No Shoulder to Lean On [Day 7, MA]

[Yoko]

Coming back into town Yoko walked with the basket held under her arm, same as she left. Cool and casual as she went. Inside a cloth covered whatever she carried as she walked through the village toward where she'd originally met the woman, to make her delivery. Following her way back through the village toward where she'd accepted the work originally from the woman.

[Yue]

Yue was going to see this through. Seeing that most of the hard work was done, there was only the formalities that were left.

[Dapper Dog]

Sitting on her porch smoking a pipe she is watching some children play and said as the samurai approached, “Best have something for me, because as you can see I am quite busy with my grandkids. I only pay for results.”

[Yoko]

"I brought a couple friends," she said, very much making that plural notable and then gave a nod toward Yue. Shifting the basket in her arm as she did so. "Want to meet them?"

[Dapper Dog]

"Don't keep me in suspense," she responded.

[Yoko]

Shifting the basket into her other arm she turned to make the cut in her shirt, cleaned up a little but still bloodied. "Met some big guy who swung an axe and had a nasty temper," she glanced toward the door.

"Mind if we talk more inside?" she said, then glanced to the kids and shifted the basket again so it was concealing the cut.

[Yue]

There was a story she was missing here but she wasn't going to ask questions. Not here, anyway. She gave a glance at the children and then back to the woman with a neutral expression.

[Dapper Dog]

Oshii grumbled and then got to her feet and went inside, where a brutish man came to attention as the older woman found a seat inside. She snapped her fingers and the brute brought her a purse that jingled. She pulled out 3 koku and said, “Don’t spend it all in place.”

[Yoko]

Giving Yue a little nod she followed Oshii in. Setting the basket down on the nearest surface, "I'll try my best," she said, giving a little smirk as she collected the Koku. Handing off two to Yue she didn't give time to question, at least not here, just giving a nod in place of any answers. With that she looked to Oshii.

"Got anyone friendly willing to look at this?" she said, lifting up the rear in her shirt a little, wincing as the fabric moved against the cut. "Doesn't feel that bad but.. doesn't hurt to check it out, eh?"

[Dapper Dog]

"Talk to Aji at the shrine she might set you up with something useful," the old woman replied.

[Yoko]

"Thanks," she gave a quick nod and then looked to Yue. Nodding toward the exit Yoko gave a signal for them to get ready to leave. But, "One thing," she said, referencing the basket. "Not that it matters much now, but- that the only reason you wanted him gone? Seems you're.. well, not a simple inn-keep," she smirked.

[Dapper Dog]

"He was bad for business," was her only reply.

[Yoko]

"Well," she shrugged, "good luck with that, eh?" and with that she looked back to Yue and walked out.

[Yue]

Yue looked unsure about the woman's answer but she wasn't going to peel that onion any further to make a stink on the nature of the mission. She did notice that she was given two koku when they mentioned three koku in the exchange, so she just assumed that Yoko mishandled it. Seeing that the woman was quite surly, they couldn't get their change here.

She would follow Yoko out and give a glance behind her, "Well, that was something. The pay isn't too bad, considering she doesn't seem much room to negotiate."

[Yoko]

"No, not likely," she stuck her thumb in her obi once outside. Giving a nod to the kids and directing herself and Yue down the path a bit before she continued, "Feeling.. well," she smirked, shaking her head a little. "She definitely used me but, that's the life I figure, eh? Gave them good enough chance not to have it go down the way it did," she said, as if a response.

"Anyway," she waved off that thought, "jobs done and you did well, eh? Kept me alive and earned your keep way I figure."

[Yue]

"Used, huh?" she said with a bit of disappointment before shaking her head at that notion, "I guess I can't get too bothered by that. I'm sure we don't want to trade involvement and responsibility for knowing the full story. If we get too involved, we might just end up doing it for free. In a way, we're just paid to not ask any questions."

"I guess I did...as much as I could for just standing around and not getting a scratch on me," she said as she held up the extra koku she got, "maybe we can get some chopsticks to break this koku between the two of us."

