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Summary: Michael arrives in Tokyo and meets up with Tony at a local noodle bar. From there the pair catch up with Kaji and go to their new home away from home for the duration. They discuss the information that Kaji found out during his outing and setup plans for the near future.
Date: September 13, 2010
Log Title: Setting up Shop
Rating: PG-13 (Talk about the Japanese mobs criminal activities is about it)
Tokyo Japan
If there is a more generic Japanese noodle bar, it would be hard to imagine it. Just before evening this one, in a touristy district, is filled with a mixture of tourists looking to feel 'Japanese', and Japanese hipsters looking to mix with the Gaijin. It takes a moment to notice Michael, who normally sticks out like a sore thumb; but in a middling blue button up with the collar undone and a stylish jacket with matching blue liner, and dark shades…he looks like another tourist. Until one notices that he has placed himself in a corner strategically so he has sightlines on all of the doors and his back is up against a wall, and if one is inclined to see that the jacket hangs very specifically to not flap open.
The streets were thriving in the early afternoon and particularly in the Akihabara district of Tokyo. This area was famous for the electronic shops, and the manga stands that lined the streets around the occasional comic themed cafe. The door to a cosplay cafe swung open allowing a man with an apparent furry version of Sailor Moon to exit the building. He smiled at her then accepted his coffee and left her watching him walk away. With a glance up at a digital clock Tony casually made his way to the arranged meeting with Michael. Trying his best to blend in, which takes considerable work on his part, he has altered his appearance slightly. His hair is still the shaggy mess it has been for months but he is sporting a thin beard, and is wearing jeans and a t-shirt that has the image of a cartoon ninja. Opening the door to the noodle bar he sips at his coffee and casually looks about the room while moving amongst those gathered at the door.
Michael is somewhat easier to blend in, what with nobody knowing what he looks like except for friends (and people with access to top secret records). He brings the cup of sake to his mouth, although a careful observer would notice that he didn't actually drink it, and then notices the be-bearded Stark. He raises his hand slightly, motioning casually with his fingers.
A few shuffled steps, a dodged person here and there, and Tony snags a small menu card off the counter nearby before making his way towards Michael who is seated in a corner of the establishment. "Sake at this time of day? Finally someone I don't have to talk into it." A grin unfurls as he pulls out a chair at the side of the table then sits down setting his half drank coffee onto the table. "I trust that the flight went unpleasantly? Never could get used to that particular airline you came in on."
Michael chuckles slightly. "But the rates are unbeatable." He responds wryly, looking over his shades at Tony for a moment. "Move a couple of inches to your right, please." He offers, leaning back casually in his chair and crossing his legs, his eyes darting between the exits and the waiters. "So, you got some place for us to be?"
Tony slides the chair just a nudge to the right as requested while waving off a waiter. "I trust that you will not be expecting the Ritz Carlton," he teases the other man before pulling his shades off the front of his t-shirt. "I've set up a place near one of the more sketchy districts so that we are in the thick of things as it were. Was an interesting first night last night, but I'm sure you'll hear all about it from Kaji later." The shades are slipped on, and the coffee picked up for another cautious sip. "If you aren't expecting anything to be brought over we could leave whenever you wish."
"Have I ever been to the Ritz Carlton to compare it to?" Michael asks. "No, I've eaten, this was just an inconspicuous place to be." He says, moving to stand carefully, leaving his jacket unbuttoned. He leans down to get his briefcase. "Ready when you are."
Tony shrugs as he rises from the table scooting the chair in after he's to his feet. "Attempting to lighten the mood, as it were." With drink in hand he makes his way back to the door of the noodle bar and out onto the streets with Michael behind him. His free hand reaches back behind himself to tug a baseball cap out from the back pocket of his jeans. "Figured on walking through some of the more policed areas to see how /things/ are being maintained before heading over towards the rental." With that Tony pulls the hat onto his head in a backwards fashion, and quirks an eyebrow over the rim of his shades at Michael.
Michael grins. "For the record, the Ritz Carlton in Dubai is /amazing/, and it is a wonder what Saudi Princes will let the U.S. Government charge to them in return for a favor." He says, waggling his eyebrows above the sunglasses before he moves in behind you casually, left hand holding the brief case and his right hanging free and clear. "Not a problem. We expecting trouble?"
