Earlier in the day, Usagi Rei would receive a text message from Bayushi Mariko. They had previously floated the idea to go out for drinks and this might have been an eventuality between the both of them. However, it seemed that they might have been destined for something else entirely...

To: Usagi Rei

<<Bayushi Mariko: Hey. >>
<<Bayushi Mariko: Usagi-san...Are you busy right now?>>
<<Bayushi Mariko: I think I might need your help with something...>>

Well. This was... actually not that unexpected. The only question was what did it mean?

Rei had just been about to head out for the evening when his comms rang. An initial smile on surveying it turned into a thoughtful frown.

Was he setting himself up for danger? Trouble? Or just to be hurt? Actually, the trifecta seemed as likely as anything. Well, there was only one way to find out...

To: Bayushi Mariko

<<Usagi Rei: Hey yourself >>
<<Usagi Rei: Help, huh?>>
<<Usagi Rei: What do you need?>>

Rei wouldn't have to wait for very long and she was quick to reply back.

To: Usagi Rei

<<Bayushi Mariko: I need you>>
<<Bayushi Mariko: to meet me somewhere.>>
<<Bayushi Mariko: I'm a bit of a jam here.>>
<<Bayushi Mariko: It's probably not right to explain the whole thing on comms, with everything being monitored.>>
<<Bayushi Mariko: I think it's best that we meet in person.>>
<<Bayushi Mariko: I know it's short notice...I'm not taking you away from anything, am I?>>

Rei looked at the replies a long moment, frowning.

To: Bayushi Mariko

<<Usagi Rei: Where?>>

Unlike before, Mariko's response wasn't so immediately this time around. There might have been an elongated pause before her next reply, 32 minutes if someone was keeping track. Maybe there was some hesitation on her part or she had been going about her day. However, it was hard to imagine how she would if she was supposedly in a jam.

To: Usagi Rei

<<Bayushi Mariko: Can you meet me tonight?>>
<<Bayushi Mariko: Let's meet over at Block 3-4 at the 3rd Mercantile district?>>
<<Bayushi Mariko: I'll be at the north corner by the old paper stand.>>

Stranger and stranger. And yet, there was only one way to find out what was going on.

To: Bayushi Mariko

<<Usagi Rei: omw>>

He paused a moment, grabbing his mask and his holorecorder, along with the things he usually carried, before heading out.

While Rei had an idea of where to meet, the coordinates were vague enough that he would have to do some legwork around the block to find where he needed to go. It wasn't an entirely deserted part of the city, very few places were, although it wasn't exactly the nicest. There were many parts of the block that were older with any colours on them visibly faded with time. Some of the buildings have been shuttered, only because they had been earmarked for demolition and near-future rebuilding of something grander. It seemed that the paper stall that Mariko wrote about that an old green cargo container that had been converted for that purpose with a door and window affixed on the side. Much like the corner of the block that it was situated in, it had also been closed for business with its overhanging tarp roof in tatters. The door on the side seemed like it was open a crack.

Well. This was the place, wasn't it? And yet, Mariko wasn't there. His pale eyes narrowed as he looked this way and that, trying to find evidence of her having been there.

His eyes narrowed further on spotting the door, just barely ajar. The weight of his sidearm in its side holster was reassuring as, moving casually, he went to push the door open.

The door would swing open without much resistance and Rei was treated to the dark interior of the newspaper stall. It was a narrow cramped corridor made possible by several stacks of old newspapers that might have been two years old at least with several stacks of boxes of magazines. Judging from the musty smell, it looked like they might have been still soaked with yesterday's rain. There was a badly done patch job at the top of the container with just a few stacks of sheet metal that might have been the cause. Thankfully, it wasn't so dark that Rei would need a flashlight. There was enough exterior light to make the other person inside.

"Usagi-san? It's me," Mariko would say cautiously as she stepped closer into view with her hands up in case Rei felt too on edge with the situation. She was dressed in a black cheongsam with red accents and tall black heels to match. "I'm glad you could make it."

Rei's senses were faster than his reactions. He recognized Mariko's voice before he could make any move towards his sidearm.

