She sure was quite calm, considering she was speaking to a man who had killed many trained combatants, and would kill her too if he got his hands on her. She appeared in another tree, He responded by flinging his wakizashi at her. With a pang, it would fall to the base of the tree after she disappeared. He would be upon it to collect the short sword.

Inspiration struck. He held on to it through gritted teeth as he looked over to her more distant appearance. A... work order? She was stealing it. She actually was an art thief. To her, the sword was art? It was an insult to what Muramasa had crafted them for, to call this piece art.

Though... she called it a work order. Someone else had sent her? "You are making a mistake... The sword you hold has taken many lives. Careful, or you will become one of its victims." He began to march toward her, hand held out.

"Return it now-" He paused as he looked down from one of her disappearing sites to see another plastic ring. It wasn't the same one, but it very well could have come from the same quarter machine.

"Kawaii Dorobo-chan... This can still end well. Do not push it further than it has gone already." Goddam... It was odd, how mad, and riled up he was at the same time. A woman who flirted with death with such a nonchalant attitude would normally have him over the moon. But she was flirting with HIS brand of death.

It was a very bad long term plan.

Ancient sword that had killed a lot of people, and apparently might be her downfall too?

"Neat." She shifted on the branch she was currently on, one hand still over her painted tag. "But no thanks! I've got too many bills to pay to die anytime soon. Student loans and all that."

What was the name he'd just called her? Kawii- doro- She popped, stayed gone for just a moment so she could google her best guess at what he'd called her.

Pop!

"Cute thief? Daww!" It was a weird, very tense game of tag as she flitted about. Or maybe mutant whack-a-mole. That seemed more fitting, actually.

"Look. I'm sorry you ended up being my target and that this sword means a lot to you. You're making me feel bad over here with the cute nicknames and very morbid second chances and all... buuuut-"

She moved again, appearing back in the original tree with her hand on one of her tags.

"But if I back out of this one, my reputation as a thief is shot. Ya know? How's a girl supposed to get any more work around here if I buckle under the pressure of the first guy who threatens my life, or whatever."

Pop!

"I'll tell you what though. After I finish this job, if you realllly want, you could always hire me to steal it back for you!... I'm pretty sure that's how it works, anyway."

He had to stop at one point, chasing her around the park growling at her quips.

@#$%, if only, if only. She was the perfect crazy ass babe to ride on the back of your motorcyle while you hit mailboxes with in highschool. She reminded him of his youth. He wanted to punch her so bad for being so promising, and yet still chosing to take his most precious posession. What an asshole.

"Feel honored. I Only give people names when I plan to either @#$%, or kill them." He charged at her again, and was hit by clarity mid-step. It was the symbols on the rings. He'd seen one on the way into the park. On the back of a bench. It had caught his eye, as he'd walked by it many times and it hadn't been there.

She was... using those to teleport. "If you tell them my name, no one will blame you for not wanting to cross me. I am Raijin, Yakuza thunder god!" His voice boomed out.

He was ready for the next time she popped in, as he'd began steering her toward that park bench... Waiting for her to pop in there.

The sword wielding Samurai would wait for her to disappear, and then turn to sprint over, jumping at where he figured she would appear once more.

"Does that mean I made the list for both-" She had to cut herself off as he came charging at her again, and decided that she was going to have to end the game soon. He was pretty serious, and she wasn't capable of squaring off against people.

"Yakuza?" She grimaced. "Well THAT would have been nice to know before I accepted this job!" It was starting to become clear that someone had pulled the wool over her eyes a bit when handing her the offer. Did she get someone else's sloppy seconds because they didn't wanna do it??

She vanished again, figuring that now was time to make a break for it before he got even more riled up. All she had left to do was say goodbye.

She popped out next to a bench she had marked, already turned to face where she'd last seen him, only... he wasn't?

He full-on bodily tackled her and without even having to think about it she was sure this was it. The gig was up. He was gonna strangle her or shishkabob her on those swords and-

She squeaked in surprise and her fingers missed her placed mark. Instead they hit the mural that had been painted on the back of the bench.

Pop!

