[C] The Delivery [AO | TBTP | Closed]

Mako's eyes trailed toward Yuuta as he felt the boy's energy appear, and quietly he would simply step a bit out of his hiding so that he could find him. It still took him a few moments, before he would approach Mako and move quickly toward asking how he was doing. Mako stated the same thing he said every day, his tone as empty as usual, his eyes trailing to the side. "Fine," the words would trigger the next sentence as if they were preprogrammed for one another. The gesture caught Mako's eye, as per usual as his gaze burned into the young man's hand that held the bag- and quickly, his mind pushed through the thoughts. They were to take a package of unknown materials across the slums, without looking and without getting stopped or caught.

There was no question this was likely something shady. Drugs, weaponry, stimulants .. it couldn't be anything with real worth like paperwork, they wouldn't trust that to strangers- unless perhaps they were bait. Which was also an option, bait to try and draw out a competitor, or any number of other issues. Yuuta probably hadn't considered any of this, more likely he assumed it was just a transfer of money or food between brothers. Slowly, he blinked as his eyes trailed from the bag to Yuuta's eyes- remaining blank and calm; he could deny this. But then Yuuta would be involved with angry gangsters.

He cursed himself and these odd new feelings.

"Let's go," he stated bluntly, turning as he slipped into the shadows, "Which direction is his brother?" he asked simply, ignoring the main road completely- an hour? Depending on the direction they could be heading into his side of the slums, and that wasn't the best place for them to be in the slightest. All the other issues aside, the fact that they could meet his father made the situation that much worse. Slowly he ruffled his hair before a sigh passed through his lips- his gaze shifting toward Yuuta as he waited for the response the boy gave. Depending on where they were heading, north, east, or west- he would have to map out the path they took mentally to minimize chances of meeting opposition of any sort.

Mako had spent his life surviving by staying hidden and sticking to the dark alleys that even the gangsters tended to ignore- he knew them like the perfect spiderweb that a black widow spun. They were his survival net- and one of the few things he knew he was competent in. As long as Yuuta stuck to his side and they didn't have terrible luck, it shouldn't be too complicated. Still, this wasn't exactly the way he wanted everything to work out- why did the fool have to not think before he acted? If he hadn't been here he would have just taken the most direct route, and likely be killed within a few minutes- be it as bait, or simply because he wasn't thinking about what he may be carrying.

Brushing the thoughts off, he would carefully begin to move forward- whatever direction Yuuta stated, he would slip into the darkness, his signature remaining completely hidden- and his physical form as hidden as possible as his footsteps remained practically silent, each one carefully, but at an average speed. He wasn't dashing along to maximize their time efficiency, but the route they were taking wasn't going to be simple anyway- an hour was highly unlikely, to begin with, due to how safe he was being. Even with how careful he was being, however, Mako knew that it was incredibly unlikely they wouldn't encounter anyone- for that reason he was giving them routes purposely that had plenty of unorthodox escape routes.

Routes that would be easy for him and Yuuta due to their size, but a struggle for an adult. His hands remained hanging limply at his sides as they walked, remaining silent as they walked- his senses elevated to their height, reaching out for the presence of anyone who may be near. The moment anything appeared, he would know, and he would act as quickly as possible.

He wasn't sure why he was trying. Why he cared. Yuuta was just a passing acquaintance- he'd abandon him like everyone else, he was certain. But despite that he couldn't just let the fool wander to his own death- he settled on the fact that he had simply accumulated too much debt toward the boy over the past two weeks, and this was his way of balancing everything back out. With that, he would shove it away to the back of his mind so he could focus on their surroundings and how to keep them both from getting killed.

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Post Words: 793
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Total GP so Far: 31

They were good at hiding. But Mako had learned to sense the presence of anything and everything that could be a threat, at any moment, he still kept track of Yuuta's surface emotions, let alone those near him that he wasn't as familiar with- the moment he sensed them, it was a red light in the back of his mind. Without missing a beat he had already altered their course into an even tighter alleyway- one where coming from any angle but behind or in front of them was impossible. Above was too far a fall, and would open them to smashing into the walls due to how tight the fit was. After a few moments, Yuuta seemed to finally notice, and his body language and surface thoughts grew warier- at least he seemed to understand when they could be in serious danger.