Grimacing, he adjusted his jacket before looking at her. Eyes flickered up and down, admiring only briefly, mostly looking for injury.

"M-Bayushi-san." A quirk of Rei's lips acknowledged the near slip. Darn it, he was all messed up. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" He smiled. "This isn't the place I would have picked for a quiet drink." He joked.

Mariko looked hardly injured at all and looked like she was dressed for an evening somewhere with that flattering dress. However, given the abandoned and rather unattractive locale that they found themselves in it, she looked completely out of place. If she was going to be hiding out in a place like this, it would help to dress more practical for urban adventuring.

She mustered a momentary smile at him, perhaps catching that verbal slip from him earlier. Now that she established that Rei wasn't going to get jumped here, she slowly neared him, while carefully avoiding any debris on the floor as she walked. "Yes, I'm okay, for now. Thank you...Sorry, I was really hoping to call you over when we could finally have a drink but something else came up. And well, I guess I'm at a bit of a loss at how to handle this situation."

Her gaze went downward as she rubbed on her forearm in an anxious gesture before looking him up at him carefully. "Not sure if you want to be dragged in this. Can I trust you?"

Rei considered that, his jaw tight. It wasn't as quick or easy an answer as it might have been for someone else. Mostly because if this was really bad, Rei knew how bad it could get. And, if he was being honest with himself for a change, he hadn't healed from the last time he'd trusted a beautiful Scorpion, not nearly, and some of that showed on his face.

He took a breath. He hadn't always been cynical, had he? Maybe three years ago, he wouldn't have hesitated. Maybe he'd let this place change him. Rei looked at Mariko, his pale eyes strange. A damsel in distress, or was he just playing out the events of two years ago again? For a moment, Rei wavered, uncertain.

He was a Hare. Sometimes the only way to trust was a leap of faith. The secret was, it wasn't just trusting the other person. Rei needed to trust himself, too.

Some of this struggle was visible on his handsome features. It vanished. "Yes." He said, confident but gentle. "Tell me what's going on. I'll help you." First, make sure she was safe. Then, maybe, see about getting some answers.

There was a moment where Mariko watched his reaction, looking a bit uncertain at him. It wasn't a sort of panic that seemed present in her but of her read of Rei, like she might have potentially walked into far deeper waters than she envisioned at first. Once he reassured her, she gave him a few nods and let out a sigh. Despite the gesture from her, it felt like she released very little weight or burden. There wasn't any relief to be found here, not yet at least.

She took another careful step toward him and placed a hand gently on his arm. "I take it that this isn't in the slightest what you imagined when I said thrills."

Mariko's hand would find its way to his cheek as she looked up at him. Her gaze was still rather unsure and a touch fearful. However, she would tell him softly, "Thank you."

With a step taken back and her hand dropped to return to some measure of decorum, she fished inside her purse to take out her communicator. After a few presses and flips, she would pop up a holographic window and enlarge it enough so that Rei could read it. "I got this..."