Ahh, Dubai..memories. The brief tour down memory lane stops as Tony begins walking through the crowd appearing to look around like a tourist even though he knows exactly where he is going. "I always expect trouble but I'm not actively seeking it, yet." That ought to explain things rather well for his friend. "In case I haven't mentioned this before, I am glad you looked me up and could venture all the way out here. I may be all /that/ but it never hurts to have help." Tony pauses for a moment to turn around and point at Michael with a lone finger, "Don't tell anyone I admitted to that or I'll never live it down."
Michael mms. "For some reason both of my employers feel like it is a worthwhile endeavor to keep you alive." He comments mildly as he keeps walking, eyes constantly scanning the crowd. "Besides, this is what I do, although normally in a country I speak the language." He smiles wryly when you turn around. "I'm glad to be here to help." He says, seriously, when he is looking at you.
Tony nods succinctly, "Been dead a few times before. I rather perfer the living especially since I have quite a bit I have to be around for." They begin walking again, taking in the sites and noticing anything out of the ordinary. At least in this part of town things seemed to be pretty much normal, or as normal as one could get here. "Kaji happens to speak decent enough Japanese, and I am fluent so we should do well. If you feel the need to play the strong silent type I'm sure that will be fine."
Michael nods. "I'm really hoping that this turns out to inexplicably be the Iranian mob, that would really play much more to my specialties." Michael comments as he looks around, noting a couple of people going by. "I read on the plane that our individuals tend to be heavily tattooed, but in ways that can be covered up, yes?"
Peering up at the lighted boards Tony seems to be playing up the wandering tourist for everything its worth. "Yes, they will not have anything visible if they can help it. However, how they handle their business is quite obvious if you are looking for it." Draining his coffee dry he drops the container in the next refuse bin then shoves his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "Kaji is wandering around topside trying to get a feel for one of the more populated districts. I would suggest that we make our way over to our little hole in the wall and wait for him to return."
Michael nods. "We have a way of getting some boxes? I've got some extra supplies that I want to set up in the hole in the wall." He says, idly making sure the coffee cup gets in the trash can. "Normal criminal activities then? International way of walking if you're a thug?"
The next street over Tony drops the act of casual tourist, and all but strides down the street like he owns it. "We're not quite a cardboard condo but not much above that. The people we're monitoring right now are the bottom feeders so to speak. The drug dealers, the thieves and their ilk before moving up the food chain to the head." Another corner is turned and by the looks of things the streets seem more run down, and sparsely populated now. "The Yakuza have their hands in anything you can think of, and some things you'd rather not think about. The goal is to throw off their game enough to reveal the source and from there we'll just have to see what we're dealing with."
Kaji steps out of one of the alleys, brushing his shoulders dry of anything on them as he gives a small wave towards the two gentlemen. He doesn't say anything before he gets close enough before he lets out a soft sigh, "I gotta say. I thought the higher portions of the city were better off. In fact, I think they might be a bit wose." He puts his hands into his pockets, and he glances over at Tony. "And I'm going to need to talk to you later, just the two of us." He looks back over at Michael and smiles, "Glad to see you here, I was wondering when you'd show up."
"They are this countries version of the mob, yes. Just far more powerful and in far greater numbers than what we are used to. They also tend to get away with nearly everything," Tony comments as they make their way off to a side street that has seen better days. A building with an iron door comes into view before them and out pops Kaji. This doesn't seem to surprise Tony at all but the man does stop his forward progression to lean up against a lamppost that has seen better days. Kaji wanting a word with him gets a brief look of interest but anything that needed to be said would be better to keep off the streets. "Why don't we go inside before we attract too much attention out here in the open."
Michael chuckles. "By the time they call me in, the Mob isn't normally running on U.S. standards. Remember the Iranian mob I mentioned, that was fun." He says. He gives a nod to Kaji, continuing to follow Tony. "Well, right in time I hope."
Kaji chuckles. "I think we might need all the help we can get on this one." He waves a hand towards the gentlemen to come inside as the mutant turns around and head back into the building. Pushing the iron door aside just enough for the two of them to get through.
Tony walks up the narrow stairs to the second floor apartment of the building. If the outside was any clue, the inside is just about as spectacular. The walls are a weird sort of eggshell color, the kitchen looked like someone threw up an interesting shade of yellow on the walls to go with the brown checkered floor. At least the small carpeted living room and even smaller bedrooms were at least minor eye sores. Amongst the run down furnishings, and the rust on the metal, the items inside spoke of who was renting out the cozy flat. Laptops, and other useful pieces of gear were strewn about a long table, near a few of Kaji's particularly favorite weapons. "The place will grow on you or it will grow something itself. Can't be sure!"