The words that were mumbled to him were quiet and curious, but Mako's voice remained monotone and barely audible in comparison. "Three adults. Stronger presence, a hundred meters behind." He wondered if they had been stalking from a farther distance away, or if they had just started and not expected them to sense their locations? Either way, it didn't matter- what did matter was the issue that they were now being followed, and his footing had slowed in the path- they were staying exactly a hundred meters behind them, it only fluctuated for a few brief moments occasionally before leveling out once more.

So they weren't intending to attack just yet then. They likely didn't even realize they were being sensed thanks to how they were following- though it was possible they knew and they were purposely leading them on to think that for now, they were in no direct danger, but Mako felt no other presence near them of notable worth. In fact, there seemed to be practically none- had they purposely cleared out the route beforehand? If they were bait, were these men sent by their employer as protection to ambush another group that may target them? Or were they individuals targeting them, waiting for the moment to strike? There were too many unknowns, and too many questions- he couldn't narrow the situation down accurately.

His footsteps slowly increased once more- returning them to their original speed, but sticking to the narrow passages as much as possible- his eyes remaining forward and calm, biding his time silently- they needed a solid escape route, or to remain in hard-to-reach area's until the last minute to lure them into desperation, so they would make a mistake so that he and Yuuta could escape properly. They weren't near as strong as Yuuta's mother- they were weaker than what he felt from Yuuta in fact, but that didn't mean that they should try to fight them. Fighting was the last option of prey, and they weren't on their last options just yet.

With this in mind, he continued his footing- winding through the alleys as the men stayed the exact amount of distance away, but it was impossible to tell if they were protecting he and Yuuta, or waiting for the right moment to strike. They weren't close enough for him to accurately sense their surface emotions. After a few moments he would halt his footing, and examine the routes they had- one was like the rest of the paths they had taken, but the other was open and had plenty of room. Should they take the chance? It wasn't the main road, there was certainly less risk than it, but it was still open.

On the other hand it could be the best test to see if they were enemies, or not. They wouldn't turn down such a perfect ambush opportunity. Mako shifted once, from one foot to the next as he debated the two options before his face turned and looked toward Yuuta calmly. "Follow my lead perfectly, or you'll die," the words were blunt, and calm, despite the seriousness of the topic either appearing confident or accepting. In reality, Mako wasn't confident, not in the slightest- he had simply accepted that they may die, and didn't really care if he did. But .. Yuuta was an idiot, and he owed him. He should at least attempt to ensure he made it out alive, if nothing else, that was something he should be able to do.

It was odd. A few weeks ago he had been trying to use Yuuta as a shield, and here he was doing the opposite to cover for a debt. He should never of let the boy drag him around like this, but it was too late, a debt was a debt .. even if he refused to admit to himself it could be something more than that.

Without further thought he took a step forward and led the way into the wider open area, his eyes remaining blank as he kept his senses on high alert- each step carefully and silent. The men didn't follow into it for an ambush, they remained silent, keeping their distance. So they were protecting them then? Or watching them? Was there a superior ambush site ahead? His mind went over the mental map- but he knew of none on this route unless they simply had more numbers- but he doubted that mattered when it was three adults against just two children.

Slowly he would glance over his shoulder, knowing their location but only flickering over it before facing forward- no hostility, none in the slightest. So they weren't there to harm them. That meant they were indeed bait of some sort, but that came with its own complications- it meant that shortly they would likely be attacked by someone else, another gang. If he didn't do this correctly then they could die, he doubted the people who hired Yuuta and he intended to actually put their lives or the lives of their men on the line to protect them. Once a fight started it would be down to him to ensure that Yuuta wasn't killed, especially with the boy's headstrong personality of wanting to fight.

Then he sensed it, another life signal- a small man approaching from behind them, he felt his muscles tense slightly- a silent warning to Yuuta, the man was approaching too quickly for him to give a verbal warning without giving away their exact position. His tired eyes remained facing forward, preparing for whatever was to come- he fully intended to just knock Yuuta and himself out of the way if the man charged them so they could run. It all depending on how the man approached the situation, on how Mako would react.

