rp scenario generator: "sano is hired to spy on sen"

[deontological]

Sen is hardly oblivious to her surroundings.

She can't afford to be - wherever she goes, she must be aware of what is going on. Her work demands it, after all; how can she expect her agents to pay attention if she can't do the same? So of course she notices when one of the Shinsengumi's captains is off his usual patrol route and away from his division.

It doesn't surprise her that someone has been sent to watch her movements. What does surprise her is that the man tailing her is not Yamazaki Susumu, but Harada Sanosuke.

Well... she may as well have fun with this, she supposes. She glances back over her shoulder and meets his eyes with a sly smile. Catch her if you can, Sano...! Because she's just casually going to step into a throng of people and attempt to lose herself in the crowds.

But she won't try too hard. She's rather curious as to what exactly prompted him to be out today.

Comments

[maruniichimonji]

She's not to be trusted until her story has been thoroughly checked out.

Those were the orders he'd been given by Hijikata after Sen had shown up seeking to take Chizuru away. Despite claiming she'd leave her in their hands, could they really believe that, or is it a ruse to lure them into a false sense of security? Can they genuinely trust her, or was she sent to impress upon Chizuru the idea that if she was with her, she'd be far safer than with the Shinsengumi? Is she truly as removed from Kazama and his plans as she claims to be?

They're all good questions and things they really ought to know, but at the same time he really doesn't understand the reason why, of all people, he was picked for this. It isn't as though he's able to blend in like Shimada or Yamazaki -he stands out far too much and is too easily recognizable. Add to it the fact that she's seen him, and he knows she knows he's there because she even smiled at him...

It's actually rather frustrating. His orders were to tail her, see what she does, watch where she goes, check everything out and report back on his findings. Who does she speak to, where does she go, is there anything suspicious about the people and places? That one moment of frustration proves to be a mistake though, and she's there one moment, gone the next, disappearing into the crowd as if she were little more than a spectre.

Shit! That's not good!

Scanning the crowd as best he's able, even lifting himself up on tiptoe at one point, he searches desperately for some sign of the much shorter woman. She can't be that hard to find, right? Dammit, why couldn't this be Yamazaki's job instea-- oh wait!

It's just a glimpse, but it's enough to give him some sort of direction as he starts pushing his way through the throng of people, apologizing here and there while trying not to lose sight of her again. Hopefully what he saw really is her, because Hijikata might not be terribly happy with him if he goes back only to say he lost her.

[deontological]

Luckily for Sano, Sen's style of dress is rather distinctive (in a "much more elegant than everyone else around me except for maybe Nagumo Kaoru" sort of way), so the brief glimpse he catches is indeed her. She is easy enough to follow through the crowds, though she moves at a brisk and efficient pace.

It isn't until she comes across a stall selling dango that she... stops and gets into line. She's hungry, apparently. Or maybe she's taking pity on him? Or maybe she's actually just as much of a shithead as Kazama is, enjoying her little game of cat-and-mouse. Who knows? ...okay, it's more likely that she's just hungry, since now she's at the front of the line and she's handing over a few coins in exchange for the snack.

By the time Sano catches up to her, the transaction will be finished, and she holds out a stick of them to him with another smile.

"Would you like one? You must have worked up quite the appetite, chasing after a young lady the way you did."

At least her voice is more teasing than malicious.

[maruniichimonji]

It's hard work chasi-- er, tailing a woman who wants to keep some distance between herself and any who would pursue her. He's not out of breath when she finally stops, but the entire ordeal was still incredibly exhausting in its own right. And then for her to not only acknowledge him but to offer him dango and point out that yes, no matter what words he wanted to use, he had just been chasing a woman through the streets.

He can't not accept the offer though, that would be rude and he's really not in the habit of being rude to women.

Trying his best to not look frazzled, he somehow manages to not embarrass himself too much as his eyes fix pointedly on the treat. It's easier to focus on that than on the fact that he just got called out for more or less stalking her. "It's surveillance, not chasing. I'm not stalking you or anything."

Though, if he really wanted to be technical... but he doesn't, so it isn't.

[deontological]

"Of course you aren't," She says with a small shrug as she hands over a stick of dango to him. "I'm sure it's merely a coincidence that your surveillance just so happened to be exactly where I was spending my time today."

Right, coincidence. Just like it was a coincidence that Kimigiku just so happened to be the one serving them at the congrats-we-protected-the-noticeboard party. Fair is fair, Sen supposes; it's not as though she hasn't conducted surveillance of her own on the group.

