[Day 5 - Late Morning] A New Hobby

[Kuni Sumie]

The Flying Battle Carps will see a new face entering the store. With the death of her prized character, it seemed that Kuni Sumie, unfortunately, would have to start from the beginning with a new character in Edge of Darkness. However, at this stage, why bother? With Yasuki Ayame's victory, it was clear to her that the game was now going to be a haven for hip, well to do, and very casual LARPers. Also, an excuse for people to flock over as an excuse to dress less.

Mega lame.

What other avenues of leisure out there could Sumie inflict misery on others?

[Yasuki Taraka]

The Flying Battle Carps will see a new face entering the store. With the death of her prized character, it seemed that Kuni Sumie, unfortunately, would have to start from the beginning with a new character in Edge of Darkness. However, at this stage, why bother? With Yasuki Ayame's victory, it was clear to her that the game was now going to be a haven for hip, well to do, and very casual LARPers. Also, an excuse for people to flock over as an excuse to dress less.

Mega lame.

What other avenues of leisure out there could Sumie inflict misery on others?

"....dead girl walking...." Taraka sang to herself as she came out of the back. The events of the night before had puled an old song to mind and she'd been alternately humming and singing the odd line to herself as she checked on the backstock.

There was a bit of a mental shuffle as Taraka considered the most appropriate greeting. But default new customer seemed the most appropriate.

"Good morning, Kuni-san. Welcome to Flying Battle Carps. Is there anything me or my staff can do to help you today?" she asked politely.

[Kuni Sumie]

There was a momentary stare from Sumie as she sized up to other woman before going on to explain the intention of her visit. She moved to the counter and found a means to rest her elbow on it while she walked. "Uhh, yeah. So, anyway, I'm kind of in the market for a new hobby around here. One that has depth, kind of cool, able to crush people, and most importantly, not lame. I don't want something that's super popular and finds its way onto the informator. If it's something that's appeared on a variety show or touched by people who are over 30, I might have to consider."

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka mulled it over with a glance at the leaderboard.

"So, perhaps a hobby where you can challenge people whenever you see fit like wandering duelists of old, strike their banners down, and see your own name soar to prominence in a competition of..." she pitrches.

Looks over the leaderboard.

"Roughly less than a dozen people?"

[Kuni Sumie]

"Not a lot of people..." Sumie murmured when looking at the leaderboard. While she was looking for something that wasn't 'mainstream', the leaderboard indicated that there was less competition than she imagined.

After mulling it over, she supposed that it was a small enough gathering could mean getting up on the board sooner, achieving her rightful place as the best player ever! How hard could it be to beat a few of these dorks? What's the majority of these players? Fresh out of gempukku "kids"? A bunch of frail old salarymen? Okay, maybe she was game.

She held up a hand after she reeled back her ambitions. "Wait, let's figure out if this is cool enough for my time. What's this about banners? Why can't I just fly and crash these things to take them out of the sky? Is the motor powerful enough to attach weapons, potentially?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

There were very good reasons, both economic and legal that they neither did crashes or weapons. But Taraka knew that this wasn't the time for reasonable logic. This was the time for Marketing.

She shifted her body language to be a little more casual.

"Pff, c'mon Kuni-san. Any idiot can crash one of these things. Where's the style in running them in to each other? And weapons? If you wanna play shoot-em up, go get your tokens over at the arcade." she said dismissively.

She moved over and gestured to the ceiling.

"Sure you could do that, but imagine this instead. The name of a samurai fluttering on a back banner. A standing challenge to all, 'I am here, and nobody can touch me.' Now picture your name on that banner, Kuni-san. Flying high in the sky for all to see, knowing you are untouchable. But what's this? Someone else dares to challenge your supremacy with their weak name on their paltry banner? You sail through the clouds, ducking, diving, before unleashing one terrifying burst of speed, slicing the string connecting their banner to their carp. Their name falls from the sky limply, their carp returning to their owner in shame, emasculated. And there you remain, Lord of the Sky."

She stepped back.

"THAT is what we are offering you here, Kuni-san. Now are you in or are you IN?" she finished.

[Kuni Sumie]

Sumie crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Taraka, as she weighed in on the particular pitch. Well, it only took her a few days before she finally witnessed a Yasuki hard sales pitch. Admittedly, she was kind of reclusive when she played rebel leader, to be doing some actual shopping.

"Eh," she said dismissively at first. "I was kind of hoping that the game would at least have a sliver of a chance of someone really getting hurt, maybe a bit of dismemberment, losing an eye, or potentially losing half their body and causing them to futilely crawl away as they bleed out on the ground. All the guts being dragged on the ground."