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Post Words: 1,111
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Yuuta seemed to understand the basic situation, and followed him without complaint- his footing remained careful and calm- all the way up to the point the man approached them, then his muscles stiffened even further- he felt him coming but hearing his voice clarified he was approaching expectantly. Slowly, Mako would turn his head- his focus honing in on the man quietly as he slowly shifted his footing as he prepared the most efficient escape routes. Yuuta wouldn't like it, he was sure, but with three other possible opponents the odds were beyond against them, they needed to escape. His eyes flipped from one direction to the next, before he felt the slight shift in the man's presence- and his pupil's dilated as his hand shot outward and grabbed Yuuta with surprising and sudden force, resulting in the package being grabbed- but the strike of the man's hand sliding through air instead of Yuuta's face.

The man appeared a distance away, visibly stumbling and cursed- he'd anticipated knocking the brunette on his ass- he hadn't expected one of the kids to be able to sense his flashstep, even if it was barely so. For a brief moment, his gaze settled on Mako- who's dead grey eyes stared into the man's own, before he took off without a word. Then, Yuuta was gone too. Mako's eyes followed him and he mentally sighed- how predictable. "Yuuta it's going to be a trap—" the boy wasn't listening. He just kept going with the clear intention, but Mako could sense it- two more signatures closing in on the thief and Yuuta. Mako, without a word, shifted into the shadows as his presence completely disappeared once more.

Instead, he quietly began to move- scaling over the fences sliding and slipping up and around. Yuuta was an idiot, chasing directly after he was his own mistake- he would just have to move on quietly on his own and try to get away before the other three closed in on them. Before slowly, Mako's eyes would shift- starring toward the three that .. hadn't moved. Even as Yuuta began to fight the other two and the third continued to run, the three remained, watching them- though he could sense light confusion from the fact he had completely disappeared, not just in a physical sense, his presence as well. Why would they not act? If this was an ambush they should be coming in from behind, especially since he had left.

Mako's mind raced over the possibilities, before his eyes slowly lowered, just slightly- so that was it.

Turning, instead of running to hide, Mako began to quietly move forward- he didn't care what the men thought of him. But this job had been important to Yuuta. He was indebted to the boy, if he managed to make him look good then he could put a decent chunk of that debt away. The other three weren't there to jump in, they were there to observe and control the situation- Yuuta was being tested. Carefully his footing shifted, climbing the side of the building that dotted the alleyway where the sound of Yuuta and the two men fighting filled the air. Slowly, he would move forward along the roof- and reached out, sensing the energy. They were normal souls, a bit stronger than normal, but Yuuta wasn't weak or helpless like he was.

It seemed like it was a tie at the moment, so he would need to shift that. Moving forward quietly, he would stop at the edge of the roof- looking down at the two men that were working on trying to close him into a tighter corner, obviously intending to rough him up. Slowly, Mako would lower his hands, gripping the large wooden tiles that decorated the roofing and lift it. Quietly, he aimed it focusing on the man's surface thoughts .. and right as he took a step forward to corner Yuuta, a loud crack filled the air as he crumpled like a sack of potato's. The clank of the wooden tile hitting the ground after bouncing off his head filling the air.

The distraction was more than enough, as the other man halted in confusion- giving Yuuta plenty of time to act as Mako simply stayed where he was on the roof watching it play out. Once Yuuta was victorious, Mako's senses reached out- the other one was too far away now. But the three behind them were stirring in a mixture of interest and surprise- they hadn't expected them to win then, huh? Good. Slowly, he would lower himself from the roof- stumbling a bit as he dropped and landed, moving slowly toward Yuuta with his back slumped. His blank eyes glanced at him briefly, "I decided to help you instead of chase after him, I know the direction he went but that's it," the words were brief and simple as his gaze turned to the man Yuuta had downed.

They needed information. There was only one efficient way to do that. He walked toward the man slowly, and his eyes stared down at him quietly- he was holding his face and stomach. Mako's hand slowly extended, and then suddenly grabbed him by the finger- and yanked, pulling it behind his back with his hand and causing a yelp of confusion to rise from him. "Where is your friend going with the bag?" Mako's voice was cold and monotone, but in this instance- it made him that much more intimidating. The man opened his mouth, and Mako could tell reading his facial expression that he was going to refuse him, he was just a kid after all. "There's no way he'll do it— huh?" Mako murmured, causing the man to blink- having halted before he said no, Mako having said exactly what he had been thinking in that brief moment.

