They Fight Crime. (Thoma - Jess)

[Jessica Jane]

If she had been an otaku, Jess probably would have been thrilled right about now. But since she wasn't, then she wasn't. After hopping a freighter and taking a risky trip across international waters, she'd landed on foreign soil and found herself in Japan. A little more wandering had led her to the city of Hachino. It seemed like a decent enough town: large enough to get lost in and thriving enough that she could possibly score a few days worth of part time work. Maybe if she was lucky she could pad her pockets a bit before she had to leave town.

As soon as that thought crossed her mind, Murphy's Law came into action. That was pretty much the way that her life had gone in recent memory: any time things began to look up for her, there was always some twist of fate willing to smack her back down. This time, that strange twist of fate took on the form of a high-pitched woman's voice that was screaming bloody murder.

Jessica visibly jumped at the sound and spun about to find a middle-aged woman waving a broken purse strap around in the air. It took her a moment to realize that the woman wasn't screaming about murder at all-- she was screaming about a stolen purse. A purse snatcher, that was all that it was... For one brief moment she dared to hope that the situation would blow over and she'd be unaccosted... but, of course, fate had other ideas.

The woman's hand shot up to point straight at her, and Jess felt her blood run cold. It took her brain a second to register that the woman was accusing her of purse snatching, but once that fact came home it hit with the force of a sledgehammer.

"Crud!" The word left her lip in a hiss.

Instantly, Jessica spun on her heel and took off running. It didn't matter that she hadn't been anywhere near that woman. This matter was bound to attract the attention of the cops. After her last stint with the law, she wasn't going to dare run the risk of running into another policeman on the take.

She skittered through the crowd, left the main street behind, and took off down an alleyway. If she could get enough distance between herself and anyone following her, she might be able to salvage a bit of her plan. But with the way everything had just fallen apart, she wasn't about to bank on it.

[Thoma Hirako]

Is this just for Thoma, or is it open to everyone? We add tags for that sort of thing in the title.

Japan was his leash, a long leash, but he longed to leave. But he couldn't; not with SPD still keeping a close eye on him due to his past. Not with Yuka's killer out there somewhere. She had to have been killed; that's all that he could accept. Not that she had died of natural causes, but it was one of his enemies getting back at him.

As he had been walking the streets of Hachino in his suit, instead of his Deka uniform, he had heard a woman shouting about apparently being robbed, and had seen a woman who looked to fit the part running off. Thoma got a slight smile out of that, and took off running, closing his eyes when he got into a clear path, trying to visualize how the city was laid out.

Darting through alleys, he figured he could probably cut her off, but flipped his License open. Yeah, reports were going out, it looked like. Great. He could probably still get her first, and then what?

Maybe he could use someone who was a criminal to help him, but then again, she wasn't anywhere near that woman. Maybe, if nothing else, he could diffuse the situation.

Cutting through another alley he skidded to a stop and slowly walked out, figuring she might be this way. He could tell that this is where one would want to go if pursued.

It would have been what he would have done, anyway.

[Jessica Jane]

(OoC: Ah, thanks for clarifying that. *updates* Also, at the end of this post, feel free to trip/grab/detain Jess if you like, or whenever you're ready to move past the chase scene.)


Jess risked a quick glance over her shoulder. Amazingly enough, it was starting to look like she wasn't being pursued. Or if she was, she'd already given them the slip. Maybe getting out of dodge would be easier than she thought.

Before fate could see fit to knock her legs out from under her, Jessica turned her gaze back to what lay ahead-- just in time to leap a fallen garbage bag. For the moment, the only other obstacle to her path was some guy up ahead in a suit. Since he was before her and not behind her, there wasn't much importance in his presence. She'd just plow past him and be gone.

[Thoma Hirako]

He stepped aside as she came, waiting, waiting...and then reaching out and grabbing her by the arm, keeping a firm grip, and then pulling her closer, detaining her other arm with his.

"If you run, it makes you look guilty," he commented, "Even though you're not."

[Jessica Jane]

A gasp left Jess' throat as she was snatched and then whipped around. Being a runaway on the streets had taught her a few things-- usually that the best way to solve a situation like this was to place a well-aimed kick between the offending guy's legs. The only way that this guy avoided that unpleasantness was by pulling her close so quickly. That was two strikes against him instead of one. She scowled at him.

His words hit her ear. Was he talking about the purse snatching? If that was the case... why'd he stop her in the first place? Cryptic wise guys... she never could stand them.

"Cute. Do you always hang around in back alleyways looking for a chick to latch onto?" The words came out before she could stop them. "There are easier ways to get a date, bub."

Maybe if she could get him off-balance she could get a chance to slip away. It was worth a chance, anyway.

[Thoma Hirako]

He smiled, "I don't need to do that to get a woman," he told her, "Look; don't worry, I'm not going to do anything but save you from the police. I don't want to see someone innocent go to prison; especially not a young woman."

He looked down the alley both ways; there was nobody around, nobody coming. He looked back to her, "You seem like you could be a thief, though. You're not; I can tell, but you seem to have the potential, if you would want to use it."

