Private Leaves From the Vine

[Maou]

Gold Sector, Corellia
J U N G L E
Club Ozai

Aiko Hayata
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It had been some time since the Maou had deigned to show his pointed mask at Club Ozai. Kiyoshi's life had been a little too...exciting, as of late to dedicate any time to his work in the Galactic Underworld. He had been hearing that in his absence not only had one too many of the Atrisian Families had gotten uppity on his turf. At least that's how he saw it. Sure, technically Gold Sector was split between several of the Atrisian crime rackets, but Maou had always seen it as his and for a time the others acted with deference to the Yōkai. These days though, even upstarts from the Unbroken Clan and Mourner's Wail Syndicate were pushing in on his territory.

"Who next? The White Worms?" He growled as he slipped the red ogre helmet on to complete the look. As the systems activated inside his suit he flexed his hands, now twice and again larger than his actual hands he truly looked the red Ogre from the myths and stories. Standing from the lone shrine he made one final bow before leaving the tatami room, his metal feet causing the material to crunch under his weight. He would have to get them replaced again. Without a word to the feminine form waiting for him on the other side of the small, cut-off room, he turned and snatched his black trench coat from the hands of a waiting Doll. Pretty things those were. And they didn't complain when told to wear a mask, unlike some of his younger crew. A stylized red Oni mask adorned all his dolls faces this high up in the Ozai. He thought it made them match rather well with everyone else that happened to come up here.

It was also only fitting that he used these dolls now. One of those troublesome families he had been grumbling about in the shrine was here and she was making quite the name for herself in the public sphere. He could use someone like that, if she could be cowed, otherwise he would simply crush her skull and be done with it. It had been a while since he'd let Zabimaru run wild in the streets. From what he'd been hearing the man had been making a mess of his own fighting pits waiting for someone or something to kill.

The low thrum of the bass coming from the lower levels of the club vibrated in his bones, even this high up. He stopped to gaze down at his club and smiled from behind his mask. He saw a few patrons stop dancing and gape up at him, pointing and taking holos with their com devices. He folded his hands behind his back and turned from the glass, deactivating the two-way function, making it opaque from the outside. This would need more privacy.

He heard the turbolift ding and waited for his patron to enter.

 

[Aiko Hayata]

Business Trip|Corellia| A-Town
AIKO HAYATA, CEO OF HAYATA CORP
TAGS//: Maou

Amidst the high thronged traffic that was the lifeblood of any galactic city, a lone motorcade flanked by two speeders with blacked-out windows proceeded through the city. To the casual observer, one might've presumed it to be a VIP escort of some degree or another, and in many cases, they'd of been correct. Aiko was no stranger to publicity; her entire public image and that of the corporation lay in its carefully manicured outward facing image to the wider galaxy. But, as her late and dearly missed father would often remind her and the rest of the clan, public opinion was everything in business and to stain the Clans prestige was to haunt the descendants of Clan Hayata for generations. Her father knew all too well what it cost to not be discrete in both the business world and underworld, his own half brother had failed to cover his tracks when ordering an ambush on another Zaibatsu family. And for his failure, her grandfather cut her uncle's ring finger off in the name of tradition and to affirm professionalism in the clan. The other accomplices were not so lucky; many simply disappeared, and some were found dissolved in a barrel of acid dumped on the outskirts of some rat hole spaceport.


Gazing out of her window in the comfort of her blaster proof luxury craft, Aiko took in the familiar neon-tinged sights of the city in all its grungey and grim glory. It reminded her greatly of the downtown slum areas of Atrisia, where there was a strip club or brothel for every square mile you walked in any direction. Though, of course, it had been many decades since she herself would've ever been spotted in those areas, she delegated those matters to lower-ranking members of the organisation as it didn't befit the public face and de facto leader of the clan to be seen there. Wherever you went in the galaxy, be it in the core of the wild fringes of the outer rim, there was always space for sleazy neon coloured adverts advertising some holonet product or a bar opening nearby. Some things never changed.



She exhaled loudly and signaled for one of her chauffeurs to roll the window back up; with her free hand, she pulled out a gold enameled lipstick from her purse and checked herself in the mirror while she reapplied the lipstick. One of her bodyguards emerged from the front of the craft and quickly took a knee in respect; Aiko looked down on him with a slight look of annoyance and nodded to permit him to talk.

"My lady, I have received a report of the value of the company stakes in the Kessel mines have increased and-."


The Atrisian woman's eyes widened in suspicion and annoyance.


"Go on."


"We have also received word that Nakaioma stock value has gone up by 1.2%-."

She abruptly cut him off.


"See to it that that is changed, abruptly, I do not want to see that smug decrepit mans face on the galactic holonet exchange," She remarked with a cold tone, her face twisting into what could only pass for extreme disgust at the idea of being next to that man. There existed a pecking order in the world of the Zaibatsu families of Atrisia, and to be listed next to a man of low origin on the stock listings would be insulting to someone as prestigious as herself. Although sometimes business begot tradition and she could learn to tolerate people like that if it meant profit. Learning to put on a different face to others had become an art form for her, so she could spare outward niceties for now with that old man until the situation changed in her businesses favour.


She was flanked by six of her own men as she departed her motorcade and headed for the meeting spot; the night was strangely quiet save for the distinctive sound of distant traffic and the sound of her heels against the stainless durasteel flooring. One of her men stayed at the ground floor to keep watch for any changes outside; in the confines of the elevator, she cast a somewhat diminutive figure surrounded by her own bodyguards yet commanded an aura of power. Soon the elevator brought them to the club; her ring of bodyguards stepped out firstly, and Aiko followed in turn. The Atrisian made her way to the meeting; one of her men moved ahead and presented her the seat before stepping away quickly as his boss sat down facing Mr Kiyoshi while she signaled for her guard to bring her a drink.


"Mr Kiyoshi, a pleasure truly; I do hope you have something of interest to discuss? I did not, after all, take a lengthy craft journey to listen to Atrisian techno."

​

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[Maou]

From behind his mask, his eye twitched, though the emotion was masked by the menacing sneer of the red helmet he wore. A low growl escaped from somewhere deep in his chest and he reached up to the clasps around his neck and with a snap-hiss he released them. He pulled the helmet off and set it on the table with a heavy thunk that rattled the tea set that had been placed there by one of the modified dolls.

"You are the second woman to surprise me like that," he said, his voice tight like a shamisen string close to snapping. "Women of the underworld seem to be more observant than most would assume." He reached down and took a teacup from the table. It looked comically small in the large red hands of his powered armor. He took a sip and leaned back into the couch, the synthetic leather creaking under his bulk.

"But please, under this roof call me Maou." He tapped his helmet and the eyes flashed blue before projecting the galactic stock exchange. It was all business now. "I just wanted to return a favor you did for me," His smile made the exposed cybernetics in his neck and jaw shift and click as they moved to facilitate the facial expression. "Nakaioma has been sitting very pretty since this war with the Sith started. Unless something happens soon...Hayata Corp will be a thing of the past." He shrugged noncommittally. "Not that I would mind, I think your tech is extremely overpriced and it would make acquiring it much easier." He sat up, leaning forward. "But between you and me, it's one of the only companies out of Atresia that isn't selling exclusively to that puffed-up Royal Family and like I said, quality. You gave us here a little discount on your droids so I wanted to maybe handle a little business for you."

Aiko Hayata ​