squat more than attitude. Grumpy at loosing, obviously."

 

Sayuri was trying to be good, but the boy doesn't know what's good for him.  Whipping around on the ball of her foot, she stalks up to the laughing seishi, placing both hands against the rough brick and raises an eyebrow again.  "Is that a challenge, little boy?"  Yeah, if she's a little girl, then she'll return the favor.  "Wanna see what I can do, then," she asks, leaning close to whisper in his ear.  Stepping back, she summons the dagger one again and slices open the palm of her hand without even wincing.  Spreading her fingers and letting the wound gap as blood trickles down her wrist and forearm as she holds her palm towards the Genbu.  Slowly, before his eyes, the flesh begins to knit together.  "It's a rather handy talent to have down here, ne?"

s/gap/gape

 

Chase is getting buzzed once more. This seems to be a common thing with this girl, zinging through his senses. He seems to perk at the tickle, gaze lifting up to watch her. He shies a little at the appearance of the dagger, sobering a little no matter the amused grin perched upon his lips. As she slashes open her palm, he glances to the girls face for an alarmed moment, a protest rising to his lips, but then he watches as she begins to heal. "Damn. You know what, that could be really convenient from time to time."

 

Sayuri noticed the shying, indeed she did, which is why she can't help but lean close again, tapping the dagger tip against her chin.  "Indeed it is."  And then she's backing off, tossing her hair over her shoulder and walking away again, because so much showing of power makes her tired and she doesn't want to ruin such a carefully planned display with any sign of weakness.  Usually she saves her little displays for the darkened alleys, where her pallid pallor is easily masked by the shadows.  "Pretty much makes me indestructible, comic-book boy.  You should be more careful about who you fight."  Oh wait, she started it, didn't she?  "People down here can be a bit dangerous, you see."

 

Chase smiles after her, a touch of smug satisfaction in his eyes as the girl starts away. Just like sometimes he could sure wish he was indestructible as Brice is. Would be convenient. "Definitely an extra," he mutters, pushing away from the wall. He arches his eyebrows about the fighting comment, hedges for a moment with indecision, and then finally moves further onto the walk. "Yeah, that's what I heard. Dangerous." A glimmer of a grin and then there is the glimmer of ice once more on the walk beneath the girl's feet.

 

Aurgh.  What is it with the ice slicks where there shouldn't be any?  Sayuri's not expecting the ice and thus loses her footing all too easy.  At least she wasn't running, thus she doesn't do a graceless flip, but she does fall on her face, rear in the air.  Good thing her skirt's long enough to keep Chase from getting an eyeful.  This is why Say prefers dark jeans when she's out prowling.  "Damn it, stop that," she props herself up into a sitting position and glares back at Chase.  "So you can create little ice slicks, bully for you."  But she's wise enough not to move.  "You're making me mad, comic-book boy.  And you won't like me when I'm mad."

 

Chase stands back and waits, and is greeted with the sight of Sayuri's rear-end in the air. He bites his lip hard to stop from laughing, because it really is an amusing sight to greet him. Grumpy thing, she is. When she looks back at him, he is the very picture of innocence, if only his smug grin wasn't messing things up. He drops into a crouch, resting forearms upon his knees as he balances there, simply looking at her. He draws his hands together for a moment, sliding one palm over the other and when he pulls it away, there is a crystalline dagger that nearly looks the same as her's only made of ice resting there. "I thought you said you wanted a toy to play with? Getting mad ruins everything."

 

Sayuri is seriously getting ticked and that smug grin isn't helping much, but she's easily appeased by the dagger's appearance.  Whistling, she twists her lips up in an appreciative smile.  "Perhaps you're not as useless as you appear to be," she acknowledges begrudgingly.  Touching the dagger, she quirks a brow up as she discovers its makeup.  "I take that back, it's pretty, but useless, ne?  How sharp is that little plaything of yours?"  Rising and tugging down her skirt again, not because it's flipped up but just for show, she quirks her lips up into her first real smile.  "Then I suggest you don't make me mad, and we can definitely play together.  Perhaps there's a fighting dojo around here somewhere?"  Frowning, she warns, "Of course, I usually play for keeps.  I'm not good at holding back."

 

Chase probably shouldn't be saying this, but the girl tends to goad him on to such pronouncements, "I've killed with something like this before." And that is the truth. He tosses it towards the gutter to melt away eventually. He sighs though, "For all of your ego-trips, there is the very real chance you might be able to hand me my ass in a spar. But I'm more than willing to try that out, if not because it might be fun to see what happens." Ming used to be really good at sending him to the floor when they sparred. He draws up to stand once more, offering her his hand to help her back up.

 

"Killed huh?"  Sayuri glances over at Chase, looking only slightly impressed.  Seems she'll have to see it to be truly impressed.  "Then perhaps there's hope for you."  And then she's frowning at his mention of ego-trips, but instead of getting riled up, she shrugs and admits, "Hai, perhaps I'm a bit of an egoist.  One needs to be down here, ne?"  And Say doesn't really need a hand up, but she doesn't refuse his offer, letting him help her up.  "And don't worry, I'll make sure that I don't hurt you too much."  Grinning again as she smoothes down her skirt, she adds, "I don't like breaking my toys."

 

Chase blinks at the girl for a moment, a touch of wary concern in his gaze before it lightens once again. Well, that is until he is blinking once more at being referred to as a toy. "Your toy?" Now, why does that description give him all kinds of shivers up and down his side, not all of them being all that unwelcome. "So, are you going to tell me your name or am I going to have to continue to call you little girl?"

 

"Sayuri," she introduces herself with a bow.  She noticed that Chase didn't offer his last name, so she won't offer hers either.  Funny how it's the reverse of Japan.  She's still getting used to people she doesn't like casually calling her by her first name.  "And before you get any ideas, it's not that kind of toy," she adds with a smirk.  Frowning, she checks the time and grimaces.  "Anou... I'm going to have to take a... what is it you call it... a postponement?"  Because she's set up a whole slew of little meetings.  "But if you're here the same time tomorrow, we can go play."  And with that, she's heading towards the subway.

 

"Sayuri," Chase echoes, looking after her. His smile grows at her comments, going smug all over again, "Sounds good to me. See you later... Sayuri -and as a suggestion, next time you might want to think twice before trying to pull a knife on just any Joe Blow... he might just be so average." Dangerous neighborhood and all. He watches after her for the moment before sighing. "That girl just lost me a thousand bucks." Ouch.