They hit water after a shortfall and separated in the chaos. Churning, fluid water made from spray paint in varying colors. She immediately started kicking to keep her head up. "Ah- cough #$%^, not this one again!"

She hated this painting. The stupid octopus was super aggressive.

They had a moment to tread the fake water, while she paddled as swiftly as she could away from Raijin until a very large body rose up under their feet. Giant green tentacles broke the surface of the churning water, flailing angrily. Shelby managed to snag ahold of one and was lifted out of the waves in a wide arch. She wasn't sure how long she'd be able to hold onto the semi slippery surface.

"Word to the wise; Don't drink the water! It's paint! You'll probably die!" Maybe. She'd never tested it.

"Yes!"

She'd been fooled, after all. He had a strong feeling that she hadn't known exactly what she was getting into here. It may have come from all of those times she acted like she didn't know exactly what she was getting into here.

He proved his point by bull rushing her as soon as he appeared where he expected, and taking her to the ground and looking down at her with a tense expression... before they were suddenly swimming.

"HHHNNG- What?!" He took a moment to orient, he was in water? It didn't matter. She was right there, and she couldn't get away again. He swam toward her powerfully, growling as she was suddenly lifted from the water by a conveniently close tentacle.

She told him something that would make him less likely to die. He growled. "Don't give advice to your enemies, Kawai do-agh!" A Tentacle wrapped around him, and lifted him from the water, further away from her. Immediately he got to digging his sword into the slimy flesh.

He was then falling. With a splash, he was underwater, looking around a mess of strange, vibrant blue water at a series of simple fish doodles floating about. He met eyes with the great octopus, and looked to try and spot the cute thief once more.

Her gloves weren't the best, but they were at least allowing her to keep a semi-solid grip on the Octopi skin as the long arm reached its full crest, and started coming back down. She'd unfortunately been down this road before, so she at least had a bit of an idea of how this temperamental ride would go.

On the way down though, she did have a moment to reflect on that tackle, and how for just a moment there she'd gotten a little thrill at the tense stare he'd leveled on her.

"I do what I waaaaAAHHHHNT!" With a monstrous splash, the tentacle she was riding hit the water and she was dragged under a good distance. Far enough to see him not too far off, right in front of one of the large creatures' huge glossy eyes.

Oof. Well, he probably had all of its attention now! That was good for her at least.

A surge of sucker-covered limbs came for him, intent on dragging him back up out of the water where he would presumably be devoured in as dramatic a fashion as possible. Really, sometimes the intentions people put into their work were just a biiiiiit too much. At least it hadn't been any other kind of tentacle art, though.

The thief snagged onto a different passing limb, held on tight, and soon she was out of the water as well. She started to stand to get her bearings, made sure the sword was still on her back, and then sought out the 'Thundergod' with her eyes.

"He's pretty mean, but if you don't let him get you in his beak you'll probably be fiiine!" She cupped her hands around her mouth to shout because she'd ended up on the other side of the huge octopus.

"Assuming you make it out of here alive, gimme a call sometime! This was pretty fun!"

She adjusted the string around her shoulders, gave him a little finger wiggle of a wave and an air kiss that absolutely had no intention of reaching him, and then burned her painted locket as a quick exit.

Pop!

---

It took her 20 minutes to get across town through frame portals to the spot where she was supposed to drop off the sword. That was five minutes over what she'd anticipated, which was due to this target being a bit more... complicated, than the last few.

A black short limo was waiting for her, or the sword rather. She sidled up to a back window and handed it over. A small clean case of money was given to her in return, and with a tired salute, she Popped back out of there as fast as possible. Kawaii Dorobo-chan needed a nap... and maybe a cold shower.

Raijin was going to kill this beast. The decision was made as soon as they locked eyes. He wanted his sword back first. There she was, in the water not too far off. He moved to make his way toward her, but was quickly wrapped up in a new tenacle and lifted from the water. "PAH! Curse you, Kawaii Dorobo!"

She left some parting words, and he growled out, "I told you!"

And then she was gone.

He was stuck here with a giant monster octopus.

Rather, it was stuck with him.

The giant creature was dead within five minutes. Raijin sat atop its floating corpse wringing water from his robes and cleaning his blade.

