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Kaito looked at Maki and smiled. "Yeah! Damn straight I am!" Though he didn't specify what comment of hers he was replying to. "And you're...uh..." He rubbed his chin. "Aw man...there's no way to make being a babysitter sound cool! If you're sticking with me, we gotta get you a cool nickname! Let's see...Maki...Maki Harukawa...Harukawa...Maki...I got it!"

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"Harumaki, the Ultimate Babysitter! Sounds cool as Hell, right?"

@Ver
 
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"Do you want to die?"

Maki said it so easily, without missing a beat. A part of her felt like Kaito seemed to be making fun of her in a sense, but upon later thought, she realized he probably wasn't even (capable of) thinking of it like that, so she simply gave a soft sigh instead.

...

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"... You may as well just stick to Maki Roll at this point, not that I particularly care much for that either," the girl pouted, as though feeling abashed at her initial reaction, fiddling with her hair as she spoke.

@Yun Lee
 
"Maki Roll...huh." A huge grin quickly grew on Kaito's face. "I like it!" Though now he was hungry again...he should've gotten some nuggets too, damn it.

"Guess I can't call you that while on the mission, though, since you're Kiyohine and all. Maybe I should get you a nickname for that, too?" He paused a moment, thinking it over, before raising his eyebrows as something occured to him. "Hey, speaking of the mission...I wanna ask you something. What made you wanna join the Coalition in the first place? I mean, for a guy like me, it's pretty obvious. But someone like you...I dunno, you're hard to read." He shrugged. "Is saving the Multiverse something important to ya?"

@Ver
 
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"..."


Maki's brow furrowed visibly as Kaito posed a strange question to her. For one, it was quite out of left field... not that Momota had a personality that Maki would describe as predictable, but really, where did that come from, she had to wonder.

Another thing, Maki found herself visibly frowning, feeling bothered that Kaito would ask her that kind of question. But no... rather, of course he'd ask her a question like that. That's what anyone else would think, right?

"So it's totally normal for you and Gonta, but I'm the one out of place even next to Korekiyo, huh? I guess I should have expected as much," the girl pouted, puffing her cheeks, inadvertently making her irritation look just a tad less threatening, "Maybe I'm here because I wish to go on living without the threat of the multiverse collapsing, or maybe I'm here to make sure someone like you doesn't get in trouble."

"But either way, if it's so weird to you, maybe I'll let you keep wondering then."

@Yun Lee
 
Now it was Kaito's turn to get irritated. "Sheesh! I don't get you, Maki R...hmph. You don't let me buy you food but you eat my fries, you let me give you a nickname but don't tell me why you're even doing what you're doing...you're the weirdest girl I've ever met, and we went to school with Angie!" Kaito sulked, crossing his arms as he leaned on the wall.

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"At least even Kiyo is kind of an open book! A weird as Hell open book, but at least I know what he's about when he's not putting me to sleep with history lessons. But you...I don't know shit about you. Where you come from, why you even like kids when you're all..."
He gestured to her. "Like this all the time? Come on, give me something to work with here! We're gonna be teammates for a long time, can't you give me something to go off of?"

@Ver
 
"..."

Perhaps to Kaito's surprise, Maki said nothing for a good moment. She didn't click her tongue in irritation. She didn't threaten his life. She didn't get openly angry. She merely looked away, averting her gaze from the taller boy, and just remained silent. There was not telling what she was actually thinking, how she was even feeling after Kaito's outburst like that. She simply held her own arm, before eventually, she gazed at the floor, and finally began to speak.

"I don't, you know."

It was a simple sentence. One that didn't really make much sense on its own, so she clarified herself.

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"I don't... really like children. In fact, I think they're annoying. They're loud and are always up to something. And yet, it's more that... they like me. Not even I really know why. They just do. And I guess I just happen to be good at taking care of them, so it worked out for everyone else. So I went with it," she spoke distantly, softer than before now, "And it's not that I have any other talents. I'm not particularly good at much else."

"Anything else worth mentioning, anyway."


"So there. Now you know something about me. I don't even like kids, so I guess I don't even really like anyone. Is that enough for you?"

@Yun Lee
 
Kaito opened his mouth though it seemed as if he would be speechless, unable to come up with anything to say at first. It didn't matter either way, because at that moment the door opened and Glenn poked his head out. "Come on in," he said.