The crunch of bone filled the air, followed by the screams of the man as Mako stared down into his tear filled, widening eyes blankly. "Where?"

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Tom? Did Yuuta know him from somewhere?

Well, whatever. His eyes didn't waver from the man's own- though he did shoot Yuuta an astounded, and absolutely confused look, before another snap filled the air- along with a scream of pain. Mako's face remained blank as he looked down at the man- this .. had been the easiest way to obtain information. He knew all too well how much of an absolute way to encourage true pain was- at least, back when he had felt it, his father had used this method constantly with him. He didn't as much now since Mako barely noticed the pain anymore- having learned to accept it. But this was different. It wasn't what he had been anticipating.

He had done this for ease of information gathering, but ... this felt ...

The man's mouth opened, another attempt at a denial. The crunch of another finger filled the air as Mako's head slowly tilted to the side.

This felt really good.

His lip twitched, he nearly smiled, his eyes staring down into the man's own who was now outright crying in pain- though, to his credit, he wasn't weeping like a bitch, simply in pain from having three of five fingers broken as his other desperately grasped at Mako's wrist. However, as he was unable to get a sure grip, Mako continued calmly. Another snap. This time "Tom" fell forward cursing as Mako stated in a cold, simple tone- "I've been learning a bit about the body recently," as he murmured this, his fingers shifted down toward the man's forearm, finding the Ulna, as he began to carefully apply pressure as he bent the arm.

"This one's called the Ulna ..." he murmured quietly, staring down into the man's eyes, his face remaining blank- while inside, he could feel his heart rate increasing in speed. It felt good. It felt good to make him hurt, to make other people hurt- he'd never really been able to do it. But recently things had started to change. He was able to, right now, in this moment- make this man feel a fraction of the agony he had experienced ... he could make him understand what he was born into. "You son of a bit—" the scream that followed echoed through the alleyway, the snap of one of the two main bones in the man's forearm reducing him to a shivering mass.

"Where?" Mako's voice murmured once more, his fingers trailing toward the bone next to it- the Radius. The pressure began to apply once more, and the man's lips opened, Mako could feel it- he was going to give in. His fun would stop- if he started to talk, then he was sure Yuuta would stop him .. one more .. just a bit more. He wanted the man to hurt, just a bit more, just a little bit more of the agony he had lived with all his life. As the man's mouth opened, he remained stone-faced as the bone snapped under his hands once more. A scream that could curdle blood.

It was music to his ears as his head tilted, just slightly. The three presences were stirring- so that was the limit, huh? He didn't want them jumping in on them- they still needed to get the package first. Slowly, Mako lowered his face so his own eyes were staring into the man's own, the flash of excitement from causing him pain glimmering in his eyes. "Where? ... Or should I start on the legs?" as he murmured this, the man's pupils steadily shrank in fear, before he quickly shook his head. "I-I got it! I got it! He'll take it back to our hideout!"

"Where?" the tone was cold, and simply- the same word he had repeated several times as he waited- the man slowly lowering his head in defeat, unable to maintain eye contact. It was so odd. Mako was always in that position ... he was always breaking eye contact. He was always weak, and unable to hold it ... but these men .. they were weak. They weren't like his father. Not like the others, he had met that were so terrifying and strong ... it was a thrill he had never experienced. Was this why his father treated him the way he did? If it was the reason, he could understand why he did it now.

His line of thought was interrupted as he finally spoke up, "South from here, about two miles ... it's a small shed on the outside, with a red flag on a pole near the entrance to mark it. It looks like any other building from the outside," Mako slowly straightened, "Thanks," he stated simply- before he dropped the man's arm causing him to scatter forward, holding it to his chest desperately as Mako slowly straightened from his kneeling position back into his normal slumped posture. His eyes looked toward Yuuta with his normal blank expression, "You heard him, let's go," he stated simply before he began to move forward toward the south slowly.