She held out an expectant hand. "You know, stuff that actually happened in samurai duels back then. That'll actually be cool."

"Well, I guess it would be a pain to figure out where to hide the bodies if something like that happened. I still haven't figured out all the incinerator locations in the city yet. So, I guess this is almost, kind of, maybe the next best thing," Sumie shrugged at the futility of the situation when it came to living in such a lameo modern samurai society.

She sighed deeply, "I guess."

Sumie then gestured up to the wall and shelves where they kept the various models and parts. "So, what you got?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

It was best when hard selling to keep steaming forward. There was no point in dwelling on the Kuni's misgivings nor trying to counter them. When the opening presented itself, you charged!

"So, we've got three models to choose from. First we have the 'Battle Tested Veterans'. Impossible though it may seem, sometimes people leave the hobby, and rather than allow our carps to be sent to the landfill, we take them back. There might be a bit of cosmetic damage, but they still fly fine and some people like a few scars on their fighters."

She moved to the second area.

"These are our Rookie Aces. Fresh off of production, never taken to the skies yet, but full of potential. A great choice for those who want a little bit of an edge in their fights."

And finished in front of the last section.

"Ah, now these are the Legends. Shiniest scales, swiftest controls. For those who demand the best of the best, these are really the only option."

She looked back at the Kuni.

"So, which do you like best, Kuni-san?"

[Kuni Sumie]

"How can they be rookie aces if they've never been used before? That kind of sounds contradictory, doesn't it? Whatever," she gave a wave of her hand, she wasn't going to debate the specifics of a name of something she wasn't going to buy.

Legends? Ugh, sounds a bit too pretentious and lame. Unlike her, of course.

"I'm thinking about these Battle Tested Veterans. It sounds interesting that you buy them from people after they're done. Do you know the previous owners or the stories behind them?" She asked curiously.

"I think I'm kind of looking for one with a tragic backstory. Kind of never used but kicked around a lot with all of the dents still there, never fulfilled its purpose. Maybe the drone was sitting around in a room at some point in time when a murder happened. You know, preferably someone's brains got blown out but it was made to look like a self-delete. The family then became none the wiser and sold everything to you and that used clothing down the street. Yeah, I'm looking for something of that tier." She nodded confidently at her choice.

[Yasuki Taraka]

As much as Taraka just wanted to point to one of the veterans and say 'Yup, that's what happened with that one', she didn't think a savvy shopper like Sumie would buy that. And to be fair, if she was paying for story, she deserved a better class of lie.

Taraka nodded.

"I think I have something 'of that Tier, Kuni-san." she offered pulling a carp from behind the counter.

"This one was named, 'Pointless.' It was originally a gift from from a sea captain to his son. The father would often spend weeks at sea, and he wanted to buy his son something to make up spending all this time away from him. His son said it was 'Pointless' and so the name stuck."

She tapped the box.

"His son would often sit atop Suitengu's Bounty Warehouse in Tenjin town flying Pointless. He said he was just practicing, but really he was watching for his father's ship to come back into port. The sight of Pointless always brought a bit of joy to his father's heart, he knew he was almost home and his son was well. Not that his son would ever admit that's why he flew, he was just practicing."

She tapped the box again.

"One day, however, there was a bad storm out at sea. Pointless flew, and the ship did not return. Day after day, the son would return to the warehouse, flying Pointless, but still the ship did not return. Until one day some of the other fishers brought some of the wreckage of his father's ship back into port. His son climbed on top of the warehouse, and flew Pointless one last time. The control sticks were found on the roof, and Pointless was found crashed into one of the boats. And that's how Pointless found it's way back to us."


This story was not a known truth. The truth was an abandoned drone had sat in the lost and found box in Tenjin Town for a full three months before it was returned to the shop. But it COULD have happened that way, and Taraka thought the story might be tragic enough to hook the Kuni.

[Kuni Sumie]

"Ooof, I see," Sumie could offer some grimace at the tale. Whether it was some sympathy over the son or merely the fact that there were some cool points earned at the two untimely deaths. However, her later response might cement which side she found herself on...

"You could say, that was a rather Pointless story, Yasuki-san," Sumie said with a snicker, unable to stop herself from reaching for the lowest of low-hanging fruit, if it was at the score of marginalizing the fictional tragedy.

Sumie offered a rare smirk as her arm was finally bent on the sale. "Oookay, you've got yourself a sale then. I'll take this one, sold. It's kind of three purchases in one, one Battle Carp and two deaths imbued into the drone. That's bound to be some nemuranai potential right there...maybe even a curse."

