Rat Roundup

Rats...why did it have to be rats? Ugly vermin, carriers of plague and just generally an indicator of filth. Rodents may have made perfectly fine pets but only if they were kept clean and decently domesticated. These rodents plaguing the establishment mentioned in the mission scroll were not. A part of Yamamoto was regretting taking on this mission but...she needed the money and fighting chakra pill empowered rats DID provide a good training exercise.

She strode down to the Promenade, form wrapped in a simple garb consisting of jacket, shirt and trousers. She carried a wooden Shinai over her shoulder. Contrary to the level of quality Yamamoto would normally wear, this garb was surprisingly shabby. It bore a noticeable amount of repair, patches and replacement stitchwork as was befitting the outfit’s purpose as Yamamoto’s training garb.

She walked towards the establishment in question and walked inside, mostly ignoring the strange figure outside. She had not been informed what her partner looked like and so, apart from a brief glance at the glass head, barely any attention was paid to him.

Her ears perked up, the sound of shattering glass attracting Yamamoto to the door. That fishbowl figure from outside filled the entrance had now walked into the establishment, revealing blond locks and porcelain skin but of most note was the way he walked. An elaborate swagger and a great deal of other over exaggerated movements, all very wasteful seeming to Yamamoto, caused her to quirk an eyebrow up at this new piece on the board.

“I am and oh? Were you expecting assassination missions? Theft? Other clandestine acts? Hmmm well, I am sure such things are assigned to the more veteran Shinobi but alas, we are simply the bottom rung.” Yamamoto had only recently graduated from the academy but from her experiences so far, it was safe to say that yes, this was the nature of the missions assigned to the more rookie graduates.

She turned back to face the newly arrived owner, at least that was her assumption, and smiled ever so slightly in a manner that could only really be described as neutral.

“Tell us about these rats. The scroll mentioned they have eaten chakra pills, but it did not mention what effect this had upon them, nor have we been informed how many there are.” She gripped her sword firmly, thinking back to the times she had trained with cutting down swallows. She would need her sharpest reflexes today, that was for sure.

As rude as it may have seemed, Yamamoto focused on what the client had to say over the introduction of her partner. She did take note of it, but to her it was simply the lesser priority right now. Her gaze remained focused upon the owner of the establishment, ears attentive and bushy tailed as she took in the details of the situation.

“Hmm...yes it does make sense that they would be so territorial if they feel their nest is threatened.” Rats the size of a small dog and highly territorial to boot. Yamamoto brought her hand up to her, caressing it slowly in deep contemplation. The obvious and direct solution would be to simply charge in and slay the rats but that was an inelegant solution and quite simply inefficient, not to mention the health risks.

“Do not worry sir. Myself and my associate shall handle this. Would you be willing to leave the keys with us if you plan to leave for the day? Simply for the security of your establishment?”

“Sure. I’ve a spare set.” He reached into his outfit’s pocket and removed a single spare key, handing it to the Kunoichi. With a respectful bow of her head she pocketed the key before turning to her partner, intending to share a plan she was cooking up.

“My name is Yamamoto. I think we would b-hey wait!” But it was too late. Gyo had charged in, dramatic and bold as a bull. However, regardless of what he was expecting Yamamoto had stayed back. The sight of the kitchen was disastrous. Opened cupboards, torn apart packaging, half eaten food strewn across the floor, knocked over pots and at the centre of it all? Two overgrown rats, gnawing on a bone of meat.

Immediately, the rodents turned to face Ryo and pulled their lips back, fur standing on end as they stood on their hind legs. They then began to make a series of vocalisations, consisting of a combination of angry wheezing and snorting. They would make mock lunges before pulling back, growing louder and angrier. If Ryo did not back out of the kitchen the rats would charge, jumping up onto opposite worktops, running towards the Shinobi before leaping through the air to bite at his face.

“Back so soon?” She wore a knowing and almost smug grin, amused at how quickly her partner had slammed the door shut and decided that discretion was the better part of valour this day. As rude as it may have seemed, a small part of the Kunoichi wished to burst out laughing but luckily enough she managed to restrain herself and instead focus on the matter at hand. Originally, she had in fact been planning to take the direct solution and deal with this that way but that was no longer tenable. 
 
