RP [Former UOC] Hidden In The Sunflowers

[Andrew]

RP Date

YE 41

RP Location

Jiyuu

Hidden In The Sunflowers

This is a Companion Story to: Resolutions of The Ghost: Episode 1 - I stand, Again

Index
Part 1: Hospitality
Part 2: A message of Importance
Part 3: The Boy
Part 4: Bad Tourists
Part 5: The Weakest Link


Part 1: Hospitality
Old Tokyo. Jiyuu
Former Capital of the UOC

Mrs. Tanaka had the same routine every day when she closed her cafe, the blinds were drawn, the security gate locked in place over the front door, a potted sunflower that usually stayed on the front counter was moved to a wooden crate just outside the back door which was kept ajar, the elder woman left it there as a sign to her nightly guests that it was safe to come in, rest and have something to eat. The cafe was far from a palace, but such grandeur had long since passed from those who visited her humble cafe.

The two Blackcoats minded their own business and sat a the diner-style bar that stretched along the east wall of the cafe. They drank coffee, shoveled oversized slices of pie onto their plates and gorged themselves with food offered by Mrs.Tanaka. For the most part, their days were long, exposed to the elements in the fields of sunflowers where their boss conducted meetings and private audiences with those who still believed in his defunct royalty. This position they were in, the three of them had managed on the courtesy of women like the owner of the cafe since they had unwillingly returned to Jiyuu after being set adrift in an escape pod by Motoyoshi Kiyoko.

Prince Motoyoshi Tio had always been a man of few words, when he spoke it was direct and to the point and inbetween points he was always silent. The silence after their return to Jiyuu was almost disturbing in its nature. Those late nights in the cafe, he sat next to the fireplace, he ate enough to be fed and didn't keep any company at all. Life had changed since the fall of the colonies, with Yamatai back in control he was nothing but an exile and a name mentioned on lists obviously filtered around by SAINT, he knew they were looking for him, and he had already determined they would likely find him. When that time came, he wanted to be sure it was on his terms and not theirs. His reunion with his mothers would be the subject of his thoughts, the matters of his own anxiety and speculations.

News flowed one way, nearly as much as it did the other. Tio knew that his betrayal had done anything but set Katsuko back if anything she now held more influence than she ever did, an influence that craved to restore her honor through bringing both him and Kiyoko to justice. Her version of justice anyway. Tio had never been entrenched in the treachery committed by Kiyoko, and that was part of the problem, what lead to him being ditched on this world that was being rebuilt so far from the image he had hoped for it.

When Mrs. Tanaka filled his teacup for the third time, he bowed his head in thanks and finally spoke up, "Eisuke, come here..." he called for one of the two Blackcoats to join him in his isolated corner of the cafe. The Blackcoat approached and sat down in front of the Prince, and nodded in affirmation and respect. "Yes, sir?" he said, curious as to what finally broke the Prince's silence.

"Eisuke, my stepmother Misato is coming to meet with me in a few weeks. This may be the end of us, it is important to me that you find happiness in your life, that you take advantage of the pardon and return to something that resembles a life, when this is all over," he said, then pulled a small folded piece of paper out of his pocket and put it into Eisuke's hands. "Tomorrow, we will leave here and head into the fields again, I will take Hiroji with me, you slip into the city and deliver this note to a friend of mine. The address is written on the back of the paper," he explained their plans for the next day.

Eisuke nodded, "As you wish, My Prince. I will deliver the note. I will find a good life, but you must do the same. As I said when you stood up to Kiyoko, I stand with you, and if that means I'm executed beside you, so be it. I am glad you had the strength to tell her you didn't agree, even if it means the Tange want my head." The Blackcoat placed the note into one of the pockets in his cargo-style pants. "Is there anything else?" he asked.

Tio shook his head in reply and motioned his hand in dismissal. Eisuke returned to the counter with Hiroji to take turns on the lookout as the Prince slept. He then leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. Sleep never came easy, the fear he now lived kept him awake at night, his mind always searched for where he had gone wrong, for that moment he had become this exile instead of a Prince.

 

[Andrew]

Part 2: A Message of Importance

Mrs. Tanaka lightly touched the Prince's shoulder, “Motoyoshi-san, it is morning. You have a few minutes before I open,” she said, she had left the cup of tea on the table beside the chair where he had slept.