[Yoko]

Yoko chuckled, "No need," she held up her palm and shook her head. Smirking as she gave a little shrug, "Keep it, eh? Didn't ask you along to bleed for me. Wanted to have someone watch my back in case of trouble and that's what you did. Far as I know," she left her hand up but lowered it as she said, "but I think you can make better use of it than I can."

"I'll keep mine," she said, pulling up the koku and giving it a wave, "and consider I probably still did someone some good. Maybe," she glanced away, shrugged as she slid it back away. "Least a little, I hope."

[Yue]

"But...I didn't..." she said with a glance toward where Yoko was injured, not entirely sure to what she was getting at. With someone more gritty and surly, she would have imagined this pay would have been divided to who did the most 'work' and often injured translated to that. "You went ahead and took the job while I was being all shy any everything. Did the talking while I stood around. I guess that could pay for my share of expenses in arrows but..."

She gave a hapless shrug as she wasn't too worried about it.

"Are you sure now?" she offered for what might be the last time.

[Yoko]

"I'm sure," she grinned, giving a confident nod as she carefully made she to hook her hand onto the right hip where she stood. Not wanting to disturb the injury too much. "And I'm not gonna start claiming credit just cause I talked to more folk, eh? Talking is about half of what I spend my time doing," she chuckled, shaking her head.

"Got me into more trouble than I could claim it was worth-" she furrowed a brow a moment, brought up her other hand and gave it a tilt back and forth. "Well, maybe not anymore," she chuckled again.

[Yue]

Yue frowned for a moment but nodded in acceptance and pocketed the extra koku that she was given, "I'm sure you probably had to grease some elbows. I don't know if I would have gotten far enough to land the job in the first place. That's said and over, however. This more or less makes up for my time here. Do you have anything in mind after this?"

She gave a shrug and clarified "...well, for anything, not for jobs."

[Yoko]

"Where I move on from here, you mean?" she quirked a brow, "Well, about that," she chuckles awkwardly. "Glad I can help make up for the time here, eh? Cause.. well, I suppose that's up to people other than me to decide exactly what I'll be doing. Our new Empress has.." she smirked, shook her head a little. "She's accepted me at her side, to her cause. So.. well, my life only becomes a little more uncertain for a little while longer, eh? Figure things will settle in eventually but.." she glances away, chuckling awkwardly.

[Yue]

Yue looked a bit unsure at Yoko as she didn't know if she was being serious. It was hard when someone smiled and smirked so often. However, she did at least humour her with going with her tale. "You must have been far busier around here than I thought. How did you land something like that? I guess was it something relating to the events on the beach? Things have kind of runaway on me ever since the days have found themselves on repeat."

[Yoko]

"Yea- events on the beach that night. Ikoma Ren called for the meeting with the ronin, and I knew it's where he would have brought the then Sutorenja, eh? Which was how I came to bring Ikeda Ishi and Tsuruchi Shouji there. Then.." she gave a little wave of her hand in the general direction of the castle. "Well, things started escalating and happening, not that they weren't by that point already but.." she waved off that thought a moment.

"Honest- figuring it out where it started is.." she chuckles, shaking her head a little. "Not easy, eh? Depending on how you look at it. Best spot to say is at the inn one night, the first night it repeated, I took a right wrong turn and committed to what I knew was right, eh?"

[Yue]

Yue gave a slow nod at what she was told, "I see...Well, I'm glad that ended in something. I only caught the identity reveal but I found myself still preoccupied by the smaller things that were happening there."

She gave her a deep nod or a quick bow, depending on interpretation. "Congratulations on your appointment, Yoko-san. That's quite a spot and I'm sure you'll do pretty well. It seems a bit above your pay grade to be going around to collect a bounty on someone's head in the middle of no where...You really put herself in unnecessary danger."

[Yoko]

"For what it's worth?" she brought her arms up a little, shrugged. "Was told that he was a brute who used women to his fancy. Figured I'd go see for myself, make of it what I could. So, we did. Brought you to keep me alive and I trusted you, still do obviously," she suggested, chuckling. "I gave them a few chances to speak with me instead of fighting, and they made their choice. Honest," she gives a nod toward Yue's side where she would have put the coins away, "it stopped being about the money for me, never really was."

"Not directly, at least," she smiled, gave another little shrug.