“Yes. Rats are often fond of meat, at least city ones are according to my more learned neighbour, and I know from common knowledge that bleach is rather hazardous to humans and most animals. My idea is this, you go buy some cheap bacon from a store and I go buy some extremely strong bleach. Soak the bacon in bleach and throw it into the kitchen then hope the rats don’t mind the smell.” Her idea hinged on whether the rats would care about the bleachy smell or not.
 
“Hmm…. go buy some barbecue sauce or something that smells equally strong and meaty. If only to cover up the odour of bleach.” On account of living by her lonesome and doing all the housework, Yamamoto was more than familiar with bleach’s health risks and the odorous assault upon her noses it always made. 
 
“Are we in agreement then?” If the answer were yes, Yamamoto would simply take her exit, heading out into town to find a nearby store from which she could buy some gloves and bleach, unless of course Gyo had any issues with it.

Off Yamamoto went, having explained the plan to her partner and ensured he understood the details of it. She stepped out of the door, made her way to the nearest store and grabbed a big bottle of the strongest bleach they had. It was an expectedly easy affair, this purchasing of cleaning supplies and nobody really questioned or opposed her. After all, what reason did they? It was only bleach and not the anime kind.

She returned to the bar rather swiftly, unsurprisingly finding herself back before her associate. The Kunoichi positioned herself upon a vacant barstool, Shinai propped up next to her, and simply waited. It was not a long wait as roughly five minutes later, Gyo returned with a... simply frightful amount of meat, champaign and who knows what else. Yamamoto could only stare, so caught off by this unexpected amount of produce that she simply shut down while coming to terms with it.

“I... Bahahaha did you buy the entire butcher’s supply?” She pulled herself back together, hopped off her stool and walked towards her partner, taking the parcels that obscured his view before placing them atop the bar. She went through the packages and placed some of the meat, but not all of it, outside the door to the kitchen hoping that the wafting scent would excite the rat’s appetites.

“Yes, I think that makes sense. I’ll go grab a bowl or something.” Yamamoto retreated behind the bar, rummaged around the stuff she could find there before standing back up with a large metal bucket, seemingly the one used for chilling champagne, and a pair of gloves.

“I’m not sure the alcohol will really help but...well, let us give this a go eh? Bleach first, then the bacon. Get a pair of gloves on. Bleach is nasty on your skin.” Yamamoto pulled the gloves over her hands before pouring a decent glug or two of bleach into the bucket, awaiting her associate to dunk the bacon in.

“Oh? I do not drink Gyo-san.” Alcohol was not something she really...cared for. She had tried a small variety of alcoholic beverages in her life and none of them had really agreed with her, or perhaps she had never agreed with them? Either way, the swordswoman did not enjoy them and at that, she had very little reason to even join Gyo to celebrate after the mission. She was still intending to but not out of any desire to celebrate. She simply had a reputation to maintain.

Yamamoto grabbed the roast and dunked it into the bowl, rolling it over and over, rubbing the bleach into its meaty folds and allowing the hunk to simply soak up the bleach. There was surprisingly little for her to do, as poisoning the roasts was a rather simple affair that required more waiting than any active effort although in truth, Yamamoto was not entirely sure how this would work and was simply going off what common sense told her; rather than anything more scientific like experience or medical texts.

After a good ten minutes of soaking, she removed the roast from the bowl before handing it to Gyo who got to work wrapping it up. Then she waited, advancing over to the kitchen door and looking through the window, keeping an eye on the rats. They were still running rampant through the kitchen, tearing at food, knocking things over and just generally making a real mess of things.

Yamamoto turned her focus back to Gyo and nodded, pulling the door open so he could slip the food in and retreat safely. The door was immediately released, allowing it to shut. It was fortunate the door was rather weighty, hopefully enough so to keep the rats inside with the meat.

Yamamoto sighed softly, scratching the side of her head with her free hand. She had been originally planning to simply take her leave once the mission was over but as Gyo-san seemed so insistent, Yamamoto decided that she would perhaps stay for a while and entertain her associate’s proposal. She still had no idea what a “virgin” was, at least not in the context of a beverage anyway. Hopefully, it was not the OTHER meaning of virgin, as that was just a level of awkwardness nobody would want to deal with.

“I trust they are eating it?” Yamamoto peaked over Gyo’s shoulder, watching the rats rip through the food with the voracity and hubris of a king of ancient Greece before wandering off once they had eaten. She stepped back to allow the door to be blocked with the chairs before retreating to the bar, sitting herself down upon one of the unused stools, ideally lounging around to wait until the rats dropped dead.

