Topic: Diving Headfirst

Kiyomi Kubo

Date: 2015-04-15 19:10 EST
(( Taken from live play. Thanks to Denji's player for taking part! ))

Oddly enough to contact someone through email. Even more odd is that it came from a handwritten script on a piece of paper. Kiyomi had never done something like this; at least not when it came to the opposite sex. Ms. Kubo spent much of her life behind the walls of St. Mary's, and the only men there had been the grounds keeper and the priest. It seemed dipping her toe into the world of racing had brought about a different set of characters into her life. Meeting up with Izumi outside of those walls only a bit after leaving St. Mary's behind and entering college had sparked it all, but Madness and the drama which led her into now being kicked out of her house? It had brought her here. Decisions which she should question more seemed to be cast aside for the chance of something new and exciting.

The man who wrote the phone number and email address had been both of those things. He represented a different life outside of her norms ? something she wanted to know more about, since it reminded her of Maiko; her sister.

Kiyomi checked the time of her iPhone 4S. She had messed with it to allow coverage with a phonecard, so she at least had a new number now ? but she did not contact Denji over that. It had been through e-mail when she said she wouldn't mind meeting up with him. Where? The docks. They weren't the mountains, but it was open and the smell of the seawater helped ease her nerves as she waited while leaned against her IS200. The ride wasn't painted, not yet at least ? so it still bore some scratches and other such things to the white coat originally held. The air had a slight chill to it, so she decided to wear that borrowed sukajan once more; the one which held the image of a tiger on the back of it.

"Crazy idea.." She told herself. Is it odd to think these things at the last minute? Maybe they should have met in the mountains. Then again, it isn't really the time to just start second guessing. If she got cold feet this opportunity might not have a second chance.

Though effectively out of the everyday work his family had used to vault themselves into a position that'd left them reaching inky fingers towards this new frontier, Rhy'din city, Denji found himself spending a frustratingly large amount of time on the phone, on a computer, managing the logistics of such a massive shift in manpower, resources and physical elements. All the small details of setting up a cell in a foreign, unknown land had fallen on the shoulders of a young man who'd shown so much promise and such a charming, winning character. Perhaps that was why?

It had been, if he was quite honest with himself, a bad decision. Sending the business card was perfectly acceptable and entirely logical. Sending a personal address, a way to find him and a paper trail all at once was, in retrospect, not the safest choice. Much less when the girl's mother was a lawyer at least nominally sworn to uphold peace and law. Those two ideals clashed, often violently, when in contact with the Yakuza's view on civilized life and how it should be maintained. All the same, he found himself thrilled by the prospect.

She'd wanted to meet in Dockside, the place he lived. The place the stain of occupation would reach first, and a place he already felt relatively safe in. Within the span of a short week, businesses had moved to the side of a new, shadowy force, citizens had seen the numerous benefits of falling in line. It was far from done and would not be easy, but this could be called something close to an effective base of power for a burgeoning empire that this city, crime ridden as it was, had likely not seen in quite some time. After a single stop at a steamy vending cart near his suite, the journey was quick and easy courtesy of the black on black Supra that he favored so passionately. While he wore suits dazzlingly well, he much preferred simplistic khaki cargo shorts and a tee shirt, white, that had a black tiger crawling up the side. While the engine died, a lion's final roar, he stepped from doors that opened upwards, not sideways, and picked a small, brown bag from the passenger seat. Pleased with the environment, he took in the car first, then the figure leaning casually against worn paint. With a calm, always composed smile, he glanced away from her and took in the gently lapping water. "Serene, isn't it? I am most pleased that you decided to meet. I admit, I was quite nervous when I gave her the message, thinking you would throw it away."

Kiyomi Kubo

Date: 2015-04-15 19:11 EST
Kiyomi?s eyes had been on the illuminated screen. The cloud cover up high did well to mask some of the sunlights piercing rays, but nevertheless, she had found herself needing to curve a hand over the screen in a small attempt at better visibility. The time checked and an app had been about to be loaded up, but the sound in the distance had her tapping a finger against the top of the iPhone instead to lock the screen. She tossed the phone through the open window and didn't even watch as it casually landed atop the drivers seat.

A few motions made to brush at her hair, then a few seconds more to fix the knee-long skirt she wore. A quick breath taken, along with an attempt at a calming thought before she took her lean once more; just in time to see the Supra peek out from a corner created by shipping crates and boxes. A nervous brush of her hair happened once more, but it looked more like she had been battling a small breeze that ran across the docks from the sea.

What are you doing? She thought while watching Denji leave his car behind. A nervous smile granted toward the man when he came closer. "I thought, maybe, flat land would be better than a mountain for a start.. and watching the sea while waiting is always nice." Maybe that had been smooth enough. She wasn't trying to be smooth, but she didn't want to appear completely awkward. Still, she had been the younger one here, and in all honesty ? she was totally outside of her element.