Michael chuckles a little bit as he sees the swords, moving in to the room carefully before he goes to an empty bit of table. "Swords." He scoffs. He pops open his briefcase, and begins pulling out parts. "Errol Flynn would be proud."
Kaji glances over at Michael as he scoffs. "What? You don't like my toys?" A slight tease in his voice before he looks over at Tony. "Meet me in the kitchen if ya don't mind." He starts to head over towards that /lovely/ room of the apartment where he leans up against one of the counters, waiting for The Man.
Tony sighs heavily, "Are we going to get into a contest of who's is bigger? Because, honestly? Neither of you would win." Pulling off his shades he tosses them on the table near where his briefcase is resting. "Excuse me for a second, I'm being summoned apparently. You've got the room on the right by the way; Kaji's taking the couch." Tony walks into the kitchen trying not to look around too much and pops open the small fridge to pull out what appears to be sushi. "What happened on your jog that requires the secrecy?" A roll is then popped into his mouth as he leans back against the counter facing Kaji.
Michael watches them go, shaking his head. "As if a parabolic microphone is that expensive anymore?" He asks teasingly, as he begins to pull the pieces together quickly. It quickly shapes up in to a little sub machine gun, an MP-5, with a silencer.
Kaji shakes his head with a chuckle before he looks at Tony as he comes into the room. "It's not pretty up there, I was tailing a few of the members. It looked like they were going on an arms deal run. The bad part is that… he was going into your facility, Tony." He lets out a soft laugh before he says, "I didn't want to say it without tellin' you first. But, somethin's goin' on up at your factory uptown."
Tony has stopped chewing abruptly and levels Kaji with a gaze that is answer enough in and of itself. Slowly the piece of food in his mouth is worked around while his mind accesses his database scouring over information on this particular site, looking for anything that might pop up as particularly interesting. As the facility itself no longer made weapons there were a few things about that could be used if one knew of their military capabilities. "We will have to pay a visit to the factory with a bit of help and take a look around. If Stark weaponry has made its way back into Tokyo we will have to make sure that we shut down the suppliers /hard/ and as secretively as we can."
Michael takes the clip out of the gun, which is empty to begin with, and sets them both down. Then he takes a knife out of the trunk, pulling it out and working with the weight for a moment before he sheasths it again.
Kaji rubs the back of his head with a sigh. "I had to do a few double takes when I saw it myself. But I do agree, we need to shut them down. After we go see that lovely manager over at the factory. I'm sure they'd love to see you, Tony." He pushes off of the counter and heads out into the room with Michael, "Now then." He reaches over and picks the swords up off of the table as he passes by. "Do you want to know why I use these swords?"
Tony remains behind in the kitchen staring at the wall across from him. It was one thing to come across an ocean with the intent to help the Fujikawa's and to assist the local law enforcement but to find out that there is some sort of deal going on between the criminal element and one of his facilities was something he hadn't considered. Sure, he assumed that he and Kaji would have to pay a visit to the Black Market to shut down arms dealers but this was an interesting twist. Another piece of Sushi is slowly consumed as he thinks about various individuals over at the facility, and what he will need to do. Disposing of the empty sushi container he walks through the living room casting a glance at the others before heading into the bathroom.
Michael chuckles slightly. "Do you want to just assume I made a joke about your manhood here, because you set it up so well?" He asks dryly. "SHIELD has people who use swords, but the sword they gives Marines is just ceremonial." He says dryly. "I just either like having someone at least 100 feet away, or something that won't catch in the wall if I overswing." He tells the…wolfmanguythingpersonvoter.
Kaji smirks a bit. "Honestly, I ain't worried about my manhood. I'm perfectly fine about that." He waves a hand before he says, "But the thing is, I ain't too good against things at a distance. Up close, I'm alright." He gestures towards the guns that Michael has, and then towards the MP-5 in his hands. "That, and they really don't make guns to fit an anthro's hands."
Tony can hear them and rolls his eyes as Kaji mentions using guns. The fuzzball didn't need them! Well, he had to admit that it would be amusing to see Kaji dual wielding Berretta's. The razor is placed upon the edge of the sink then Tony cups his hands under the thin stream of water to bring the water up to wash his face clean of the shaving cream. Slowly he stands back up to full height and stares long and hard at himself, "What are you looking at?" His brows narrow. "I hate it when you look at me that way." With a heavy sigh he snags the nearby towel to dry his face off and returns to see what the others are doing.
Michael gives a nod. "Like I said, just not my thing." He says, shrugging slightly. "Some of us have to just be poor, flimsy little mortals dealing with things we don't want getting that close to us." He says, grinning. "Besides…this is just the travel kit, the trunks are still in a secure room at the base."