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The Fabletown business office was the first thing the pair had seen that actually felt fantastic in nature. Here, no one bothered to hide themselves or what they were, as strange memorabilia littered the room. In the center of it all was a large desk where a woman sat. The placard on her desk read "Snow White." Despite the completely drained expression on her face, she put on a polite smile for the duo as they entered.

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"Welcome to Fabletown, both of you. And thank you for coming. I really didn't want to have to ask for outside help, but unfortunately this has gotten too big for us to handle."

@Ver
 
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"It's what we're here for," Maki said, unintentionally averting her gaze from the woman. Believe it or not, she had actually come off even more standoffish than she'd intended, the girl still sour from the exchange from Kaito that had ended rather abruptly, for better or for worse.

All in all, probably for the better moreso, knowing an idiot like him.

"It can't be helped when the business involves other worlds, after all."


She said little more after that, as though intending to let Kaito take charge of the exchange if he felt so inclined, grating as his voice might have been for her at that moment. Even if she figured it would have been easy for him to muck things up, Maki never was the type to take the lead in these sorts of conversations, even out of spite. Talk was cheap, and talk was a pain. Perfect for Kaito.

@Yun Lee
 
"Right. Well, I'm sure you've been filled in on everything you need to know." Snow glanced at a framed photo on her desk, frowning momentarily. "The Bigby of our world...wasn't so lucky when he was taken to Las Vegas."

"Hold on. You know about the Crossed Incident?"

"Is that what you call it? If so, then...yes. We didn't know about it at first, when Bigby went missing. Originally we thought that when we sent him to give the Jersey Devil a warning, that Jersey had done something to him."

"Unfortunately to lock a prick up for good, you need evidence," Grendel growled. "But that bastard didn't leave no trace of Bigby anywhere."

Snow nodded, the frown of mourning turning into one of anger. "Only recently did we learn what's really been going on. The Crooked Man and his thugs set this all up to get Bigby out of the picture, then used his disappearance as a way to take control over more of Fabletown. We've done everything we can to try and stop him...but my old boss Crane was on his payroll, and it didn't take long for that influence to reach our own police force, too."

"Honestly that's the only reason I'm even here," Grendel said. "I was gettin' fed up with the fact that nothin' fuckin' got done, so I said fuck it and decided to take care of business myself!"

"And you've been...I mean, words can't even describe how much you've helped," Snow said. Grendel muttered something sounding like a thank you. "But even with Gren as our acting sheriff, the Crooked Man is still out there. And he's decided that he wants to have his own Las Vegas right here in Fabletown."

"Well, we ain't gonna let that happen!" Kaito crossed his arms, their plight fueling his resolve. "Just tell us where to go and what to do. We'll take the Crooked Man out before midnight!"

Snow smiled a bit. "Thank you. Both of you. The job will be simple. Mr. Momota, I need you to go outside with Gren and get into an argument. Rent here is too expensive and you have to work in Mundy territory just to make ends meet. Jack is going to be called up to the office, see this, and take you both to meet with his boss."

Kaito furrowed his brow. "How do you know he'll do that?"

Gren practically spat. "Because he's an opportunistic bitch, that's why."

"He's...certainly predictable, yes. So we can trust tonight he'll bring you to the Crooked Man, where you'll put a stop to him for good. Does that make sense?"

"Hell yeah it does! C'mon, Maki. Let's go!"

"Er...actually, Maki will be staying here. Just in case the two of you get physical."

That seemed to make sense to Kaito. "Sure thing. Leave this to me!"

Snow smiled, pressing a button on her intercom. "Jack? Please come to my office."

The intercom crackled as Kaito and Gren headed outside. "Right away, boss!"

As the two men left, Snow got up and locked her door behind them, leaving her and Maki alone. As she turned to face the Coalition agent, her body seemed to sag, as if a weight she was bearing now became too much to bear. Snow let out a heavy sigh, not wanting to leave the doorknob. "That boy out there...he seems...nice. Have the two of you known each other for very long?"

@Ver
 
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"No trace, huh? Sounds like a thorough job if nothing else," Maki mused idly as they spoke of the Crooked Man and the loss of their dear friend Bigby. Obviously the young woman couldn't condone such unscrupulous action, but credit where credit was due, if this Crooked Man managed to elude others like this, then they'd have a real challenge on their hands. A Moriarty to their Sherlock, almost.

... Maki wasn't arrogant enough to call herself that smart, but at the very least, Kaito would make a good Watson.

She continued listening to the exchange from there, feeling the need to stifle an amused breath at the prospect of having to stay behind in case Kaito and Gren got "physical," but managed to keep herself in check. She could let boys be boys after all. With that, she only silently nodded along and followed Snow into her office. Maki didn't intend to make small talk, but it seemed communication was a two-way street after all.