"I hear you gave my friend Izumi a car. I couldn't just toss your digits out after something that nice.." She nudged the IS200 a little with her back. "Got me curious, since you said you raced and all when we first met.."

In a strange way, he felt a sense of nervousness quite akin to what she seemed to be feeling, though he wore it with ambivalent ease cultivated by effectively living a double life. With the crinkled bag in hand, he turned more fully to look at the car, all the while giving Kiyomi a highly amused, if somewhat shifty look from the very corners of his eyes. "Ah, I see the real reason. You want a car." He did not show his sense of humor very often, it being just another thing that was required to be stifled in favor of impeccable manners and honorable decorum. He did, right now, laugh softly as he shook his head to dissuade the absurd notion from taking root. "I know how it feels to have something stolen, and between friends, one's things should be shared. After all, what need have I of another car?"

He was still, at times, starstruck by the organization that'd adopted him and taken him so wonderfully under a black feathered wing. There were times in his memory that saw him, when he walked nostalgia's callous roads, begging for food and sleeping under porches, in alleyways. Now? Now he made a simple request and saw results, within reason, almost instantly. He shook the thoughts away and laid the brown bag atop carbon fiber, gently opening it and holding a styrofoam box aloft, also opened quickly. "There is a saying in Kobe. 'Better to bring dango than flowers.' I fear it's all too true, we humans being creatures of our stomachs." The sweet, stick dumplings held by long wooden sticks came in a wide array of bright colors, some covered in sprinkles, some dipped in chocolate and others rolled in simple sugar. Placed back down, he turned his back to the hood and rested both palms, flat, while he leaned. "I do prefer flat land. I never was much of a rally driver."

Since you said you raced. Lips curled at the ends when he smiled, a pleasing enough expression indeed. "I drive for a living, yes. I have for quite a few years, since I was a teenager. It's an exciting sport, and it's an exciting time for people who want to start. Everyone should be given a chance to follow their dreams, and if the four of you can look back on these times years from now and smile on the memory, knowing that I helped make it real gives me immense satisfaction."

Kiyomi Kubo

Date: 2015-04-15 19:12 EST
"I want a car?" She pointed at herself for a moment. "I have a car." She proudly, almost too proudly stated while patting at the side of her IS200. "It might not be as fast as yours, but I put work into this." She then had to admit. "Though I don't know about half of the stuff I did." A small, nervous laugh found itself creeping past her lips. "I just followed what my friend Saori told me to do.. She's the real car nut, I'm still a little new at all of this. You could point at a tool and I wouldn't know the name of it."

Yes. Totally out of her element. She expected laughter or something more from admitting to her own shortcomings there, but she didn't seem too iffy about sharing the details ? as if she didn't expect the man to chide her for her lack of knowledge; his words had been the reason for her assumption.

"I'd probably wreck something as good as yours.. I don't think I'm at that level yet." Brown eyes then blinked. "What's dango?" She even sounded odd saying it. Though the answer came with the show and tell. "That's dango?" She leaned away from her car and came closer then to Denji.

"What kind of racing do you do then?" Kiyomi asked.

The girl's pride, something inherent in all youths, highly treasured before time stole the sublimity of naive ambition, sparked yet another muffled fountain of laughter from lips that showed honest amusement all too rarely. "You do, that you do." He could recall the happy days of putting love's labor into the first cars he drove and knew well the feelings that they imparted on tired muscles and sore, aching hands. "I make a habit out of spending most of my free time with the mechanics who work at the garage. I feel that so many drivers become disconnected with the car. There's almost a spiritual bond between a great driver and his car..." As he rambled through the eccentric thought, he bit words that could be taken as rather strange off quickly.

"What's dango?" Full of mock expression, he shook his head sadly and looked at her in a dubious fashion. "Are you sure that you're Japanese?" Chiding with teasing intentions, he brandished one of the sticks before him, holding it out to her. This particular treat was spring time green, the top half coated in sticky sweet sugar glaze. "Street food, from carts. Fried rice dumplings, some like them savory but I prefer them to be quite sweet." Even with all the stories told about his adoptive siblings, he was human after all. Living, breathing human with all the typical wants, dreams and quirks that others had.

"It's a steep learning curve, of course. The torque, in these models specifically, has been known to send drivers into a wall before they even drive ten feet. Your friend, Izumi, will need to learn those lesson quickly. Very powerful in the low end, as she'll soon discover, I imagine."