Kaji blinks a bit before clicking his tongue. He's now reminded why he's glad Michael's on their side and not against them. ANy other time, Kaji'd probably be shot right between the eyes and then in the heart for good measure. "Now why am I slightly concerned at just what all you brought with you."
"Do you really want to know the answer to that?" Tony asks as he walks around behind Kaji to pull out one of the chairs at the table. Flipping it around he straddles it with his forearms coming to rest atop the back of the chair. "I would prefer to keep things contained and apply the least amount of force necessary but speaking from personal experience I know how things will go." The now clean shaven Stark spins the nearest laptop around to face him then glances over at Michael, "Still, we have to try our best to skirt around the edges of the law as none of us are officially here."
"Which is why I didn't bring the explosives." Michael says to Tony. "I understand appropriate force, Tony, and that we're not here to just shoot up the local mob; that just creates more openings anyway. This goes good, none of us /were/ here. But you and I both know that things don't always go good."
Kaji knows a thing or two about things not going good. "If you brought the explosives, I think I might just stay behind you the entire time." Fire and fur never really do mix well. He looks back over at Tony and says, "So I'm going to guess first thing tomorrow, go and see the factory and find out if we can't get any more information on what's going on."
"In a roundabout way," Tony mentions as he pulls up a personnel file on the laptop and turns it towards Kaji. "Mr. Morioka has a high enough security clearance to warrant dragging around his subservients. Once inside we will be able to pick apart whatever is out of the ordinary without drawing too much attention." The laptop gets turned to face Michael now so that Michael can get a good look at the man and read the screen if he chose to. "I will deal with the security of the building, and an image inducer will do the rest."
Michael gives a nod at that. "And we're not going to look like the exact opposite of who a Japanese salaryman would have as subordinates?" He asks, looking at the man and quickly scanning his information. "We're sure we can trust Morioka?"
Kaji nods, "I'm going to let you do the talking on this one Tony. As I've next to no experience in interrogating or things like that. Best to watch and learn, than act and screw up." Least for this. He looks over at Michael with a nod before he looks back at Tony.
Tony shakes his head, "There won't be a problem between what I will handle and the use of the image inducers. Just follow along behind him and refrain from speaking unless spoken to." The laptop is turned around and the screen switches pages too quickly for either of the gentlemen near Tony to be able to tell what is going on. "Morioka has been loyal to Stark Industries for over a decade, and someone I have a pretty good read on. There is a basis of trust there but anyone else it is best to trust them about as far as a frail old man could throw them."
Michael nods at that. "Alright. This is why I come, all of the fancy toys." He says at the image inducers, giving a nod. "Alright. Checked his background just in case? Relatives in the hospital, sudden debts…for that matter, the same checks for the people in the factory?"
Kaji nods. "Understood." He looks over at Michael, and lets the two men speak; they have more ideas on how to handle this than Kaji does. He's still learning all the ropes.
Tony spends some time relating what he knows of the current employee base over at the factory after making sure that Morioka is officially in the clear for everyone's peace of mind. There are a few individuals that have amassed a debt but nothing that would require drastic measures to be taken, like doing whatever they could to keep the Yakuza off their back. A few employees had family in various hospitals around the city but nothing seemed too out of the norm there. The only red flag came with the crew tasked to handle the security of the warehouse that housed the majority of the biomedical divisions work and their supervisor. "Seems Chie Toyama has been burning the midnight oil for the last few months which would coincide with some interesting news reports of people experiencing various ailments." Tony turns the laptop around as the screen depicts the man in question also several devices and compounds that could be tied to news reports.
Michael mms. "How convenient. Seems like this…Chie is someone to look in to specifically. Any known associations with the Yakuza? Family members, cousins, anything?" He asks curiously, looking over the security. "What kind of ailments?"
Kaji quirks a brow at the mentioning of the ailments and he let out a groan. "Are we going to have to go up against bioweapons? I really don't think my rabies shot is up to handling those."
Tony facepalms at Kaji's comment. "I will see what I can track down in terms of Chie's family tree. As for the other?" The laptop opens several pages that the others can go back and forth through when they want to. Some people coming down with various skin conditions, others reporting respiratory and auditory problems. There were also the occasional hallucinations listed. "I have a feeling that they are using things that are meant to keep people healthy and living a comfortable lifestyle and perverting them to cause pain and suffering. Wouldn't be the first time something like this has happened in the world but I will not allow my company to be used like this."