“Clean up?..Hmmm I don’t think so. The mission did not specify what it meant by “take care of the rats...you realise drinks weren't thrown into the mission right? You may want to pay for that~ Don’t bother making me anything though.” The kunoichi ignored Gyo’s chastisement of the establishment, uninterested and unbothered by such a thing. As far as she was concerned, the poor rat care had provided her a decent paying job and perhaps she would be presented with more in the future.

“Mm..and now we wait.” As much as Yamamoto knew she could have simply left and let the rats die on their own, that would have simply been irresponsible. She wished she had brought a book or something to occupy her time with but oh well.

“Hmmm then we simply have to wait. Time is ultimately on our side.” And so, Yamamoto waited, patiently and silently, her form as still as a statue and as peaceful as a stream. Her eyes remained firmly locked on the rodents through the kitchen door window, even if it was rather difficult or next to impossible to see what was occurring from her seat at the bar. Little could disturb her. Gyo’s preparation of drinks, the drink itself or the ambiance caused by the creation of the drink.

In fact, when Gyo placed the drink in front of her Yamamoto ignored it. Utterly and completely. She cast it not even a single glance, her focus an unbroken thing locked exclusively upon the kitchen. It was only when Gyo asked why she had taken on the life of a shinobi that her gaze returned to him, tilting sideways in a display of minor confusion. She was not confused about the question but more how to answer.

“Hmm...who knows?” Her expression was a neutral thing, devoid of emotion but seemingly locked in a perfectly polite smile, refusing to change or respond to external stimuli in any way. In a single gentle motion, she rose from her seat, stepped towards the kitchen door and took a long look through its window. The rats had all seemingly died, for they were lying about upon the floor and countertops, static and immobile.

“Hmmm...in truth, it simply seemed the natural thing.” That was not entirely the real answer, in fact it was not even remotely close to her motivation in walking the path she was on, but it was sufficient to satisfy the question posed, or so she hoped. Yamamoto grasped the furniture and pulled it free from the door, before pushing her way into the kitchen and as expected, none of the rats charged at her.

“Hey? I think they’re all dead.” That proved to not be the case, as the moment Gyo entered the room one of the rats erupted from a nearby pile of pots and pans, flying towards Yamamoto. What was mere moments for everyone else felt like an age for Yamamoto. Her gaze snapped to the rat, fire tore along her nerves, chakra spread throughout her system and inside her mental space she heard the click of a switch ring out.

In a single motion Yamamoto swung her wooden sword through the air, striking the rat down to the ground. She snatched a knife from a nearby rack and leaped through the air, discarding the wooden training sword and holding the startled rat down. The disorientation of the impact had been enough to buy Yamamoto the opportunity she needed and so, with a single unflinching thrust she buried the kitchen knife into the rat’s throat. Arterial blood sprayed freely, staining her forehead yet when she rose from the dead rat and turned to face Gyo her smile remained utterly unaffected.

“Please, be more careful.”

stats, jutsu and stuff:

She placed the rat into a nearby sink and took the offered towel, wiping her face clear of the crimson fluid staining it. She maintained her enhanced level of speed just in case another rat had managed to hold onto life for a few moments longer than the rest but luckily enough, none seemed to have escaped death’s embrace. She did listen to what Gyo had to say on the front of his concerns regarding his feelings about being drafted and sent off to a ditch somewhere but in truth? She had nothing to say on the subject. Everyone died one day. All you could really do was decide when and how.

“I have no need for a real sword. I already have one. Enjoy the rest of your day Gyo-san.” She went around the entire kitchen, checking each and every rat’s body to ensure they were in fact corpses. Once satisfied that they were in fact all definitely, utterly and completely dead (something she confirmed by prodding the rats and then checking for any breathing or a pulse) the swordsman would return to the public idea of the gastro pub intending to take her leave.

She wrote a note on a sheet of paper she found and placed it upon the counter, pinned down under her un-touched drink. It explained the situation, how the rats were dead and just a general breakdown of the day's events. Then, she left via the front door, locking it behind her and pushing the keys through the letter box and made her way home. She hoped that would be sufficient to explain the situation and that her employer had no qualms cleaning up. She had not paid to clean up after all. It was an easy trip to return home.

(Possible exit)