Racing. It was always that word, though he preferred to call himself a driver. His skills encompassed a much wider array of events than simple races. But, she'd only asked one question. Thankfully not two. "Drag racing, typically underground. I do, and will, race in organized events and most likely will join whatever circuit exists here, be it drag or rally, but I prefer street races. What do you like best about the driving, what style?" Common ground was safe ground.

"This is my first car." She looked over her shoulder to the very thing she had spoken of. "They offered to fix it up without me needing to help, but I didn't want that.. It'd feel weird driving something without putting in the work." Even more when she had gotten it for free; that had been one of the few reasons she felt as if she needed to offer some assistance, even though she had no clue what to really do. "Spiritual?" She questioned while looking Denji's way. "Maybe.. I guess. I do feel some pride knowing I'm behind the wheel of something I helped build.. I thought when I first turned the key that it wouldn't even start, but it did."

Kiyomi Kubo

Date: 2015-04-15 19:13 EST
Calm, yet nervous words took a backseat after his question about her cultural background. She huffed out some. "I'm Japanese enough, even if I've only been to Japan twice.." She'd take the sweet treat and hold it in her hand carefully. "Dango." Trying her best to copy the accent as well. "I was born, and grew up, here. We use forks instead of chopsticks, and the only words in Japanese I know are Konichiwa and Ja mata ne." She then paused with thought. "and bakayaro.. since an upperclassman always called me that back in school." Speaking of a place she had only left behind not even a year ago, it felt more like a memory now than anything.

"Dango." She then said again. As if showing she knew exactly what he had said now. Then took a small bite. Her face lit up slightly in surprise at the taste. "It's good.."

Her attention had been on the treat for a few moments, though Denji pulled her back with his words. "Drag racing? What's your best time? My friend Nana is interested in it." His question of style had her thinking. ".. Drifting?" She sounded as, as if, she were gauging to see if that had been a style or not. She truly had been a novice. ?I?m wondering of my ride is fast enough though.?

Her questioning word was what he'd expected and, in a sense, what he'd not honestly wanted to answer. "Yeah...spiritual." For once, his polished manners faltered and he shrugged loosely. "A connection, a shared understanding with something that you've given work to, in the hopes that it will give you speed, I guess." He knew, almost instantly, that he likely sounded quite lame. A far cry from the refined figured that stepped out of hundred thousand dollar cars to the shouts of drunken crowds all desperate for a touch, a look. "It feels more natural, I suppose."

"You should have fought him, or her." An addendum to the final word she spoke in his much more familiar tongue. When speaking English, his accent was crisp, punctual and truncated. Clearly a second language and clearly taught in an incredibly formal, classical manner filled with diction and prose, proper grammar and flawless execution in the hopes of presenting a perfectly tuned image. "I rarely tolerate blatant disrespect, an attitude I think many could benefit from."

He followed suit, nibbling aimlessly at a dark red dumpling dipped in chocolate. Polite mannerisms demanded that he draw a pair of napkins from the bag's bottom, one held out towards his companion and one used to daintily wipe at his mouth. Though only marginally above the common street thugs, so much more was expected from one of the many faces of his familial enterprise. "Quarter mile? Six and a half second. Half mile, 8, and a full mile was around 10 and a quarter." He patted the hood with great affection, true love. "Not in this, mind you, no. Too much high end power for a shorter drag. This is fine for two miles, one and a half. Nothing shorter." His brow perked at the mention of drifting, entirely the most dangerous niche driving environment. "I've only done that a few times myself. It's too technical, too restrained for me. Secondly, you'd not want a fast car for it, not at all. Quite the opposite."

Maybe it did sound lame. But he had been speaking to a teenager who wanted nothing more than to throw herself into the scene. His words, if anything, only put the man onto somewhat more of a pedestal than she had already set him on. Is this what all racers were like? Or, as he said, is there only some who take the time to both work on and drive their chosen cars? Kiyomi's lips curved into the smallest sort of a smile in reaction to Denji's words of spirit and understanding ? of the connection between a driver and their ride.

Most, he would admit if pressed, when they reached the heights of their trade, and he had surely reached the very pinnacle of his particular scene, would rather be seen out at the parties, conventions and myriad events instead of spending time with greasy hands and oil smudges on their cheeks. He was, and quite proudly, not one of those. While he did go out, everything was planned around the needs of his career and his other more nefarious obligations. Coaxed out by her own, he revealed a silent smile after swiping at a particularly annoying spot of chocolate that had taken up residence on the side of his cheek. Happily, it partially covered a thin scar that was easily seen when he smiled.

"Spiritual." She'd tilt the stick his way. A point of it to maybe show that she understood where he had been going with his words. She'd then lift it up and take a bite out of the second dumpling. "I did fight her.. this might sound silly, but we had gangs back in High School. She was my leader, we had fun together.. Then she graduated and put the club on my shoulders. It was rough, but fun."