“Thank you, Mrs. Tanaka,” he said as he stirred in the chair, then stretched out his limbs and yawned loudly. His two Blackcoats were already outside, likely stealing laundry from one of the alleys to cloth Eisuke for his mission into the city. Tio reached for the cup of steaming tea and blew across the surface of the hot liquid before he took a careful sip. The mission he had assigned for today was something special, it needed to be conducted carefully and without flaw. The note was of little importance itself, but it carried with it the fact he was alive and on Jiyuu. He reached for his backpack and pulled his arm through the strap. “We will see you tonight. Your hospitality is deeply appreciated.” He bowed respectfully to the elder woman, a motion that he had begun to accept his place in the universe.

“You boys be careful out there...” Mrs.Takana called out from behind the counter as Tio joined his men in the back alley.

Tio pulled the hood of his black hoodie up, the fringes of his light purple hair stuck out from the edges. “Eisuke, be vigilant and safe. Hiroji and I will wait for you in the usual place," he said, a smile tugged at his expression, most would consider that a change for the better from the melancholy that had hung over him since they arrived on Jiyuu.

Eisuke smiled in return, "You as well, my Prince." Dressed in a leather jacket and jeans, Eisuke made his way out from the desolation of the back alleys and into the streets of Tokyo headed towards the address where he was instructed to deliver the note.

Several Hours Later

Eisuke stood on the street, he gazed at the towering residential buildings that seemed to go on forever. It had been a long time since he had been out in the open since they had arrived on Jiyuu he had remained at the side of Prince Tio. He glanced down at the address on the note and then back up at the building.

This must be it

The devoted soldier entered the lobby of the building and looked around. It seemed like a normal place, the lobby was well decorated. A young green-haired Jiyuuian woman sat at the desk, which he approached cautiously, "Hello, I am...looking for Apartment 8-44B?" he was hoping he could at least get some directions so he didn't have to spend half the day going from floor to floor.

"Ya, take the lift, floor 8....44B is to your right." the young woman replied without even a glance up at him.

"Oh, okay, thanks," Eisuke said he wondered what had her so busy that she couldn't even make eye contact. He shrugged as he turned away and headed towards the elevator. The trip up eight floors was merely a few seconds, he exited the lift and turned right. He followed the numbers on the doors of the apartments until he reached the one that Tio had written across the back of the note.

Eisuke took a deep breath, he didn't know what to expect. He had not read the note, he merely delivered it as promised. He rang the chime, and there was some commotion on the other side of the door, a lot of whispering and the low hum of some kind of scanning equipment and then silence as the door handle turned and the door opened.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw when the door opened.

 

[Andrew]

Part 3: The Boy

The dark blue-haired Jiyuuan woman opened the apartment door once she had finished the scan. She didn't say anything, she just stepped forwards and took a look down the hallway each way. She reached for the collar of Eisuke's jacket and proceeded to pull him in. Observation, the key to a soldier's survival. Eisuke's focus was not the woman, but the young man who stood in the background. Once he had been pulled inside and the door was shut and locked behind him, he stood there dumbfounded as he stared on what had almost been a legend. The young man, was the lost Prince Eidan, the son and heir of Prince Tio and the former Prime Minister of the United Outer Colonies. The description matched perfectly, those bright cerulean eyes, the soft complexion, and violet hair; the boy's face had all the features of his father's resemblance. "I..." Eisuke tried to speak as he fumbled through his pockets in search of the note that the Prince had given him, in his nervousness he dropped the piece of paper which had been folded and he looked down to pick it up but noticed it was blank.

There was no note, just the address. Eisuke himself was the message.

"You must be Eisuke," the young woman said, "I am Anzu, we have been expecting you." She smiled as she took his shaking hands and lead him to a chair where he could sit. "Eidan, please get this gentleman a cup of tea," she spoke to Eidan as if he was any other child, it was the way he had been raised, it was why they were able to hide him in plain sight for all of this time. Anzu sat down on the ottoman after she positioned it closer to the chair when Eidan left the room she said to Eisuke, "I know, this is not what you expected when Tio sent you here. I just wish he could have come himself," she knew that what he had just seen had startled him, anyone close to Tio would have the same reaction. Eidan had spent years attending school, playing with children his own age, his identity kept a secret while being in plain sight of the citizens of Jiyuu.