[Jessica Jane]

So that was how it was. The guy had seen the little pickpocket fiasco and thought that he could use that to exert some kind of hold over her. Well, tough luck. Jess wasn't about to become someone's tool. She might not have been the most respectable member of the community, but she still had her standards.

She thought, again, about kneeing him in the groin and taking off. But if this guy had some sort of pull with the local police, that probably would not be the smartest of moves to make. Manhunts were never fun.

"While I wouldn't mind ducking the police report, I'm no thief and I'm not interested in becoming one." She replied. "So if that's what you're after, then you're out of luck."

There was a beat and then she continued: "If the job interview is over, mind letting go? It would be a lot easier to talk that way."

There was another reason that Jess' mind was screaming at her to put some distance between herself and the other guy. Her Gaia Memories were sitting right there in her back pocket. If this guy found them, in light of the purse snatching earlier, then all sorts of insanity would probably break loose.

[Thoma Hirako]

"I'm not asking you to become a thief," he said, complying and releasing her arms, "Look; just tell me something. What are your skills? Like I said, it seems like you have something that might be of use; some sort of skills that could be a big help to me."

He put his hands into his pockets and looked away, "And I do need help, from anyone who can help me." His voice was a bit distant as he was lost in thought, not really paying much attention anymore; she could run, if she wanted to.

[Jessica Jane]

Jessica took a step back and resisted the urge to shake some feeling back into her limbs. Weakness never got anyone anywhere; she wasn't about to show any now. Still... this guy wasn't looking nor acting like your average blackmailer. That thought gave her pause and spurred her on to try an find out more about the situation.

She spoke slowly: "If you're looking for a master pickpocket or something, that's not who I am. I know the underside of the city and can help you find people that the cops would usually miss... most of the time. When you're a bum like me, you learn how to disappear. Look, I... I don't know how much help I can be, but if there's some sort of trouble... I can try to help out.

"As long as its nothing illegal." That seemed like a good thing to add.

[Thoma Hirako]

"Your skills then, are exactly what I'm going to need," Thoma said, "I need to find someone, someone who doesn't want to be found, and I need help to get at him."

He turned around, putting his back to her as he considered how much to tell her. After a few moments he turned to face her again, "Look; I'm very skilled, and this is a man I can't find. If you can help me find him, I'll make it worth your while. I am by no means blackmailing you, I just need help."

He hoped that she would help. Based on the way she talked about being able to find people, he hoped she would be able to help him find the man he needed to locate. How could someone evade him? Maybe this woman was just better, or something, if she would know who he was in the first place.

He had to hope she would help, and know.

[Jessica Jane]

Mmm... Nice little non-answer. While she was slightly less suspicious of him, he seemed too burdened down to be interested in taking advantage of her and much too desperate to be a long-range planner, she wasn't quite willing to trust him just yet. There was still too much that she didn't know.

She weighed her options for a moment and then decided to continue.

"If someone wants to disappear bad enough, then you'll never find them. What makes it easier to find some people is that they don't want to give up the conveniences of life. If someone's willing to live on the streets like yours truly, you'll probably never find them." No one had ever accused her of being an optimist. "Doesn't mean that I can't try to help, though. What do you want with him, anyway?"

[Thoma Hirako]

He spoke simply and straightforward, looking into her eyes.

"I think he's the bastard that killed my girlfriend."

[Jessica Jane]

Jess winced. Ouch. She knew all too well how that one went. She also recognized a familiar look in the man's eyes. It was the same thing that she felt in her own from time to time. Still, just because she felt a sense of kinship with this guy didn't mean that she could let her guard down just yet. All sorts of unsavory people had nice traumatic backstories to blind you with.

"I'm sorry." It was a hollow response. She knew that firsthand. "It may not sound like it... but I am. If I can help you find this guy, I will... just so long as you're not fixing to kill him or anything. I don't need the law down on me any more than it already is."

A part of her hated being so uncouth, but being uncouth kept her alive more often than not. She'd just have to deal with it.

[Thoma Hirako]

"Thank you," he said kindly, "I really do appreciate your helping me." He shook his head, taking off his trilby and hooking it on his belt, "I don't plan on killing him. I'm no killer. I...I just want to take care of him. I know that killing him won't bring Yuka back."

He held his hand out, "Hirako, Thoma. I'm an SPD member; DekaFire, though I prefer not to talk about my work or anything. What would your name be?"

[Jessica Jane]

The wince came back, greater and stronger than last time. This guy was SPD? Aw, bloody pineapple sauce. Now she was really going to have to watch her step, because if he made any sort of report about her, then her mysterious assailants would be on her faster than she could blink.

But it was too late to go back on her word, a promise was a promise and she could full well understand his pain. Jessica found herself realizing that she would have to help him for better or worse... but that didn't mean that she had to be honest about it.

"My name's Laura." She lied as she took his hand. "You've got an awfully funny way of getting the job done. Do you usually just pick people off the street and hope they can help?"