She brushed some at her hair while explaining and looked away. "I graduated before winter. Thinking back on it ? I miss it." She nervously looked to her feet, then off to the sea. "I guess it's all childish.. But, it felt like freedom."

She then shook her head and finished the second dumpling. Denji's talk of times had her blinking at him. She knew those had been fast, she had seen enough drag races on the internet to know that much.

".. You don't want to be fast? Doesn't being fast win the race?" She almost felt too awkward to say that, like a child who knew the answer was wrong yet still asked it anyway.

"When driving in a straight line, absolutely. When driving on a track, partially. When drifting, absolutely not. The intention is retaining as much low end torque as possible and converting it to effective horsepower, which keeps you in control while turning, or 'drifting'. Hence the technical aspect. Even in rally racing, it's never the straight runs that win races, always how coming in and out of turns is controlled, and that takes torque, not horsepower." He seemed more than willing to speak, always benign, rarely condescending, about such matters.

"Also," She added soon after he finished. "I'm sorry you had to see that.. between my father and I."

Kiyomi Kubo

Date: 2015-04-15 19:13 EST
"I've spats with my adoptive fathers as well. It happens to all of us. While I don't think I like the idea of you being struck, it is none of my business, is it?" One hand rose and brushed her concern away quickly, almost humorously. "Your friends were most afraid of kidnap, but who goes willingly with someone with those intentions? Inexperienced, I assume."

After a pause, Kiyomi spoke again. "He's my father, he just wants what's best for me.. Even if it's not what I want." She shook her head. This probably wasn't the place to talk about her issues.

"I did not know my actual father, so my only experience with them comes from another source. I suspect that they are all the same, though." Silent sympathy, perhaps? He'd clashed with his 'fathers' on a few occasions before.

Though a change of subject came soon enough. Latching onto the subject of gangs brought up before. "Gangs, I see. A part of life, I assume." She spoke, whether she knew it or not, about things he understood on an incredibly intimate level. Moments of enjoyment wrapped around power struggles and hard transitions, shifts and swerves in the most baffling of direction. "I think I may understand what you went through, Kiyomi. Assuming leadership of anything is...." He became partially serious, care worn and already pushed to the edge of his capacity to micromanage the sudden move. "...stressful, isn't it?"

"A little. Taking care of all the girls, making sure we kept our area.. And other things that happened, it was a lot of work on top of studying, but I don't think I ever hated it for too long.. We had fun, it made time fly.. I wish it hadn't went by so fast, maybe I'm a little homesick." Home had been St. Mary's, a place she frequented more than her own true home in New Haven.

Happily enough, she distracted him even as he reached down and ignored a phone call while setting the ringer to silent. That could wait, given the number that'd shown up on the previously dark screen. "By the way, I attempted to obtain your phone in hopes of returning it when we met, but the man you fought wouldn't give it to me for whatever reason. The people here will learn, sooner or later." Learn what? He did not speak further on that.

"Ah yes, the family aspect of gang life. I've never enjoyed the term, and we do not, by any stretch of the imagination, allows ours--.." And there he stopped, equally unsure. It was a fatal flaw for the members of a dark brotherhood, pride and an utter, absolutely unwillingness to hide what they'd become, devoted so much of their time and lives to. They were easy to read road maps, but so few bothered to look past and see how the work was done, what it meant. It was most evident on his forearms, the black dragons that crawled up under his shirt sleeves, black with brilliant, emerald green eyes. "I know the feeling, being home sick. I often miss Kobe." He loved his homeland, loved it as he did all things, passionately and with his entire being. There was no shame in speaking those words.

She then noticed something. "You.. Uh." She tried her best to explain it with a few gestures of a finger against her own cheek, but she soon enough licked her thumb and reached out with an absent thought to brush away at the scar-line of chocolate that had lingered on Denji's cheek. When she realized what she had done; something she would not have thought twice to do for another girl, she found herself backing up a step while lowering her arm. "Sorry." She said while raising a hand to toy with her bangs once more. No matter her attempt at pushing them off to the side, they would soon enough fall back in their original position some seconds later.

"Eh?" Her expressions had become quite strange, baffling gestures indeed. Why are women so strange? He pondered this as he watched her through curious, squinted eyes. Apparently he'd missed something quite important. "Ah!" Relief became laughter as she smoothed away the patch of chocolate he must have missed by very few inches. "That's....most embarrassing." He typically had something prepared for any event, but for this? That was all he could come up with. "Thank you." Uttered in soft tones, he looked down at the ground between them for long moments while he digested her words.