Eisuke nodded slowly, it was a lot to take in. He glanced around the sunny, well-kept apartment and while it was not palace it was grand in comparison to the hells of the imprisonment he had experience onboard the Akuro III. He took a deep breath and then the young man returned with the cup of tea, he took it cautiously almost unsure of being served such a mundane thing by a person he, by a person they had all considered royalty. " Arigatou gozaimasu..."

Anzu placed her hand on Eidan's shoulder, "Why don't you go finish your homework?" The young man nodded, then looked towards Eisuke, "Thank you Eisuke-san for coming to us today, please tell my father that I miss him." Eidan then walked out of the room down the short corridor to his bedroom.

Eisuke looked to Anzu and asked, "If Eidan is here, and you are his caregiver where is Amaya?" He could tell almost immediately that he had asked a question he probably should not have, but his mind was running with questions, his own curiosity peaked by what he had been sent to by Tio.

Anzu shook her head slowly and looked down, a sadness wept from her features as she looked back up towards him. "Two years ago, during the construction, we were living in another part of Tokyo, Amaya went to meet with a group of Tange that had managed to sneak onto Jiyuu from the Akuro III. After the meeting, all we found of her was a puddle of blood left in the alley. She is either dead, or they took her with them," she explained, a tear cascaded the rise of her cheek. "I promised Tio I would take care of Eidan, him being back on Jiyuu puts us all back into danger. The Tange want him dead, SAINT wants to arrest him and I wouldn't put it past either party to try and use Eidan as bait," she shook her head side to side once more. "Tio has to make a choice now, he needs to choose a path and stick to it no matter what the end. Eidan must be protected and not become a pawn in this sick game Kiyoko has set in motion," she spoke through her tears.

Eisuke tried his best to comfort the young woman, his own blue eyes glazed with emotions as he turned his head and stared out the window as he hugged her. Those moments of torture, of forced labor while he had been imprisoned for following Tio and not Kiyoko all came back in a rush. He finally said after a few moments, "Don't worry, Prince Tio will do the right thing. He may have been misled but he is a smart man....a good man."

(OOC Note: For obvious reasons, some character names and details have been modified.)

 

[Andrew]

Part 4: Bad Tourists

Old Tokyo, Jiyuu
Fuji Hotel Room 506

Tange Ceiko finished another flute of champagne, then sunk down in the bubbling pool of the hot tub. The downwards motion was not quick enough though to miss the impact of Fumiko's hand on the back of her head. Thwap! "That was my drink, you lush!" Fumiko scolded her. Fumiko shook her head, then adjusted the straps of her purple bikini that nearly matched her hair. "You're not supposed to be drinking anyway, Kiyoko would flip out if she knew you were blowing our credits on this..." she sighed, as the warm water flooded around her, "...not that this is horrible. We're supposed to appear to be here on vacation." Fumiko turned to look at Ceiko again, but Ceiko was already up to have the android waiter refill both glasses from the bottle.

Ceiko giggled and slid back into the tub, "Oh Fumiko, don't be so worried. We just need Prince Charming to lead us to the brat so we can take them both out. There is nothing wrong with enjoying ourselves a bit as long as we're here," she said, then handed Fumiko her glass. "All the idiot seems to do is hang around that cafe taking handouts from that old lady."

Fumiko took the glass of champagne and took a sip, then set the glass back down on the side of the tub. "I guess there is nothing wrong with it unless we screw this up. I'd rather shove a pistol down my throat and pull the trigger than be on the receiving end of Kiyoko's wrath or be captured by the Imperialist dogs," she spoke in a sincere tone. "We should get Mayumi and Hitomi to let us go out tonight, I'm sure it would be a lot less suspicious to the hotel if we actually left the room all at once instead of in these shift-like rotations, it is not very vacation-like of us," she added before she stretched her legs out in the bubbling pool.

Ceiko nodded and splashed her hands about excitedly and said, "I like that idea, I mean, we already know where he goes at night, it has been the same the entire time we've been here. " She dunked her head under the water and then pushed back above the surface, the water streamed off her pink strands as she tilted her head back and ran her fingers through her hair to push the wet hair away from her face. "I don't understand Tio, you'd think after being cooped up in a box like that he'd go for something a little fancier than some cafe. That Prince needs to get his priorities straight and get a little action. I mean, I'd do him," she confessed.

Fumiko scoffed, "We're supposed to end him, and you're thinking about landing him in bed. Ceiko, you never cease to amaze me."

