(D2, LM) You never know who will walk in the door

[Yasuki Taraka]

After bidding the lovely and talented Kakita a goodbye, Taraka turned her attention back to the shop as a whole. Sales were doing ok, but despite them being drones, they weren't literally flying off the shelves. The lack of Unicorn interest was definitely throwing off her projections, but there were other issues too. The Crab weren't exactly rallying to defeat the Spider. She alternated between her personal computer and her abacus, trying to make the numbers look better.

[Otomo Koroshi]

The Otomo burst through the sliding door with a great, ceremonial *BAGOCK* of feathers and gold finery. Large obovate leaves had been painted yellow and brown, with pine needles sewn in to the edges with tiny gold thread to make blinding chicken feathers that ruffled from a breeze kept going from fans powered by his assistants. A bright yellow scarf had been tied to his neck and somehow weighted in the front to give the illusion of a beak. Through his hair many dozens of ribbons held a red pompadour in rigid perfection atop his head, the great mass counterweighted by a cowbell that clucked everytime he moved his head. And moved his head the samurai did!

Dancing on sandals which were strapped to a reptilian leg ended in gold painted rooster claws, the Otomo flapped his wings and moved his head with powerful flexes of his neck.

"GREETINGS SAMURAI! WE WELCOME THE SUN!" He crowed at full volume.

[Yasuki Taraka]

The Otomo's entrance certainly drew every eye in the shop. Be they employee or customer there wasn't a single eye that wasn't on him. Including Yasuki Taraka's. She set down the abacus and sauntered over to him. She looked him up and down in all his glory.

"New chicken place on the street?" she guessed. "I don't mind if you dance in front of the store, Lord Rooster, as long as you don't impede customers coming in or out. But you can't dance inside the store, any more than I can fly carps inside your restaurant."

[Otomo Koroshi]

The Otomo's entrance certainly drew every eye in the shop. Be they employee or customer there wasn't a single eye that wasn't on him. Including Yasuki Taraka's. She set down the abacus and sauntered over to him. She looked him up and down in all his glory.

"New chicken place on the street?" she guessed. "I don't mind if you dance in front of the store, Lord Rooster, as long as you don't impede customers coming in or out. But you can't dance inside the store, any more than I can fly carps inside your restaurant."

Koroshi stopped dancing long enough to give a smart bow to the Yasuki who had approached him. A few waves behind him got the fans to disappear as the assistants faded into the background.

"Well met Yasuki-sama!" He cried from atop his gilded avian legs.

"I am Otomo Koroshi, and I am not here to sell chicken!" At this he pushed up a sleeve to show a surprisingly normal ring with the sign of the Otomo upon it.

"Bring me to your leader!"

[Yasuki Taraka]

The ring got a very appraising look. Few people were stupid enough to pretend to be an Otomo. Then again, few people presented themselves as a giant rooster. Once she was satisfied that the rooster didn't win the ring at the arcade, she'd dip into a respectable bow for one of his station.

"Regrettably Lord R.....Otomo-sama, My father, Yasuki Hiroto,, is presently occupied with pressing business." she said.

Granted, he was likely crying in a locked design lab, but that could generously construed as pressing business.

"However, as his daughter, Yasuki Taraka, I would be...honored to speak with you in his stead for whatever business you might have with him." she offered.

[Otomo Koroshi]

"That will be lovely, your grace rises like the tides to wash over us all! Your ancestors surely stand upright and show you the way, the many Fortunes guiding your every step! A thousand pardons for blocking your door." He continued on his clawed feet into the store proper before pulling previously unseen velco straps to release a smaller and more normal pair of geta from the chicken themed shoes. These put him at a more manageable height to speak to.

"I have been informed that you can attach cameras to drones and have them take pictures of yourself and others! Tell me everything!" He cried looking around with obvious curiousity at the walls, customers, and of course the manager in front of him.

[Yasuki Taraka]

This was a quick blink as the Otomo shifted his delivery, then understanding.

"Ah, no, my apologies, Otomo-sama, you have been cruelly misinformed it seems." she said.

She pointed at the clearly labeled 'Local Ordinances' sign.

"While modifying the flying battle carps is acceptable, it is not legal to install cameras or any other recording devices upon them. The Flying Battle Carps are meant to do battle against one another, like the combat kites of old, to pit two samurai's skills and reflexes against one another like the wandering duelists of old. The potential to use them as aerial spies simply cannot be allowed to taint them from their destiny." she explained, adjusting her language a bit. She would not and could not imitate the Imperial, but you talked to customers on their level. Yasuki cared about the costs, the Otomo seemed to likely be more moved with descriptive language.

[Otomo Koroshi]

"I beg your forgiveness then! To have suffered from hearing my suggestion to commit a crime, I must immediately make amends!" The Otomo bowed at the waist, which was a feat of some skill given his attire. It rang out with a great cluck as he rose again.

"And when I remember who suggested this to me, I will have their tongue torn from its socket!" He declared, his rooster face twisted in rage that faded like fog in the sun at the next moment.