"So tell me, has your surveillance turned up anything interesting?"

[maruniichimonji]

Accepting the stick, he racks his brain to come up with an answer to that. Had it turned up anything? Well, other than the subject in question being quite good at giving someone the slip, liking dango, and somehow figuring out that she's being tailed, not really. But he can't tell her that -she's not supposed to know, even if he's pretty sure she already does, but that's where being vague comes in.

"Not yet." It's the truth, after all. That way, he doesn't have to provide details, just a broad answer. "I'm not the one who gives the orders, I just follow them. Where they take me isn't important as long as the job gets done."

The mission at hand, however, is probably blown clean out of the water, but if there's a chance it can be salvaged, why not take it? Nobody ever said small talk can't be useful. Just act natural.

"Dango aside, what brings you out here?"

[deontological]

Sen is relatively certain that Hijikata has absolutely no interest in her snackfood preferences, so the likelihood of the information Sano has collected up to this point being utterly useless is very high. Maybe she can throw him a small bone, just so he doesn't go slinking back to the Shinsengumi headquarters without any information at all...

When she's done with the conversation, anyway. Truth be told, it's boring to sit around waiting for Kimigiku or one of her other agents to come back to her with information; there are times when she likes to take a more active role in the various goings-on in Kyoto, and this is one of them.

She doesn't seem opposed to allowing the small talk to continue, if the way she responds is any indication. "I had some free time today, so I thought I would do some shopping. Even people like me," Cough demons cough, "have to eat."

[maruniichimonji]

C'mon, Sen, give the poor dog a bone.

"Shopping?" If he sounds a little surprised, it's because he is. He's trying to come up with a plausible explanation for why he's wandering around a few paces behind a woman that's clearly not doing anything suspicious while looking incredibly suspicious himself... and it's not working. Dammit, Hijikata, couldn't Yamazaki have done this instead of him? Shopping really isn't what he'd planned to do today.

"And your bodyguard is going to be mysteriously absent and leave you to carry everything on your own?" Hah! Finally! There's an obviously suspicious thing that could lead to actual information that isn't food or shopping.

[deontological]

"As it so happens, her presence was requested at a banquet tonight, so she has no choice but to spend the day preparing for it." Sen brings up a hand to hide her mouth and giggles. "Your friend Nagakura-san is far from the only person who finds her to be quite fetching, after all."

Suspicious? Maybe. Either that or Kimigiku just has to work, which Sen doesn't mind because having her there means she'll know immediately if anything of importance happens at said banquet. If it leaves her to do her shopping alone, so be it; it just means that she'll be more free to buy less-than-healthy snacks if she so desires.

"Are you worried about me having to carry everything? If it will make you feel better about it, you may accompany me. I wouldn't mind the assistance of such a charming young man." If he's going to be following her anyway she might as well profit off it somehow, is what she's saying.

[maruniichimonji]

...or not. Well, at least he tried to find some sort of out in all of this -sure, he didn't try very hard, but the effort was made. "Ah, I'd forgotten about that. My apologies." He really doesn't know if catching Shinpachi's eye is a good thing or not, to be honest, so the apology encompasses everything from his goof to his friend's attentions.

Still, he raises an eyebrow at the compliment, but ultimately decides to accept. If nothing else, it'll satisfy Hijikata's orders while allowing him to decide whether or not he thinks she can be trusted -screw Hijikata's thoughts, if Sano thinks she can't, then he sure as hell won't care what Hijikata has to say on the matter. "I suppose I could, since it would appear we're both headed in a similar direction. Besides, I'd wanted to pick something up for Chizuru and a woman's input could be useful." Play it cool and ignore the fact that he knows that she knows he was following her.

[deontological]

"Oh, she doesn't mind," Sen says with a light giggle. "She's quite used to it. He was better behaved than some."

By "some" she means "those assholes from Choshu" and also other demons. Other demons are by far the worst customers; one of these days she's going to have to instruct Kimigiku to raise a big enough stink that Kazama will be banned from the Sumiya...

Sano has brought up a topic that she finds to be vastly preferable to talking about her bodyguard and his husband's wandering eye, though, and she claps her hands together excitedly. There's a bit of a sparkle in her eye - picking up a present for Chizuru is a good use of Sano's time as far as she's concerned. Who cares if he's simultaneously spying on her?

"Chizuru-chan is very lucky to have someone like you thinking of her. I'd be glad to help you pick out a gift!"