Kiyomi Kubo

Date: 2015-04-15 19:14 EST
The incident with the chocolate had been better left alone. Kiyomi did little more then let out a breath while dipping her chin to hide the small hint of a smile that appeared on her lips in reaction to his own. "It's alright."

"Racing." She'd say. A change of subject while nodding her head. "I know my IS can drift, I just wonder how well I can do in any race.. I'm not looking to put up any money though." She didn't have the cash after all. "Drag racing though, do you think I could do it in this?" She pressed a hand to the rear window. "Or should I look into fixing something new?"

"It'd depend on the people you raced with, of course. Against, say, any car that's picked off a lot, of course you'd be fine. They are quick..." His eyes cut to her car, clarifying the comment. "for their level. Back home, there were brackets, of course. With work, they can move up, but if we're being honest...." His next glance took in his car, then her's before it swept back up bangs that hid her eyes partially. "only to an extent. Do you shift well?" Again, he seemed willing to move into more common ground. "It's where most fail. Nothing is more important than the first two seconds."

"I think Izumi and the gang are going to do drag races first.. I'm not really sure, but I think to start out ? maybe." She really needed to ask. She hung out with Saori more compared to Izumi and Nana, so she really needed to get herself in the loop fully. "Maybe move onto something more after, I'll have to ask.. but I think starting with drag racing would be nice, but I'd really like to drift."

Another brush of her bangs happened as she moved to lift her head. "It needs work, I can't lie. Back when my sister was around she showed me how to shift, but I don't really know much.. I was nine at the time, and even then she was just doing it to show me the car that she had hidden away in the parking garage." Kiyomi ran a hand across the side of her neck in a nervous show. "I'm a little slow, and I can't really drift that well.. I've practiced."

"I've wrecked countless cars, there's no shame in the cost of learning." He likely would wreck more, if he spoke honestly. "Probably closer to the the ten, maybe fifteen mark, though I've left more blown engines than that, of course." It was a simple product of the life he lived, cost accepted for reward. He, of course, didn't pay for any of the damage. Not anymore, at least. There was always someone with deeper communal pockets more than willing to pay so long as he dazzled crowds and presented a glorious facade for the public eye.

"I've made the same offer to Izumi. If there's ever work that needs to be done, parts that can not easily be had here, specialized tools or even specialist mechanics, she has the address to the garage I work out of." It wasn't quite so far from where they stood right now, in fact. "I mean what I say, with no ulterior motives, no strings attached. We're a small community, a very select group of people. What can we think of ourselves if we do not help?" No direct ulterior motive, at least. Nothing that could be counted or evaluated by cost, but the benefits were surely there to be had.

Kiyomi looked to the IS200 again. "I clipped a pole in the parking lot I was practicing in, thought I tore off the bumper with how wide I went.. but it wasn't so bad." She shrugged her shoulders sheepishly. "I got lots of room to improve. My teachers always told me to apply myself."

He laughs softly at her description of the minor incident and wasn't able to avoid seeing the scratches and dents in a new light. Truth behind the story made the wounds seem like lover's scars, almost required to keep the character of such a vehicle. "We all have room to improve somewhere. Myself included." Suddenly introspective, he turned away.

Kiyomi Kubo

Date: 2015-04-15 19:15 EST
Another question came to Kiyomi?s mind then. Something that had bothered her when she heard Denji speak of the family aspect of gang life. I've never enjoyed the term, and we do not--. It had been enough to have her beginning to piece things together. Even more when she connected more dots. "Denji.." She began while awkwardly shifting in her stance.

".. There's another Japanese word I know." She didn't know how to say this. It was awkward and a little scary at that; since she truly did not know what the reaction would be. ".. Your tattoos, and what you almost said." She swallowed back and looked up to his green eyes. "Are you a Yakuza?"

Drawn back by the questioning nature of his spoken name, he turned to face her fully, both arms crossed over his chest. Though a defensive posture it was, it seemed quite natural as well. He'd answered this question countless times before. She, she had to know. She of all people, with her mother that his associates had already identified. Having spent time around a lawyer, how could it not be obvious. Still crossed, his arms shifted as he shrugged in a haphazard, differential manner. With his chin angled downwards, his eyes found her own, more curious than she might be. "And if I am?"

Denji?s simple question had been enough to cast Kiyomi into a fog of silence; as if she were truly thinking hard about what she should say next. Her form shifted, her feet shuffled. She crossed an arm under her burst while the elbow of the other set against her wrist. The dango brought to her lips once more for a bite while she looked out to the sea.