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Post Words: 836
Total Words: 4,544
Total GP so Far: 90

Mako's face had returned to its usual blank decorum, his eyes staring ahead as Yuuta stayed behind- lingering for the soul king knew what; before his gaze focused on the young man that appeared beside him once more. His eyes examining the lack of shirt, before a slow breath passed his lips- one would almost think it was a sigh if they didn't know better. Mako didn't show expressions; at least, not usually- yet somehow the young man had started showing the slightest bit around Yuuta. However, his words caused Mako to halt instantly. Instead of lifting his gaze to slowly look into Yuuta's eyes once more- contemplating the best way for him to explain this.

In the end, he chose the bluntest route as per usual.

"Don't force your views on me," he stated simply, coldly as he looked into the other boy's eyes. "You can be as altruistic as you wish, it doesn't matter to me, but don't try and change me just because you don't like what I do," this was the first time, Mako realized. The first time anyone had reached out, trying to change him, even as slight as this was- and he hated it. He didn't need pity. He didn't need kindness. He didn't need debt. He didn't need someone forcing their views on him- if he wanted that, he would just go back to his father and be a good little toy instead of holding what little individuality he had managed to keep in his fucked up existence.

Mako's face was blank, but his eyes held surprising intensity as they stared into the young boys, after a few brief moments he would finally drop the subject- turning and moving forward once more. If Yuuta had started this crap just because he wanted to be his "Friend" and "Change him for the better" than the boy was in for a rude surprise. That was fine, once he realized his goal was impossible he'd leave him alone most likely.

That thought made his stomach lurch, and his chest tightened- he shut the thoughts from his mind. It didn't matter if Yuuta abandoned him- he was nothing but a passing acquaintance, the boy was sure to get tired of him eventually either way. Whether it was this part of his personality, or the dozens of other fucked up things about him. His mind drifted back to the sensation of breaking the man's bones .. it had been so exhilarating, that it felt like he was riding a high. Was this what drugs were like? No wonder people threw their money at them or stole for them. He supposed that was why he had managed to stand up to Yuuta as well if he had a guess.

Usually, he would just ignore the words spoken .. but he had purposely confronted against the boy, for the first time he had stood up for himself. It was an odd sensation, it didn't feel nearly as illogical as he had initially assumed it would. It felt .. he wasn't sure what use to describe it. "Nice" seemed like such an inaccurate and cliched way of saying it- so instead he went with simply saying it was a "positive sensation". His thoughts were interrupted when Yuuta would continue speaking, apparently wanting to move on.

Well, whatever, that was fine.

Instead, he would simply reply in his usual monotone voice, "I simply decided that saving you offered the highest percentage of a success rate, there's nothing else to it," he replied simply- cutting out any idiotic idea's that he had "Helped" Yuuta just to be kind. He wasn't like the boy- as he had already said earlier, the way they did things was totally different. If he had tried to escape alone, he had a fifty percent chance to escape the three that were watching everything. If he had chased the one with the parcel there was no guarantee that the man wouldn't be able to beat him, and if he had friends there was no way Mako could do anything to get the package back.

Saving Yuuta was the most logical choice of action. He refused to view it was kindness- it was the most efficient thing to do, and it helped ease the debt that had accumulated toward Yuuta.

Then as the boy asked him how he felt about his "Ninja Skills", Mako's eyes would trail slowly to the side as he examined the boy briefly, before his gaze lifted back toward the path they were taking. "You're as good as I assumed," he replied simply- there was no way a boy that trained every day, fell out of tree's casually, climbed up and down them all morning, and constantly tried to solve problems with sparing wouldn't have some degree of skill. Well. There was a chance he was just a hothead without any ability but the percentage of such being true was quite low.

Moving forward, his pace would remain the same as they came up to the large building in the distance- his eyes examining it quietly, trailing over the flag, just as the man had said. Slowly his hands lowered as his slouch increased a bit, eyes staring toward it, he sensed only a single person inside- but the three that had been following were still on their tail. Yuuta, most likely, had forgotten entirely about them by now which was for the best. That way when they appeared and told them their "Reasoning" and rewarded Yuuta, the boy would be happily surprised.