The girl hesitated for once when Snow asked about the nature of her relationship with Kaito, pursing her lips in an uncharacteristic show of indecision briefly before finally producing a response. "... I guess you could say that, but at the same time, not really," she said distantly, still averting her gaze from Snow. "Sometimes I feel like I barely know him at all. He's always so reckless, irritating, stupid, but he always sticks by me like glue, it's suffocating," she spoke harshly, inadvertently letting a sliver of some emotion -- whatever that emotion even was -- through the cracks of her normally cool and cold demeanor.

Realizing this, Maki cleared her throat, taking a breath as if to calm herself. "Why do you ask?"

@Yun Lee
 
"I see." Snow nodded at Maki's response to her question, but frowned when questioned herself. Her hand left the doorknob finally, and she moved away to her desk. "For the sake of this mission, the two of you are going to need to split up at some point. I need you to...well..."

"Oh, for the love of...honestly, Snow!" From the shadows came forth a man, large and intimidating in spite of his sharp outfit. He frowned disapprovingly at Snow, who matched him with a glare of her own.

"Bluebeard! Could you have at least waited until I--"

"No." He walked forward, crossing his arms as he stood beside the desk.

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"You had me waiting long enough while you were beating around the bush! There's no time for platitudes, if we're going to take care of business." It was then he turned his attention to Maki, looking her over. "So...you're the one. I certainly didn't think the loudmouthed brat outside was that Ultimate Assassin they talked about."

@Ver
 
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"Appearances can be deceiving," Maki said sharply in response to the bespectacled man. "Though... I suppose he doesn't really have the capacity to deceive anyone anyway."

The young woman had furrowed her brow earlier when Snow spoke of them needing to split up. Despite her harsh words just a minute prior, she almost seemed visibly apprehensive to leave Kaito behind. After all, if left alone, who knew what kind of trouble he'd get himself into? Maybe that's why Kaito paired up with her so well. A child needed an Ultimate Child Caregiver after all.

To the man, Maki let out a curt breath. "In any case, I agree with the prospect of skipping the pleasantries. I'm just here to do a job, after all, mister... Bluebeard, was it?"

@Yun Lee
 
Bluebeard nodded. "Yes, that is my name. And I will give your friend this: he's earnest. That at least will make this easier on us all."

Snow grimaced, but stayed silent, allowing Bluebeard to continue on. "Things in our world have been a mess after Bigby was killed in that Murder nonsense. The Crooked Man was able to extend his influence over Fabletown to a far greater extent, and our new sheriff is too tempermental to get any progress made. It's why he still has to work in the Mundy world, because I refuse to give him more hours until he can actually do his job right." He sneered at the woman seated at the desk. "Not to mention the two of us rarely see eye to eye."

Snow matched his look with a glare of her own, but then turned to Maki, now with a gentler demeanor. "The fact that the Crooked Man is planning to run a Murder Game here, in Fabletown, is too much," she said. "Not only is it getting innocents from other places involved with something that could potentially kill them, the effects this would have on our city would be..." She wasn't able to finish the thought, instead just shaking her head with a sigh. "...we can't let that happen."

"These thugs that answer to him, they don't listen to reason," Bluebeard said, picking up where Snow left off. "The people who willingly work for the Crooked Man are violent bastards who only care for their own sake. Hell, it's almost like they get off on the misery they cause around here. So...if they want misery so badly, we'll give it to them."

He walked forward then, lookimg down at Maki with his arms crossed. "Now, before we proceed any further...clarify your title. You aren't just some babysitter, right? We were told otherwise."

@Ver
 
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"... I'd say the cat's out of the bag, but I suppose it's a red herring in of itself for the Coalition to send only a babysitter and an aspiring astronaut on a mission such as this," Maki said in an almost dry amusement as Bluebeard said to clarify her identity.

She had continued to remain reticent as he and Snow spoke of Kaito, not wanting to drag out conversation about him. They were certainly free to call his "earnestness" a virtue if they wanted, even if Maki herself thought of it as the opposite. Then again, better there were more people like him around than the people they were up against, loath as she might be to say it.

Looking toward Bluebeard with a sharp gaze to match his own, the young woman answered him without beating around the bush. "My real title is the Ultimate Assassin. I take care of people, and I take care of people," she said briskly. "Discreetly, of course. I assume that's what you wanted to hear from me?"

