TELL YOUR NIICHAN COME AND TEST ME

[steelo]

	You've reached Yamada Ichiro, of Odd Jobs Yamada. Leave a message and I'll get back to you ASAP.
	IC INBOX. CODE CREDIT.

Comments

note; a few days after red string.

[gnostalgia]

[ hey there's an envelope outside his room with "ichir♡" written on it.

the hand-written (in bright pink, no less) letter inside reads: ]

so that was a helluva thing wasnt it
sry i couldnt contact u sooner
life around here is either hells of crazy
or boring as shit
thats fine tho feels like home
uhhhh
yeah so anyway i just wanted to i guess
say hey that was fun
and id be down for doin it again
u know
if you wanna
call me sometime kay cutie? ;)

this is so cute i wanna die

[steelo]

[ a day or so later, there's a letter slid nicely under roxy's door. his has 'roxy' written in katakana, and the name in regular letters underneath. ]

Want to go on a third date?
❏ yes
❏ definitely yes
❏ this would've been less weird if we had texting (but your not secret admirer likes to kick it old school sometimes, too, so it's cool.)

[ it's signed with one stroke line; the 'ichi' in his name. there's a number one next to it, too. ]

it's ok i'm already dead

[gnostalgia]

[ it's so nice that she can actually read the katakana and recognize it for what it is, appreciate the strokes of each symbol.

"kick it old school"... god, he really does remind her of dirk, doesn't he.

a few hours after the letter is dropped off at her room, it's returned, a bright pink heart drawn over every check box. ]

action.

[disenchant]

[ kita's in a bit of a state. kento hasn't called this city or its districts home long enough to feel totally safe in the thick of them even at their best, but he walks into a space like he owns it anyway, regardless of where he is. it makes it harder to gauge when he's feeling off, or threatened, especially with the north and its workers being the epicenter for the violence that's erupted all over yoshiwara.

if it puts him on edge, he's hiding it well. tonight's an early night for him, so when he makes it back to his room, dressed down, he pauses in the doorway, rapping his knuckles against the frame. not to herald his safe return, but to catch the attention of the other occupant.

just who he was hoping for. ]

Yo. [ he lifts his other hand. ] Have a minute?

[steelo]

[ man...there's something about reading the same light novel over and over that gets tiring. what ichiro wouldn't give for his normal serializations about now: things in yoshiwara have quieted a bit, and between jobs, he's laying on his back on his bed, holding aforementioned novel over his head.

when the door opens, he sits up and dog ears the page. kento, huh...he's back early. ] What's up?

[disenchant]

I'm going to ask you for a favor.

[ at least he's getting to the point, blatant as it is. of course, ichiro is in no way obligated to hear him out and kento knows that, so his tone stays conversational even as he's entering the room and sliding the door shut on its track behind him. ]

[steelo]

[ oh...a job? not what ichiro was expecting. he sets the book down and leans forward to rest his forearms on his knees, giving kento his total attention. ]

Shoot. [ it's not like he's busy. ]

[disenchant]

[ sealed off from the hall and given whatever privacy they're afforded (not much), kento moves into the space with more muted body language than usual. ]

It's about the incidents happening lately. And not just the ones in Kita, though we seem to be the unlucky ones.

[ his posture may be more demure, but his cavalier attitude is still in place. ]

[steelo]

[ mm... something that's been weighing on ichiro's mind lately, too. he nods, eyes lighting just briefly with the recognition. ]

You noticed too, huh. What about it?

[disenchant]

It's hard not to, doing what I do. [ a sigh, but not an aimless one. he fishes into his pocket. ] But, I did a little sweet talking.

[ with a flick of his fingers, he produces a folded note. ]

Seems like there's a dive in Nishi worth taking a look at.

[ kento hands it over. on it is a location and a few names - a guy who knows a guy, things of that nature. ]

[steelo]

[ nice. ichiro's eyes scan over the paper: there's a brief light of recognition before his gaze flicks back up to match kento's again. it ties in nicely to all the murmurs around the city, and since ichiro's network is not nearly as well established as he'd like it to be, it's a golden piece to a puzzle he really wanted to solve.

he hops up to a standing position, holding the paper back out to him. he's in. ] What's the plan?

[ not that ichiro always needs one...but kento's kinda squishy. ]

[disenchant]

[ he would take such offense to being called squishy

but ichiro is so willing to just jump in to things like this that kento hadn't really thought of anyone else. how hot-blooded. ]

The only new player to take the stage in this mess is a drug. Amai... apt name for the culprit, huh? No one can figure out where it came from, but the dealers are looking for sex workers. That's where I come in. And you...

[ kento points the note back at his roommate. ]

I'm hiring you to hire me.

[steelo]

[ ichiro blinks at him for a moment as he processes exactly what kento's asking of him. he's not entirely sure where he expected that sentence to end, but it wasn't there.

he looks up at him properly, the expression on his face--and ichiro ends up grinning, the smile spreading slow across his face before he ducks his head and snorts. ] ...you wanna be bait? Pretty bold of you, Kento.

[ he smacks his hand against his own knee, once, and hops up. ] Alright. Bet, I'm in. [ and as he tosses his book back onto his bed, a bit more playfully: ] You're probably way more than I can afford, so we'll have to keep it low key.