The simple question had, as he'd done so many times before, thrown the emphasis entirely in someone else's court. The beauty of a criminal organization that was so readily accepted was the way in which they infiltrated the people who were not a part of their enterprise. They were not ostracized, they were rarely vilified and rarely considered a problem. Then again, those who did consider them an issue often didn't answer, or have time to answer, those very simple, very lopsided return questions. "I am, yes." Spoken so flatly, he seemed to expect the words to be taken for simple face value, nothing more and nothing less. They'd become a simple part of a very complex life.

"When I was seven, my mother got a client.. he'd come by our house sometimes, he was a nice old man. He'd pat me on my head and give me a piece of candy whenever he came around. I never knew his name, he was always the Candy Man to me. He'd show up with his friends, a few of them younger.. like you," She looked to Denji. "He'd give me a piece of candy then my mother would show him to her office. He was nice, spoke softly."

Kiyomi then took a lean against her car then. Her right heel scraping against the ground as she kicked it. "He stopped showing up after a few months, but he'd send me gifts every birthday.. When I was fifteen I saw his picture on the news, he died from a heart attack."

Kiyomi pursed her lips and looked to Denji. "They had his name there, talked about the crimes he committed, how he hardly ever saw jail time. He almost did, but then I saw that my mother was the one who made sure he didn't." Kiyomi flicked some at the stick that held her treat. "He was still Candy Man to me.. The nice old grandpa who smiled and gave me a piece of candy every time he came over, the one who would send me barbie dolls, or clothes, or tea cups for my birthday."

Thinking of the past was a double edged sword. While it gave Kiyomi fond memories, the pain that lingered there couldn't easily be pushed away too. "I don't care what you are.. all that matters is how fast you drive, and what I can learn from you." She smiled to Denji. "And if I can call you my friend.. Back in school, friendship, no matter what someone does or where they came from, is all that mattered in the end.

Kiyomi Kubo

Date: 2015-04-15 19:16 EST
For her story, he could do nothing but smile more softly than before, more openly and honestly. The proof was standing before him in flesh and blood. Small moments made large impacts, little things paid dividends untold in the future. "We are, for the most part, very pleasing people, Kiyomi. It is only when...." Anger boiled like swollen storm clouds, but only for a short second. "...people place us in positions that we can't talk our way out of that things become worse. I sincerely hope that nothing of the sort will come from our presence here, but if it does...." Again, words trailed off as he unfolded his arms and took up another of the sweet treats. "so be it. And now we must have a rather awkward discourse. Your mother, yes. I would have been sent to meet you regardless, and likely her at some function, for the reputation she's established. With that being said, I assure you that's not the point of this meeting, nor a future one. What's between my family and her, if anything, will be business. Between the two of us..." She spoke the words before he needed to, and for that he beamed a charming, if scarred, smile. "will be for friendship, I've enjoyed this time for what it's been."

"All that matters if how fast I drive?" He exploded in laughter at that, fairly pleased by the turn of the conversation on all fronts. "I fear that I'm being used, Miss Kiyomi, used for what I can bring to another's table. A tragedy, isn't it?" One hand, palm faced outwards, rested on his brow for a split second as he completed the act of a wounded hero. "Used, such is my lot in life, for the benefit of others." Dropped entirely, he nodded most seriously.

"We, and myself included, agree entirely. We are a group of friends, friends and family. When all's said and done, those qualities matter more than anything. And towards that end, you do me great honor by calling me such." It would be too formal to bow, and so he only straightened in his lean against the car's hood far enough to draw himself more fully atop the thin metal until he'd seated himself, legs extended, with his back against the windshield.

"I hang out with yanki, I guess I could be called one now too." Kiyomi looked down at her own choice of wear. The sukajan ? the jacket with a tiger sewn into the back, along with the slanted lettering of Japan under it. "Or, I don't know. I could just be having fun.. I want to race, that's really all I want to do right now." She then laughed out, lightly enough. She was not the type of person to do anything big. Smiling, laughter, all of that ? the only thing she could possibly do fully would be frown, but that had been a feature that had not been found on her face this whole meet up; though the day was still young. "My mother doesn't bring me to many parties.. and she's been keeping me away for a while now. I don't see her much. You probably would have only seen her instead of me. So I guess, us meeting in the Arena, was a lucky thing." She could go on, but it felt too personal. Even if she wanted to, strangely enough, speak of how she had been kicked out of her own home on Thursday. Transitioning from then to now had been strange ? but when your home wasn't ever really felt like your home; how could one feel homesick for it? If anything, she felt more free.

"And yes, how fast you drive." She mocked after witnessing Denji's reaction. She laughed a little more and even brought up a hand to hide her lips for the time being while she bent over slightly. "Don't you know that's what girls like? Bad boys and nice cars? Or that's what my sister always told me." She'd bite the edge of the stick she held then. "You said you'd show me how to drive, so you can't be all that surprised."