@Yun Lee
 
Bluebeard grinned, no amicability behind it. "It is indeed. We need an assassin here, and we need our target taken out tonight. That Glamour nonsense Grendel fed your friend about the spell wearing off at midnight was a fabrication so that we could get this done as soon as possible."

"What we need is for you to..." Snow paused before continuing. "...to kill the Crooked Man, right when he meets with the two of you. What usually happens when new Fables get recruited is that they're taken to his lair where he meets with them personally. You need to convince your friend to keep the Crooked Man's crooks distracted so you can...do it."

"If you need weapons, I have a few," Bluebeard said. "Guns, chemicals..." He lifted his sleeve up, showing a dagger strapped to his upper arm underneath. "And a few more...unless you're already stocked up?"

@Ver
 
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"The way you word it, you make it sound so simple. Then again, I suppose it ought to be with my talent," Maki said almost coyly to Snow with a furrowed brow as the conversation finally settled into quite a different track than it was just a moment ago.

She almost felt a little bad about the notion of misleading Kaito, but well, ignorance was bliss, and he would certainly be better off in his ignorance about her. Emphasis on almost. She was still kinda mad at him right now, so whatever.

To Bluebeard, she let out an almost droll breath. "I'm always armed, even when I'm not. That said, it certainly wouldn't hurt to be prepared to take any opportunity that presents itself. As many easily concealable items as possible will do. Preferably blades or chemicals, if I can't do it from a distance," Maki spoke assertively, as though feeling in her own oasis speaking with people who didn't beat around the bush.

@Yun Lee
 
"I'd expect this to be nothing short of easy for the Ultimate Assassin," Bluebeard replied, walking to an old cabinet off to the side. Opening it up revealed all sorts of weaponry, from modern tools like guns and toxic chemicals, to timeless daggers and chains, and even a few foreign items, no doubt magical in nature.

"I keep an inventory of my own right here," he said, stepping to the side. "Despite our immortality, us Fables are easy to kill, and even easier to injure."

"Bluebeard, that's really--"

"The Crooked Man's physical strength comes from his rogue's gallery. The man himself is frail as an eggshell. Isolating him will be the biggest challenge, but one the two of you should no doubt handle." He looked to the door, where yelling could be heard on the other side. "Hurry and pick your poison," he said. "It sounds like we don't have much time."

@Ver
 
"..."

With a reticent nod, Maki took what she thought she'd need, mostly the modern tools as she knew them best, notably some blades and chemicals. No use in tampering with things she didn't fully understand as far as the foreign items went. She nodded understandingly as Bluebeard laid out the Crooked Man's strengths and weaknesses, making a mental note of them in her head like a robot processing information.

"Man is always weakest when he feels most comfortable. This is just like any other job," she breathed almost confidently, perking a brow as she took note of the yelling, followed by Bluebeard's rushed demeanor. With a soft breath, finished with picking out her items, the young woman reservedly crossed her arms.

"Ready when you are, then."

@Yun Lee
 
"When the two of you leave, wait outside the building for Jack to follow you. He alwaus does." Bluebeard closed the cabinet, walking over to a mirror and leaning on it. "How good are you at acting annoyed?" Was all he had time to ask before the door to the office swung open. In walked Jack, the yelling going on outside amplifying as he let the door shut on its own. Bluebeard frowned, not needing to fake annoyance of his own. "The last time I checked, Jack, the protocol was knocking."

"With all due respect, Mr. Bluebeard, sir," Jack replied, there being no respect in his voice whatsoever, "Miss Snow called me in. Besides, uh..." He nodded behind him, where a very pointed, "FUCK YOU!" sounded out. "...I don't think anyone'd hear me."

Snow looked to Maki. "Maybe you should collect your friend and head out." She added, after a pause, "...I hope you understand this is all we can do."

@Ver
 
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"... Charmed," Maki only uttered as Jack sauntered in like nobody's business, indirectly answering Bluebeard's early inquiry while she was at it. The trick was that she never had to entirely "act" annoyed. Kaito had certainly given her a lot of practice in that regard, but as they said, out of sight, out of mind. And him being out of her mind did wonders.

In any case, it seemed like this was their cue to get a move on already. The young woman had no complaints in that regard.

To Snow, she only gave a final breath. "Don't be sorry. It's what I'm here for. In any case, excuse me..." she flatly said. It was perhaps the closest she was capable of to being any sort of cordial, whether she even meant it or not. With that, Maki began to step forward, ready to be on her way now.

@Yun Lee
 
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