The pink haired Jiyuuian drained the rest of her glass, "What he's hot, and I'll kill him when I'm done. I've always wanted to live out that fatal attraction non-sense that romance novels go on and on about." Ceiko put down her glass and wrapped her arms around Fumiko's neck. "You're telling me if you were in this hot tub with him right now, you wouldn't go for a little kiss?" she teased, her lips pressed briefly against Fumiko's and giggled.

Fumiko kissed her back and playfully pushed her away, "I didn't say that..." She laughed and sank back against the side of the tub, "Once Kiyoko sells that ship, I'm getting one of these tubs. I could live in here, get me a few more bottles and a couple of snacks and I'd never leave." She straightened up, "What time is it? I think Mayumi said they were going to be back before lunch. Surely they aren't following Eisuke on whatever dumb errand Tio sent him on today." She stood up and reached for her communicator to check her messages.


Room 507
SAINT Agents

Aio pulled the headset off and looked towards Yuriko, "Your turn, listening to these budding psychopaths is worse than listening to Nepleslian metal. We should probably send the next data package to HQ and Katsuko before these bad tourists head out for a night on the town."

 

[Andrew]

Part 5: The Weakest Link

Shibuya Club
Tokyo

Mayumi glanced around the club, Fumiko, Ceiko, and Kaida were on the dance floor among the other revelers. They tried to get her to join them, but she had stayed at the table with her margarita. Every once in a while they would wave at her and she would wave back. Her and Tange Kaida had spent the day “following” Eisuke through the city, a few strategic wrongs turns and they had lost him in the crowds. She had sabotaged the mission, and that was far from the beginning of it. When she felt Aio against her back she melted against her, it was so risky this kind of meeting, the undercover SAINT agent curled her arms around Mayumi's body as she leaned back to press her lips to hers. Koyanagi Mayumi had grown tired of running, and after being stripped of her place as the CEO of Motoyoshi Fleet Yards she had found no solace in the life of running with Kiyoko, so she made the deal with the only devil she could. It was a relationship of necessity and the only ticket home and out of this mess. Mayumi had been a hardcore supporter of the United Outer Colonies, she had supported the Tange and betrayed Katsuko with the rest of them; her actions cost her everything. When she had been caught by SAINT almost a year before, her choice was cooperation and hopefully one-day forgiveness.

Aio, her handler and the SAINT agent who had caught her during that last trip to Jiyuu had become so much more, perhaps her love was the only thing that set Mayumi free from the constant propaganda and mental conditioning the Tange had deployed under the leadership of Motoyoshi Kiyoko. “Ah. They will see you, love...” she whispered to Aio. “They don't know who I am,” Aio said back, as she squeezed herself against her back. “Come on,” Aio said she pulled Mayumi around to face her as she whispered again, “They're busy enjoying their party.” Aio lead Mayumi towards the back of the club to one of the quieter sitting areas. She pulled her down to the couch in a position to straddle her and began to kiss her neck lightly, “The First Expeditionary Fleet and Katsuko will be in the system tomorrow. The Taisho will be sending Miho down to get you, remember everything just as we discussed,” Aio whispered the plan to Mayumi.

Mayumi tightened her hold on Aio, she whispered after a trail of kisses up to the woman's neck, “I will give you the positioning strategy for the Akuro III, once I am safe.” She closed her gray-eyes tightly and let out a deep sigh as she said, “I am scared Aio, will you be there with me? I don't want to face Miho or Katsuko alone.” The two had developed a relationship during the year of information exchange that had to lead them all to this point. Mayumi knew that Aio was honest and true to her word, but at the end of the day, she was a SAINT officer with a mission. It was too late to change her mind now, as terrified as she was, hopefully, Katsuko would see her cooperation and atonement for the sins she had committed against her.

Aio shifted her weight slightly and leaned down further against Mayumi, “I promised, you've kept your word and I will do everything I can within my power to make sure you are okay.” she kissed Mayumi passionately and then slid off her lap and into a standing position, “Take care of yourself until then, no unnecessary risks.” Aio retracted her hands off Mayumi's for slowly then turned and disappeared into the crowd.

Fumiko appeared a few minutes later, “Mayumi, who was that girl? You got a girlfriend and didn't tell us?” Mayumi forced a smile and replied, “Just an interest, we can't risk getting attached to people. I need another drink, Do you want one?” she said as she stood up and lead Fumiko towards the bar. Mayumi knew now that Katsuko was on her way, she didn't know whether she should be relieved or scared for her life.