He decided to file that thought under "debt settling" without a second thought, not digging too far into the thought process that may make him want Yuuta to be happy beyond that "debt". Instead, he would glance toward the boy simply, "He's in the center of the bottom floor. Most likely, he can sense you- and will be confused as to why his buddies aren't coming first, approach the front door. I'll sneak in from the behind." Slowly he would trail his gaze back toward the building, "... Keep him talking until I'm close, he can't sense me ... I'll trip him the moment he tries to move with that ... woosh, thing, and then you can do the rest. I can sense where he'll go, unlike you," with that, he would begin to carefully, quietly move toward the back of the building as his presence once more- completely disappeared.

If this had been a more serious situation- Mako would have moved to kill the man from behind. But he doubted adding "Killed a colleague" to Yuuta's resume would help him get accepted by these thugs, this would work out fine- it only came down to when the other three would appear, he'd keep his senses sharp. As if they ever weren't.

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Post Words: 1,133
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Total GP so Far: 113

Yuuta nodded, and agreed to his plan- but he couldn't help but assume the young boy was planning something different, his face was focused on something that wasn't directly in front of him, and he let out a slow breath with each step- he could only hope whatever the boy was thinking about wouldn't harm his initial plan too much. Like a ghost he moved forward, shifting into the shadows as he moved to grasp at the door and slink inside- when he heard Yuuta yell, and groaned under his breath. The door opened slowly, but it was too late- the man was already fleeing, he felt the tingles in his presence, saw in his mind's eye where the man was going, and then he felt what Yuuta was about to do.

"Idiot don't—" no luck, however, the pole flew through the air and crashed into the man's skull and he crumpled like a sack of potato's. Mako slowly lowered his hand from the door as Yuuta began complaining toward him talking about "breaking" him, slowly moving forward and ignoring the boy as instead his eyes began to carefully examine the internals of the building. The man was down, he had no way to wake him up in order to retrieve the bag now from him, he was useless to him. That left standard examination.

With that in mind, he calmly examined the room, his face remaining calm and collected as he examined every nook and cranny of the aged, half broken-in building, the frame was standard in almost every way- except ...

Taking a step back he exiting the building, checking its size, then ducked in. As he had assumed, the building was bigger on the outside than the inside- specifically the left side of it. Walking slowly toward the wall, he would raise his hand slowly to press against the wall, tracing his crooked fingers along the pieces of wood until he noticed a slight differential- one area of the wood was clearly of a more recent time. Tracing the edge of the younger wood, he would follow it until he found the slight clip.

Fingers sliding into it and tugging he casually pulled, and without any effort, the wall opened up. Inside was a compartment about the size of a grown man to squeeze into- full of large sacks that were full of some sort of rice, or powder if Mako had a guess- they were packed to full and smooth to be anything else. Sugar perhaps? It was hard to guess- what did catch his attention was the pouch from before sitting on a shelf next to a small bag that was full of what he could only assume was money. Calmly, he reached inside and without hesitation pocketed the bag of money before grabbing the smaller bag and walking out, finally addressing Yuuta.

"You're an idiot," he stated bluntly to the boy, tossing the pouch lazily at his face, figuring the boy would catch it. "If I wasn't here how did you intend to find the pouch? .. Think before you act, my plan would have worked fine, don't try to protect me and be some white knight, it's disgusting," despite the harsh words his voice remained monotone as his eyes lifted slowly, "They're coming," he stated before Yuuta had a chance to yell or act like a child- meaning the three men that were now approaching from a distance, the men Mako knew had most likely been testing Yuuta- but there was always a chance he'd been wrong, he kept his guard up, just in case.

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Post Words: 600
Total Words: 6,277
Total GP so Far: 125

"You don't have the mindset to properly utilize torture," Mako replied calmly without blinking before his gaze turned toward the trio as they arrived, each of them appearing in the same technique the man had used- and Mako's pupil's expanded slightly as they observed the technique- they were better at it then the man, and had them surrounded in an instant. He could read them, but he couldn't react- he had to hope that his initial assumption had in fact been accurate and the men didn't want a fight. His eyes slowly focused on the leader who was standing in front of them- middle aged with shaggy hair, but decent clothing- and more importantly a blade at his hip. The other two men lacked the blade but did wear nice clothing with knives on their hips.