He'd sort of come to a conclusion of where he was... the park bench mural, with the octopus. Of course. She was gone. He was left alone to wonder if he was stuck here forever. Maybe he could eat crudely drawn fish for sustainence and hope she returned to bring him back out.

"KUSOOOOOO!" His voice echoed through the painting.

And then he was spat out once more, landing in a heap outside of the park bench. Standing quickly, he took stock. He was still alive, he'd killed a giant monster. He was down his most prized posession. The woman was gone. He pulled out his phone, and growled. It was soaked in paint. Useless.

He looked ot the number on his hand. Smudged.

"Ku-SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!"

It wasn't terribly hard tracking him down. He was a large, angry man stalking around the city looking for a lost item. Eisley had just enough connections to get a call once he was spotted, and it was only a short drive from there to the street address.

She dressed in her Sunday finest, with a ribbon tied around the end of her braid. It did take much to walk around the opposite side of the block, stop by a small vendor who was selling shaved ice and get herself one, and then "happen" to walk in the direction facing him.

She was all smiles and made extra sure to convey the proper emotion of her face lighting up on seeing him. "Mr. Samurai man!" She didn't know his name as far as he knew. Her Father had never said it in front of her if he even cared to know it himself, and it would be entirely too suspicious if she spit it out now.

She skipped over with a youthful smile on her face. "How are you? It's been a little bit since I last saw you!"

My, oh my. He certainly looked grumpy didn't he? So much emotion boiling inside because his toy had been stolen. It really was a shame so many people put so much of themselves in objects. Why, even with Mr. Unicorn she'd long since grown out of needing him as a constant companion. She felt she was better for it now, even if she missed him terribly still.

"Oh, but you don't look very happy. Is something the matter?" Innocent head tilt. Small smile. Same as she ever was.

He hadn't slept last night. No time. He had to find the pink woman; the art thief. The ronin wasn't sure what time it was. His phone was out of commission, filled with paint. Oh well, it didn't matter. He had to find his sword. She had stolen it for someone. The only thing was, he wasn't an investigator.

So, he spent a whole night and half of a day walking up to people in suits and demanding they tell him where his @#$^ing sword was.

He was doing that now. His arm was looped around the neck of a meek investment banker, deep shadows under his eyes were ignored as he lowered his voice to the man. "You will tell me where it is... You have a suit. You know." The man shook his head, and seemed immediately relieved when someone called out to him, and he was able to slip out and run off when he looked to see who it was.

Raijin's sleepy eyes squinted as the young woman walked up. "Huh... Are you someone I slept with? No child support, go away."

He turned and paused, looking her up and down again. A bit young, but she certainly wasn't bad looking. Church mouse aesthetic, but they were often sinners underneath. "Unless you want to go again. It will have to wait, I have to find my sword."

Ugh. Gross. So he was even less of a person than she had originally thought. A slime-covered slug wearing the skin of a person. That coupled with his apparent use of demon "magic" from what Father had said, made him even more of a future target. She filed that away for later, though.

A pretty flush bloomed on her cheeks which she tried to cover with one hand. All of the clips from movies she had seen in her life where the girl blushes and assumes the innocent, dainty, meek guise were useful awfully quick. She blinked up at him with wide doe eyes, before averting them.

"Oh goodness! I could never!"

Add in an embarrassed shift here to two, a few 'snuck' glances, and she hurried to try and move the conversation along.

"I'm Eisley! Father McCallen spoke with you a few days ago about some kind of private matter... I couldn't help but notice you. I've never seen someone with, um... tattoos like yours, or swords and stuff."

She continued on with the shy act for just a little bit longer, fiddling with the cup of melting shaved ice in her hands, before looking to where his swords would be and "noticing" that one was gone.

"Oh... you only have one today."

She made a little bit of a show playing on the slow, innocent act, before pretending that an idea had struck her. "Oh!"

She leaned in a little, uncaring of whether he smelled, or how tired he looked. "Did you lose one? Could I help you find it?"

Then, as an afterthought, she let her brows crease a little and tapped her lips with a finger.

"How strange, though... My father just acquired a sword himself. He was talking so animatedly about it last night at dinner."