To: Bayushi Mariko
<<Wakaranai:
ｔ𝕆 тＨ𝐄 ｂ𝕆𝕆тเ𝕗𝐮𝓛 ⒷⓐＹ𝐮ѕＨเ 𝓂ⓐⓡเ𝓀𝕆,

ί'𝓋𝐄 ｂ𝐄𝐄几 ⓐ𝓛ｗⓐＹѕ ⓐ ｂเ𝓖 𝕗ⓐ几 𝕆𝕗 Ｙ𝕆𝐮ⓡ ｗ𝕆ⓡ𝓀 ⓐ几∂ ί'𝐌 ѕ𝐮ⓡ𝐄 𝐌ⓐ几Ｙ 𝕆тＨ𝐄ⓡѕ ⓐⓡ𝐄 т𝕆𝕆. 𝔂𝕆𝐮'𝓋𝐄 ｂ𝐄𝐄几 ѕｃⓐⓡｃ𝐄 ⓐѕ 𝕆𝕗 𝓛ⓐт𝐄 ｂ𝐮т тＨⓐт ∂𝕆𝐄ѕ几'т 𝐌𝐄ⓐ几 Ｙ𝕆𝐮 Ｈⓐ𝓋𝐄几'т ｂ𝐄𝐄几 ｂ𝐮ѕＹ. ί נ𝐮ѕт ｗⓐ几т т𝕆 Ｈ𝐄𝓛𝕡 Ｙ𝕆𝐮 𝓖𝐄т 𝐌𝕆ⓡ𝐄 𝐄χ𝕡𝕆ѕ𝐮ⓡ𝐄, 𝐄𝓋𝐄几 เ𝕗 เт เ几𝓋𝕆𝓛𝓋𝐄ѕ ⓡ𝐄𝓛𝐄ⓐѕเ几𝓖 ѕ𝕆𝐌𝐄 ｗＨⓐт𝐄𝓋𝐄ⓡ ｃ𝕆𝐌𝕡ⓡ𝕆𝐌เѕเ几𝓖 ∂𝐄тⓐเ𝓛ѕ ⓐｂ𝕆𝐮т Ｙ𝕆𝐮. Ĥ𝕆ｗ ｗ𝕆𝐮𝓛∂ тＨ𝐄 𝕡𝐮ｂ𝓛เｃ 𝕗𝐄𝐄𝓛 ⓐｂ𝕆𝐮т 𝓀几𝕆ｗเ几𝓖 тＨเѕ ѕเ∂𝐄 𝕆𝕗 𝓂ⓐⓡเ𝓀𝕆?
ί𝕗 Ｙ𝕆𝐮 ｗⓐ几т тＨ𝕆ѕ𝐄 𝕗เ𝓛𝐄ѕ ｂⓐｃ𝓀, Ｙ𝕆𝐮'ⓡ𝐄 𝓖𝕆เ几𝓖 т𝕆 几𝐄𝐄∂ т𝕆 𝐌𝐄𝐄т 𝐌𝐄 ⓐт тＨ𝐄 ｃ𝕆ⓡ几𝐄ⓡ 𝕆𝕗 𝓂ί-❷➂➃ ⓐ几∂ ғย-➀ʘ. ⓦ𝐄ⓐⓡ ѕ𝕆𝐌𝐄тＨเ几𝓖 几เｃ𝐄 ⓐ几∂ ｃ𝕆𝐌𝐄 ⓐ𝓛𝕆几𝐄.
-𝕒几 𝐄ⓐ𝓖𝐄ⓡ 𝕗ⓐ几
>>

Translation:
(To the bootiful Bayushi Mariko,
I've been always a big fan of your work and I'm sure many others are too. You've been scarce as of late but that doesn't mean you haven't been busy. I just want to help you get more exposure, even if it involves releasing some whatever compromising details about you. How would the public feel about knowing this side of Mariko?
If you want those files back, you're going to need to meet me at the corner of MI-234 and FU-10. Wear something nice and come alone.
-An eager fan)

The muscle was tense under Mariko's touch, but relaxed after a moment. "Actually, I considered that something like this might be a possibility." Rei said wryly. After all, she was a dangerous dame. He went quiet as her hand came up to touch his cheek, his gaze seeking hers.

Then the moment passed. Businesslike now, Rei moved to stand next to her, the green light of the message reflecting off of his handsome features. "I see." Rei said shortly. He wasn't surprised that someone had something on Mariko, real or not. But while he enjoyed the parry and thrust of spywork, the blackmail game offended him. Especially because, well, he kinda liked her.

He let out a slow breath. "So... you have a way you want to play this? I'm guessing there's a reason you went to me instead of to your agent." Or handler. "Otherwise, I could suggest a few things."

Mariko let out a sigh as she flicked the holographic window away and stashed her communicator back in her purse. "It's a bit complicated, especially what they say is true. I don't know if it's even true. I've been pretty careful about scrubbing my communicators and I don't know what sort of details are involved here. I don't know what they have but if they have something and I'd like to get it back," she said as she put her arms around herself, looking rather vulnerable after she revealed her problem.

"I thought I could have brought this up to my agent or maybe the magistrates but I don't need this to get blown up any more than I need to. The last thing that needs to happen is this being on the news." She gave a shake of her head in dismay. "So, maybe I can get this handled privately and under the table. I've never done this on my own before...never had this happen to me. And you were the first person I could think of."