Weapons were difficult to come by, even for gangsters out here- the fact the man had a full blade said quite a bit. Slowly, he would let his gaze lift toward the man, before Mako stated calmly, "Yuuta, he's the man you're to deliver it too," without missing a beat- the surface thoughts and emotions of the man were obvious, the way he glanced at the package, and an impressed glimmer entered his eyes, causing the man to blink- then slowly squint down at the boy. "Oh? How do you know? We could be the guys in charge of the idiots you just took out,"

Mako would slowly tilt his head to the side, "You are. But that doesn't change the fact you're who we are to deliver it too. This was all a test, and if Yuuta didn't pass I don't know what unrealistic expectations you might have had," the fact that Mako's voice did not waver, and nor did his gaze, seemed to surprise the man. Mako wasn't just spitting random bullshit, he was stating it all as facts, and after a moment the man burst into laughter, pushing the hair from his face and examining them both before he crossed his arms over his chest. "That's nice, I'm even more impressed,"

There was no immediate reply, and Mako assumed Yuuta was likely confused. His gaze slid toward the other boy, "They were testing you the entire time, to see how you would react to the lost merchandise, what your personality was really like in a stressful situation, how you would obtain the merchandise in question, and so forth," the man would slowly tilt his head, "So what gave us away?"

Mako simply shrugged, causing the man to chuckle, "Alright- then how long have you known?" Mako debated if the answer that question was important, before he glanced at the blade, and decided there was less harm in it then continuing to refuse the man. "Since Yuuta was initially jumped by the two men, but I suspected it from when we entered the edge of the district," he answered simply- causing the man's eyes to widen a bit, as that was the exact moment that they had begun to follow them. Slowly placing his hands on his hips, he looked Mako over quietly and made a noise of interest in the back of his throat- before focusing once more on Yuuta.

"Well, like the kid said, you passed," raising a hand he smirked, "The package, please. As well, I'd like to formally invite you, both of you, to join our little game here- you'd both be wonderful additions. Mandarin," he gave Yuuta the nickname as he glanced at him, even if his hair wasn't exactly "orange", "Because of his combat affinity and tenacity, and Gloom over here," he glanced at Mako who remained expressionless, "For intellect, deductive skill, and creativity," Mako wouldn't exactly call himself creative, nor intelligent. He just paid attention to things.

Letting a slow breath from his lips, Mako stated calmly, "I'm not interested," causing the man to blink and lean forward slowly, "Oh, is that so? Unfortunate, I'd try to persuade you, but I don't think you're the type not to think these things through, you probably have your reasons," his eyes trailed toward Yuuta, "How about you little man? You'll basically be doing runs like this- but the chances of you being attacked are pretty slim with the jobs you'll be doing. You'll also be taught the checkpoints so you have places on-route you can go for backup or help if need be," clarifying so the boy didn't think he'd be alone on his tasks.

"We pay well, you live in the slums right? I bet your parents or whatever could use the money," glancing at the package and weighing it a moment, before he glanced back to Yuuta, "For delivering something this size, for instance, you'd get about five thousand Kan," a loaf of bread tended to cost about five hundred Kan, it was a substantial amount of money for the Slums- even if in higher society it wasn't that much. Slowly, Mako let his gaze focus on the man, "How often are the trips on average?" The man blinked, glancing over at him before he looked between them- realizing Mako was trying to dig for information to encourage Yuuta to join him, smirking a bit he leaned back.

"We have three delivery guys, including you if you join- we do about five deliveries a week, so you get to do one or two a week depending on how good you are. The best runner gets to have the extra deliveries usually," Mako then slowly contemplated it- before looking toward the man. "Do you teach your men how to fight?" The man arched a brow, but nodded, "If they have the desire to be taught and are worth my time," He glanced at Yuuta- a boy who was desperate for strength, the man likely was no Shinigami- but he could teach the boy a lot more than he currently knew, including that movement technique they had used. It'd be a good foot in the door for Yuuta to achieve his dream.

But then, this was all just to help ensure his debt to Yuuta was covered. Whether the boy decided to accept the offer or not was his choice, he'd just open the door and count it toward accumulated debt. Tilting his gaze to the side he would briefly look at Yuuta. "I think you should accept," he stated bluntly, putting his "vote" out there as advice given to him before Mako would calmly place his hands into his pockets.

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