"You should likely make that choice rather quickly, lest you find yourself in too deep with them. I can't speak for every organization, but I can attest to what happens to those who are seen as on the inside, and then prefer to remain further outside." It was, at best, sage advice and most assuredly nothing close to a hidden warning. In so many ways, he had the countenance of a young man and the soul of someone who'd been forced to become radically mature and world weary in a few incredibly short years. "Do you know, I feared having to take my shirt off around the lot of you before one of you picked up on the fact." Mock severity created an air of a teacher tired of explaining the same thing over and over again. "I'd likely not deal with her, no. I'm slightly removed from those who actually, well, you know, work." A slight adjustment might have dispelled some of his innocence as he reached to his back and shifted an unseen object in a position that allowed him to recline more fully, even to the point of resting with his hands behind his head and his back fully against glass. The sun's light and warmth in early spring, he decided, was quite nice.

"That being said, circumstances often change rapidly, I think, and this is unknown territory for us. Potentially volatile, though we've managed to create an empire out of avoiding trouble more than we ever look for it." Perched in such a comfortable location, he turned his head far enough to rest one cheek upon inner biceps, thus giving him time to watch the charade that hid what he imagined must have been a rather keen smile. "I think, knowing what I know now, that I would bave been a most unlucky man were I not to have met you."

"Bad boys and fast cars, eh?" Slightly skeptical, his eyes crinkled with unspoken laughter as he chuffed the idea away. "Then I suppose Yakuza and super cars must be the top of the world? What if I told you...." He paused for dramatic effect, something he'd perfected with wide eyes and tentative looks. "that this is only what I drive personally, far from what I race in? I'm a man with varied, wide tastes." Swung into high good humor by the progression of a meeting that could have been most awkward, he rolled his eyes while looking sidelong at her. "There was no pool table, so I couldn't offer to teach you a trick shot. What else was I supposed to do? When cute girls are interested in something we know, us poor men are almost obligated to at least try."

Kiyomi Kubo

Date: 2015-04-15 19:16 EST
"They had my back. I only knew Izumi, but the rest of them were quick to help me when I needed them.. I don't think it'd be right for me to turn my back on them. The girls at my school all had money, but you can't really buy friendship with that.. I think, that's what I want more than anything. I'm supposed to become a doctor, to take over my fathers practice.. but I'm here, cutting classes, to speak with a guy I only met a few days ago." She kicked a heel against the ground while stepping about Denji's car. "I never liked the idea of medical school.." She'd peek through a window after brushing her fingers along black paint.

"Really? What's so lucky about me? And yes, bad boys and fast cars." The dramatic pause only brought a curve to the edge of her lips in an amused smirk; it looked somewhat like a 3. "Well, I'd first want to ask you to show me what you really drove, but I'd feel a little weird about it ? because then you could use that to take me back to your place."

When she had been called cute? She reeled back some and pursed her lips. This came with a roll of her eyes as well, along with a slight flush to her cheeks. "Far from what you race in, huh? Does that mean you won't get behind the wheel right now and show me just how well you drift? These turns are pretty tight, and I think it's best if I learn from seeing it first."

"Cutting classes?" He was not quite aware of that, not at all! Sudden movement drew him from his slackened posture and saw him slide down the hood of his car with practised ease. He clearly spent much of his time, thinking time, in the very same posture. His hands flared out as he rolled his head from side to side, shaking it slowly and seriously. "Wonderful, now I can be blamed for you skipping class. I am already a horrible influence. What will your soon to be doctor friends think now?" Light words hinted at something close to a blatant joke or simple tease, one could never tell with him.

"I only meant to say that if, I'm sure I'd have met Izumi if she manages some sort of a casino affair, and I'd not met you, I'd consider it a loss, not that she's not a wonderful person in her own right. Call it a missed opportunity." Whatever his intentions, a face that was almost boyish cast his features in an innocent light. This was, perhaps more than anything else, what had put his foot in the door in regards to his current life.

She had, and her blunt request put him quite on the spot. He groaned softly, both hands coming to brush through his hair in a show of hesitance. "My car?" Whatever smart remark could have been made, and there was a plethora of ways to turn her words around on her, was stolen by the fact that he had talked himself into a position from which he could not very well back down. "Transmissions are not that expensive. I believe the term is...." Held aloft in a world where culture and composure were more important than slang and jargon, he smirked in a wry manner before saying, "yolo?" So spoken, he jerked open the door, the passenger side door, and gestured inside. Still perplexed by what he knew to be a bad choice, said transmission would surely be shredded almost entirely, he quickly slid around the car's front and found himself in perhaps his most favorite place, the driver's seat. "I told you, it's not my forte." His voice was almost drowned out by the low throated purr that quickly became a dulcet, almost living rumble as secondary turbo kits spooled the car's engine to life.