She said as she looked to Rei for the answers. "...I think I should go through with this, see where it goes."

"Hey. It's okay. It's going to be okay." Rei couldn't help but respond to her worry. Stepping closer, he put his hand on her shoulder, strong and warm, brushing gently down to her back. "We'll get you through this."

He smiled gently. "I understand. And I'm glad you called me. It's more common than anyone likes. I've dealt with it before."

Pressing his lips together, he nodded. "Okay. Here's what we can do. Keep me on comms. I'll be close. If you need me there, just say a code word, and I'll be there. Otherwise... we'll play it by ear. Play his game, or if we don't like the rules, play our own."

Rei gave her arm a little squeeze. "Are you gonna be okay with that?" He asked gently.

Mariko gave a few small nods, a bit more relieved at the show of support coming from Rei. The close proximity was more comforting and the touch was admittedly welcomed. She had a trembling breath at first that slowly dissipated with his words.

"...thank you," she murmured under her breath, perhaps feeling a bit silly about the situation now that the butterflies in her stomach went away. "I know it's going to be okay now that you're here, Usagi-san."

With that, she gave a quick dab of her eyes and straightened her posture, looking more confident and ready to confront whatever the villain might throw at them here. "Yes, we'll just keep a running line. I'll keep the communicator in my purse and you can sort of listen from there. I don't know if he'll have eyes and ears everywhere but I'm probably already breaking the rules by having you here. We keep it subtle. The code word..."

She frowned for a moment as she quickly searched for a word that stuck out in her mind. "Fireworks, let's go with fireworks if anything goes wrong. I'm sure there will be plenty of it if things go really bad."

With that word settled, she nodded to herself in reassurance and looked at Rei questioningly. "...Do you have a weapon?"

Rei was content to stay close, lending her his support. He could feel his attraction to the beautiful Scorpion woman, a tangible thing, but that's not how she needed him. His hand on her remained comforting, reassuring. He felt his heart twinge at her words, both with feeling and suspicion, care for her, fear of being hurt again.

"Fireworks." He echoed, smiling. "I like it. Okay, if you say fireworks, I'll come running. And don't worry. I'm fast. And I won't let you down." As she seemed to have steadied herself, he retrieved her hand, his touch lingering just one moment longer. "I'll be close."

Rei was armed as any samurai was, but in his case they were mostly ceremonial. Still, he nodded. "I have my sidearm." He said. "You?"

Mariko would allow her hand to be taken by Rei and it was surprisingly warm to the touch, given the gravity of the situation and the potential implications if things go wrong. Everyone might respond differently but at a glance, there might have been more anxiety than fear in her system. Or maybe it was just the warmth of the night and being in an old container wasn't exactly comfortable. Her expression seemed to almost take on a smile at first before her eyes went wide with concern and her hand would squeeze Rei's.

"No...no guns," she almost hissed out in a panic. "We can't have guns around here. If you fire a shot, it's going to get the yoriki's attention and they're going to run in from everywhere to muck things up. We'll...just do this quietly, somehow."

Her hand would linger on his for a moment before she dropped it. Using one of the nearby old boxes of magazines on the ground as a step, she adjusted her skirt to show more stocking-clad leg than was proper to show something of a garter belt holster with a folding knife stowed in. "It's something on short notice, I suppose. Not practical but it should work."

Grimacing, Rei nodded. "I've been putting in a lot more time at the range than at the dojo... but okay. I'll do my best." He gave her a serious look. "I'll try to do it your way, but if you're in real danger, I'm not taking a chance with your life." He gave her hand a squeeze in return.

Well. Focusing on comforting her was one thing, but Rei couldn't help but admire her exposed flesh as she pulled her skirt up to reveal the knife. He took a deep breath, his eyes flickering towards her lips, then back to her eyes. No unwelcome attentions, of course, but perhaps she was as interested as he...

Gently, he shook his head. "I think you should keep that. Use it if necessary. I have my swords. If you say the word, I'm coming fast, so might as well have a more serious weapon."