Where's the closest place you heard about the drug, just at work?

during the kanamara festival;

[gnostalgia]

[ so snapchat or text messaging of any kind (yet), but what does exist? is polaroid. who'd she recruit for this? doesn't matter, don't think too much about it.

there's an envelope slipped under 101's door but this time there's no letter, just three images of roxy playing around with dickpops of various sizes. in one it looks like she's trying to decide on which pop to choose; in another, she's unwrapped a bright red one, drawing her tongue over its shaft. in the last one, roxy seems drawn into suckin' on that lolipop, though her eyes are focused on the camera — on ichiro. on the back of all three are black hearts written in sharpie but on this one, she's left a question: ]

Wanna have some fun? ;)

[steelo]

[ ya ever just get booty called via polaroid ]

[steelo]

[ listen he can be a cool badass mc all he wants but at heart he's still a nineteen year old boy which means when ichiro opens the envelope (listen, it's for him, he thinks) he only briefly wonders if it's thirsty to go answer this right away.

...he doesn't really care, actually, because ichiro's not gonna let that stop him, so he sure as hell is going to make his way off to where he knows roxy's staying. though he doesn't knock or climb the window or anything, ichiro's going to keep the weird yoshiwara throwback theme consistent, and toss a pebble at her window from the ground.



hopefully roxy's the one who hears it. plink! goes another pebble on glass. ]

[gnostalgia]

[ it sure as hell is thirsty to answer right away, and roxy has barely closed the door to her room when she hears the plinking of the pebble against the glass. ]

... Haha, holy shit.

[ there's only two people it could be, and she'd be happy to have either of them come visit her, regardless of what happens. walking to the window, roxy pushes it open and rests her chin in her hands. ]

'Sup, bb? That didn't take long. ♥

[steelo]

[ the grin on ichiro's face makes him look like a kid caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar, and one who is clearly not sorry about it.

he lifts both of his hands up. ] I'm not the kind of guy who hesitates. 'sides, I figured I might as well beat the competition.

[ that grin stays. ] Can I come up?

1/2

[gnostalgia]

[ with almost buyable innocence: ]

What competition?

[gnostalgia]

[ but she steps away from the window, leaving it open and disappearing into the room beyond.

it's an obvious answer to his question. ]

[steelo]

[ oh you bet your cute ass he is climbing into this window. it's not like it's high off the ground, and he has a feeling the gendered rules of housing around yoshiwara are pretty similar--they sure would be back home.

it's probably not the first time he's hopped up someone's storm drain to shimmy into the window, so. ichiro hoists himself up as easy as anything and practically parkours over the railing as only a delinquent could truly do, using the momentum to swing his legs through the window and dismount with his feet on the ground. ten out of ten sticking the landing, yamada!

the movement doesn't stop there, though--he takes the rest of his momentum to bound forward and hook his arms around her waist from behind, curling over her back and giving her a squeeze. it really is a nice fit. ] You're a menace, you know that?

[gnostalgia]

[ the sounds that greet him on the other side of the landing are just roxy organizing the room a little, and she twirls on the ball of her foot to face him, face split in a grin. a tease almost slips from her black-painted mouth but she's cut off by the way ichiro's arms wrap around her waist and press her body against his.

suddenly, roxy is short both words and breath. she's a little surprised he didn't keep going into a kiss but also, thankful. then she might be short two legs as well. ]

I am? [ glancing to the side, a thoughtful look crosses her features ] What'd I do this time?

[ she knows exactly what she did don't buy her lies ]

[steelo]

Well, [ he starts, very seriously, as if discussing the finer points of that time I got reincarnated as an op rapper: ichiro ducks in and rubs his nose against her neck just because it’s there, the gesture ticklish, his voice low. ] I think you might be the only person in Yoshiwara who found a way to sext someone.

[ ....he’s clearly teasing. ] And leave someone on read. [ playful for real, now, squeezing her that little bit closer, so they’re pressed flush. ]

[gnostalgia]

[ you know i wouldn't be surprised if that was an actual isekai.... ]

Ohhh that. [ roxy leans her head against his as she loops her arms about his shoulders, pressing her hips to his body and trying her best not to get drawn in too fast. but she's always been a little stupid that way. ] Did'ja like that?

[ fingertips play at the nape of his neck, touching the tips of his hair. a soft giggle meets that lingering feeling of his breath against her skin. ]

Mebbe one day I'll figure out how'ta send you an actual sext.

[steelo]

[ clearly ichiro doesn't mind the close contact. his arms loosen enough to let roxy wriggle around against his chest, which puts her in ideal playful cuddling range. he doesn't lean back, letting her come into his space as he laces his fingers together at the small of her back.

the actual sext comment makes him laugh, though. having a working phone again...how nice. ichiro's deep voice rumbles against her skin, mouth curled up in a smile. ] If you did that, I'd be doing way more than sneaking into your window to say thank you.

[ aside from the implied sexy part, ichiro's still got his phone: it's been on low power mode and tucked into a corner of the house untouched, just in case it starts working. just in case jiro and saburo try to contact him, it's there.

that's a thought for later. ichiro keeps trailing those kisses down her neck, soft, just affectionate because she's there, warm and real and nice in his arms. ]