She seemed to smile darkly at the idea of the latter, only adding to the appeal.

[Yasuki Taraka]

"Ooof, I see," Sumie could offer some grimace at the tale. Whether it was some sympathy over the son or merely the fact that there were some cool points earned at the two untimely deaths. However, her later response might cement which side she found herself on...

"You could say, that was a rather Pointless story, Yasuki-san," Sumie said with a snicker, unable to stop herself from reaching for the lowest of low-hanging fruit, if it was at the score of marginalizing the fictional tragedy.

Sumie offered a rare smirk as her arm was finally bent on the sale. "Oookay, you've got yourself a sale then. I'll take this one, sold. It's kind of three purchases in one, one Battle Carp and two deaths imbued into the drone. That's bound to be some nemuranai potential right there...maybe even a curse."

She seemed to smile darkly at the idea of the latter, only adding to the appeal.

Taraka nodded, instructing the staff to ring the Kuni up, and she'd enter her into the leader board.

"Do you want to keep the name Pointless, or did you want to rename it, Kuni-san?" she asked.

[Kuni Sumie]

"Well, I'll usually name my things like 'Triple Zero Twilight Triple Cross' or 'Twilight Requiem Absolute Zero' or 'Darkest before the Night', something like that," she said with a shrug.

"That said, I'll say keep this one as Pointless, if at the very least to keep the dead souls who died around this thing tethered to it. You know, just on the off-chance the yurei in it awaken and tear my opponents limb from limb." She said pretty confidently on the matter.

Wait, wouldn't the would-be yurei be more likely to tear the user limb from limb? No, impossible! Not Sumie!

Sumie was about to make her way out until a rules question dawned on her. "If someone incidentally dies in a challenge, I don't get penalized, right? I think it would count as a no-show, and I would be the default winner of that match."

[Yasuki Taraka]

Sale made, Taraka moves over to lean up against the wall next to the 'Local Ordances" sign, the one that absolved FBC of legal liability, and tapped that part non-chalantly.

"Eh. We don't really go in for that Scorpion-style trickery around these parts, Kuni-san." she said dismissively. "Trying to win a duel without even fighting it is lame. People in the past have tried that. We even had someone who challenged one of their direct reports to a duel...and then ordered them to Aoihama on a business trip. If you've got to hide your weakness behind such things, it just ruins things for everyone. So we don't track 'no-shows', only matches that happen."

[Kuni Sumie]

"Ugh, it's not Scorpion trickery!" She said defensively. Okay, maybe she did consider that tactic. There were wonders someone could do if they could land a hammer on their shins. It tends to humble the competition on their knees.

"I'm talking more about the situation where someone dies during a match with their Flying Battle Carp. You know, like maybe if yurei suddenly pops out of a Carp and kills my opponent. Or maybe if they suddenly suffer from an unexplained heart attack because someone put their name on a Fatal Scripture. Or maybe someone with beef pops out of the bushes and decides to gift them with a few knives. You know, things that I'm totally not responsible for, but I'm still involved in the match."

She crossed her arms. "It only seems fair that my time isn't wasted when something like that happens."

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka looked up at the ceiling. That bulb was going to need to be replaced soon.

"Alright, Kuni-san. In the event that your opponent literally dies, and you can provide proof that they had scheduled a duel with you, I suppose we can give you a default win. " she conceeded.

She shook her head.

"But do keep in mind that Flying Battle Carps assumes no liability in this situation. If the magistrates start investigating you as 'The Duelist of Death' or the community at large decides they won't play with you, or wrap you up in a tatami mat and toss you into Mount Nakahama.....that's all on you." she said.

[Kuni Sumie]

There was a glint in Sumie's eye as Taraka allowed the stipulation. The mark of a good competitive player in any game is knowing all the angles you could shoot your shot, at least in her books. Not that she was planning anything! She was...just asking questions.

"I'm not saying it'll happen more than once! Just if it happens, I want to know that I'll be compensated for my time. I promise that I or the kami won't lay a finger on my opponent to cause them to suddenly die during a match that will end up in my favour for the win. That's my testimony for the magistrates later."

She picked up her new purchase in her hands. "Anyway, I'm going to go out and find the oldest or most frail person on the leaderboard to have a match. Again, not my fault if they croak mid-match. That's just totally a skill issue on their part! They should just get better. Byyeeee!~"

Perhaps the most cheerful she sounded ever in a game.

With that, she left!

/exit

[Yasuki Taraka]

/scene