"But my apologies again, how much do you make from the drones in a month?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

Well THAT was direct. She'd ask him to take her out to dinner first, but he apparently WAS dinner.

She smiled a bit.

"I could share that information with you, Otomo-sama, but I will need to know a bit more about you and who you represent. The clarity of the answer depends on the source of your interest: curious tourist, Imperial tax assessor, potential investor or fearsome business rival. Your ring vouchsafes your family obligation, but little else." she offered a bit coyly.

[Otomo Koroshi]

Well THAT was direct. She'd ask him to take her out to dinner first, but he apparently WAS dinner.

She smiled a bit.

"I could share that information with you, Otomo-sama, but I will need to know a bit more about you and who you represent. The clarity of the answer depends on the source of your interest: curious tourist, Imperial tax assessor, potential investor or fearsome business rival. Your ring vouchsafes your family obligation, but little else." she offered a bit coyly.

"Ah, I was hoping to invest in the work of your father as recompense for insulting the honorable work of your drones! I have been most ungracious and my understanding of the Yasuki spirit suggested that this would be an appropriate offer." Koroshi could not speak at a reasonable volume without a radiant weapon pointed at his head.

"If you are concerned about the tax office, I could call Miya-sama? He could immediately begin an Imperial audit of your family's finances and let you know of any discrepancies that need to be discharged honorably?" The Otomo smiled like this was some kind of present to be offered.

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka smirked at that.

"You needn't trouble Miya-sama, Otomo-sama. Unlike some businesses, we make sure we are entirely accurate with our submissions to the tax office. After all, it's not our money. It belongs to the Throne, we merely have the pleasure of it's stewardship for a time." she assured him. "Let me pull up our investor presentation for you."

She pulled out her personal computer and first made sure that this was Otomo Koroshi, interested investor, and not Otomo Koroshi prank streamer, or business rival. Satisfied with the numbers she pulled open the last presentation she made on this.

"So, you can see here Otomo-sama, we're reasonably profitable with the locals. But the real potential is with tourists. If we can catch their attention, we're in a position to dramatically increase production at low cost. Flying Battle Carps have the potential to swim across the Empire, if we can just get that initial momentum going." she explained, showing off the projections.

[Otomo Koroshi]

Were the Yasuki capable of pulling up files on the planet intranet of the Otomo, most of them would be photos he had uploaded himself, detailing the process of putting on stilts for an outfit.

"Miya-sama finds his job very soothing or so he says. But no matter, how much support would the Flying Battle Carps be looking for? I don't know how investment generally works given my position as a priest, but I did recently get handed a mine. My honorable grandfather passed, may his soul find its rest in the next world." He put his hands together and began praying for almost twenty seconds. Koroshi opened his eyes and blinked a few times when he was done.

"Oh...what was I saying?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka had had a feeling that this particular Otomo was not going to be swayed by a lengthy presentation, nor was he going to bring a ton of financial savvy to this transaction. Didn't mean Taraka couldn't use him though.


"We were discussing your interest in Flying Battle Carps, Otomo-sama. It really would be quite the boon to us if you were to enter the league and face off against pilots from different clans. I think it'd make for some really great footage." she offered, shifting the topic a few inches over.

[Otomo Koroshi]

"This I can do. I would like...five Battle Carps!" He put out five fingers for emphasis. "One for each color of the rainbow!"

[Yasuki Taraka]

Well that was...certainly unexpected.

"Sure, we can do that, Otomo-sama. So that's Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and Violet, then? Did you want those all from the Legends line?" she asked, because if he was going to skip colors, she was betting on him omitting Orange and Indigo. she asked.

[Otomo Koroshi]

"Are there others?" He asked, his player not actually knowing what the colors of the rainbow are and thus general idiocy abounds.

"Is White and Black an option too? Wait, what about Gold and Silver?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka nods.

"If you can name a color, we can have a carp ready in that color pretty quickly." she admits. "We can even have them repainted if Otomo-sama changes his mind." she offerfed.

This particular fish was wriggling a bit. Chicken of the sea was always hard to catch without a can opener.

"Maybe just pick the colors you want now, Otomo-sama, and if you change your mind later, we can fix it?" she suggested.

[Otomo Koroshi]

"But I want all the colors?" Koroshi said in confusion. He looked down at his fingers for a bit before shrugging and putting his arms wide.

"12 battle carps! You may pick the colors, and I will have them repainted if they aren't suitable. Now, how do they work?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka nodded.

"Very good, Otomo-sama, it shall be done." she offered.

Now for some clients Taraka would talk about throttle, and pitch and such, but for customers like the Otomo, there was something more catchy.

She took two controllers out that weren't tuned to a drone. It was a small space after all.

She demonstrated the controls pushing them in time to the piloting jingle.

"Up and down, spin around," she said moving the left control up, down, left and right.

"Left and right, to and fro, now off you go." she said moving the right control, left right, up and down.

[Otomo Koroshi]

"Ah, I see." He began using the second controller while speaking the jingle in time.

"When can I expect delivery? I am staying at some spa hotel, I forget the name."