"Cutting class." Spoken soon after him saying it. Just to put the nail in the coffin right there to say that, yes, she had been cutting class to be here with him. Her hip then cocked to the right while she crossed her arms some. "My father would faint knowing I'm here right now, and I'm sure my mother wouldn't be happy either." But ? that was it. The knowledge of knowing that, of knowing she had been doing something she shouldn't; it had been a thrill. Not that she had been doing this for such a reason alone. Strangely, she hadn't felt this free in the longest time. "Maybe those soon to be doctor friends would think twice about being rude to me then."

There had been no comment after the talk of what if's ? if he had met only Izumi and not her. She only found herself dipping her head once more in an attempt to brush off the uneasy feeling of awkwardness when it came to the light touch of color that fell over her cheeks.

She then laughed. The term `yolo` used had called for it. It might have been a bigger laugh than she had been spotting throughout much of their encounter. With the side door opened, she took pause before turning to look away for a moment. She was about to slide into a car of a man she really didn't know, a yakuza. But that pause was all she needed to make up her mind; she slid into the passenger's seat and made quick work on clicking the seat belt into place.

"I know, but you offered to show us some moves on the mountain and help us out.. and if something does happen to your transmission." She'd brush her bangs then. ".. It'll give me a reason to come around your garage and help you put in the new one."

She licked her lips when the rumble purr sounded. Her brown eyes peeked up at the rear view mirror. "Show me how you drive, Denji."

Kiyomi Kubo

Date: 2015-04-15 19:18 EST
"And I'm the bad person. At least I'm not skipping work." He was, but that didn't need to be spoken of. When one had the moral high ground, they learned to keep hold of it most tightly. The fact that his phone had been on silent this entire time was sure proof of his willingness to ignore day to day life for at least this short interlude. "And now used for protection." He turned his head once more, quietly amused with the sound of one, just a single, seatbelt clicking into bucket seats loudly.

"You don't trust my driving, how depressing." Where a normal car's GPS system might sit, a small computer showed a series of graphs, though he really only paid attention to the bottom set of numbers. When pleased, he returned one hand to the steering wheel, apparently quite prepared to start this process.

"There's no if, so I think I win? Or maybe you really are lucky." Pleased enough with that, he returned attention to the patch of road before them. Well within the dockside district, various warehouses lined a straight section of paved surface that split shipping and storage quite effectively into a set of square formations. Long enough, he thought, to prove a rather simple point. The aforementioned torque that'd proved near fatal to drivers with little experience jerked the car's chassis harshly to the side as he over revved the powerful engine and skipped first gear, it being essentially pointless, and jettisoned the pair forward, directly into second gear.

He could almost feel the transmission grating at six thousand rpms became eight thousand, yet through the first powerful curve that fishtailed the car into an empty warehouse, the front doors more than wide enough to accommodate the sleek car, it remained in second gear. By far the most powerful way to retain control. The car turned a tight circle in the space that was quickly filling with white and black smoke before it shot out of the same door, back into the parking lot where her car remained.

Rather reckless and known to show off at times, he cut a tire screeching, smoke inducing circle around Kiyomi's car before slamming the wheel towards the straight away that created a path between the buildings, thankfully empty for the day. Finally able to leave the accursed second gear, the Supra fairly roared as more and more power was taken from the drivetrain and forced into the tires, resulting in a steady burst of speed. The roughly quarter mile straight shot became almost nothing, buildings blurring on either side as the speedometer closed on one hundred and fifty miles an hour. His hands were a blur as the car began slowing quickly, a product of downshifting into consecutively lower gears, sixth to fourth, then back to third, effectively forcing a much quicker decrease in speed.

It was only when he turned full circle, facing the parking lot a quarter of a mile away did he cut the car entirely loose, nitrous oxide flaring and the meter ticking its way to two hundred miles. In a manner of seconds, he'd brought them full circle, at first through the building in a show of sloppy drifting, finishing with a dazzling display of the car's straight line power. To him, it was all too natural, the smell of smoke and the car's quite human sigh as the engine idled, almost perfectly in the spot that they'd left from. It did, however, hiccup slightly as he tapped the gas and shifted from a still neutral to a barely moving first gear.

"Essentially ruined, said transmission." Calm as could be, of course.

"It was the first building that did it. The car's not designed to keep so much power in such a low gear. The Impreza Izumi was given is the car for that, not this one. High end power versus low end power control."

".. Holy ****." Kiyomi said while releasing the breath she had held during the finale of the drive.

She laughed. Her voice filled with nothing more than excitement at the rush. The feel of being only inches away from possible death and laughing in its face.

"That's fast."