Oh, she wasn't looking for child support. Good. She wasn't after sex, though, which was... okay. She did look a bit young, after all. The overt embarrassement drew an impatient glance her way before he started looking around for someone else to harass for his sword. One of these suits ought to know who had enough money to hire Kawaii Dorobo.

This little girl was wasting his time. "Ehhhhh? What do I care if you know that freaky old priest?" He would grab her by the shoulders to move her a little out of the way to get a good look at a person further down the sidewalk, pausing when she pointed out he only had one sword.

"That is true. I am looking for the other, yes." He sturned to step away, missing almost all of her well crafted act, because he didn't give a shit.

she did say something that gave him pause. He would immediately be staring at her. "Who is your father. Where does he live?"

Freaky old priest

Honestly, it didn't even make her mad. Deep inside she just got a little bit sadder. Clearly, this man had lost his way a long time ago. He'd worked with her father and yet he couldn't see the good they were doing. The man was sick. Tainted deep in his soul, assuming he still had one and hadn't sold it for his magic tricks.

She allowed him to grab her and threw out an appropriate response for someone in her position. Kept her arms limp and noodly, allowed her feet to catch a little in a slight stumble.

She busied herself with smoothing the hem of her dress back down and then startled when she looked back up and he was staring at her.

He'd noticed her bait, but had yet to bite.

"My Father?" She stammered, allowing herself to seem suddenly aware of the size difference between them. Regardless of how little he had cared before, she knew Eisley from a few years ago would have been shaking in her shoes from having someone's attention so intensely focused on her. She let herself play into it.

"G-Gerik...Herzog?" She shifted on her feet uncomfortably, averting her gaze again. "I... I can't remember the address. I haven't lived there very long."

Her younger self would have been scared and intimidated and rightly so considering what she knew about the man before her now. "My father has a driver take me places. He's waiting down the block for me. I... really should be getting back to him, actually."

Dangle the bait a little more. Tug a little, make him fight for it. If everything went according to plan he'd bite, and she'd be able to reel him in.

He didn't notice something was off at first. He grabbed her, moved her, looked around past her, and then stepped back as she replied. His eyes drifted across her features as she spoke about her father. Small. Unassuming. Meek, even.

Why did something make him feel... uncomfortable. What was going on, here? He shook his head at her. "I don't know who the @#$% that is. He has a sword? What does it look like?" He pulled out his own short blade. "Like this, but longer?"

He turned to look down the block as she mentioned having a driver, before looking back to her. "Stay right here for a second, something is wrong. I need to sort it out. Let me think." What was it? What was off? He took a solid scan of the area. No one stood out. No one was watching them. The driver and her car weren't even visible. Around the corner, maybe.

She wouldn't be able to describe his stolen sword past the barest description. She hadn't spent any time looking at it any more than she needed for a job for the thief. She knew enough about it to see that there were some matching qualities, if only in decoration.

Still, she looked at his shorter sword (she'd need to ask Father about them later) and spent a moment picking out similarities. "... A little. Definitely longer, and with the same color ribbon, but the one he's got has wavy lines on it."

She shifted a little away from him, toward where she'd indicated her car was waiting. "He collects old weapons and stuff. He's got a bunch of other swords in his office."

He told her to wait, and so she did. It irked her a little, honestly, but she was nothing if not polite and sometimes it was hard going against a man's demand when Garik had spent more than a year training her to do exactly that.

He watched her as she replied, nodding once as she looked over the weapon, before his expression shifted a little bit. To one of focus. On her.

"You are not afraid of the sword." He watched for another moment, thinking back to her movements. Her reactions. "Not afraid of any of this. Me." That's what it was. SHE was what was unsettling him. "Why are you pretending to be afraid if you are not afraid?"

I mean... The Sword was his sword. She'd described a unique feature of it. It was... perfect. Almost too good to be true.

"Did you find me to tell me your father has my sword? I will kill him for taking it. Do you know that? I could kill you right now..." He was... curious, more than anything else. He knew where his sword was, unless this was a trap. Even if it was, he would just kill who ever was trying to trap him and look for his sword more.

And yet. She was just as afraid in this situation as she was. Not at all.

Unless he was just imagining all of this. What was certainly possible.