Shibuya

[Apollymi]

Aghast. Yugi was obviously aghast. Kimiko knew the lad had several strong opinions, but none were stronger than those he seemed to have about food in this case. He was still claiming she should sue, there was some intense brow furrowing going on as well. "These are some very strong opinions about food," Kimiko mentioned. "You'll get wrinkles with all that brow furrowing!~" the lass teased. She'd liked her food choices as a child. Well fruit was fine at least, but Onigiri that was tasty, her dad even gave it to her with sweet bean jelly! Or salted salmon or... well a bunch of things the girl liked. All purpose happy snack of her childhood in car rides with her father were pleasant as memories for Kimiko. Ah, but now there were now even more fun things, like pizza, burgers fries and apple pies? That didn't need forks even?!

"Eh? How is that even possible? Doesn't make sense... there is some weird obsession with hand foods I don't get," she said. Of course, she'd say it like that. Hand foods were strictly prohibited in her diet. Even those fruit slices were eaten with chopsticks. Yeah, she'd keep that bit to herself, the boy before her might have an aneurism if she uttered such a thing. Still, it was at least interesting to see him so worked up. Kimiko was all but done with the burger and figuring out how to take her last few bites, as it was claimed that he didn't know what was in Mac Sauce as it was apparently named. "Mac Sauce? Random unknown sauce? This place has its own sauce, for a burger that's also named after it?! The marketing on that is terrible, who made that decision?" she questioned from a point of pure curiosity. By logic of naming of things, everything in the store would have to be called Mc 'Whatever' or the branding would suffer. But they'd just called the pies apple pies, not 'McPies'. The lack of consistency would make her eye twitch.

[Bloodedge]

"It's not about the food. It's about the neglect," he said firmly. It had to be criminal, raising a child without fast food or any equivalent. No burgers that weren't upscale, no real pizza, no fries that weren't some gourmet garbage... nothing. He couldn't have lived like that; he'd have thrown himself off a bridge. To call it a strong opinion about food, was not something Yugi could agree with at all.

From one understanding, Kimiko went to a lack of understanding regarding something different. She couldn't be judged on this basis; those apple pies didn't make any sense, honestly. Still, Yugi hardly had the space in his mouth to respond immediately. He mumbled something incoherent, holding up a finger before... taking another bite. Over half of his burger was gone in no time at all. Eventually, he had enough air in his mouth to speak again. "Itsh jusht a pie~" he muttered prior to washing down meat, bread and condiments with cola. "Don't think about it too much. You'll see," was the conclusion. Another bite, then another. While he was finishing the main segment of his meal, Kimiko was ranting about brand naming and the like, specifically regarding Big Macs and Mac Sauce. Why did she bother? Terrible marketing strategy or not, it was something that obviously worked for them. One couldn't truly question something functional. "Mac Sauce, yeah─ the signature sauce of the Big Mac. As for who made the decision... I dunno, some guy with a thing for creepy ass clowns? What's the big deal?"

[Apollymi]

Neglect. "That was a strong word choice," she said giving it a bit of extra thought. Well, considering he'd told her to sue her parents she wasn't really surprised, still Kimiko didn't necessarily feel like she was neglected. Not on all fronts, she got along well enough with her father, and he made her happy moments happier. Maybe just the food painted a strange picture, maybe he felt like she was being denied something. But if she didn't know it existed was it denial? If she didn't know what it was to miss it... was she missing out? These questions were more complicated than the moment called for her to explore.

What else was there, her lack of understanding about this apple pie. Yugi tried to explain but his mouth was too full initially. His try and mostly failure at speech in the moment, made Kimiko giggle. She'd never seen someone in such a rush to get words out before. Well, aside from herself... even so, it was rather cute to see him in such a light. "Hehehe~ Hai hai..." she managed having now finished up her own burger she ate the rest of the fries while sipping on her cola. She needed to wash all of this down. Her apparent outrage at the marketing and naming of this sauce was not understood at all by Yugi. That was fine she didn't really expect anyone to get it. "It's a huge deal... where is the consistency? Naming patterns establish branding... picking something good and sticking with it are priorities. Everything mentioned so far seems to lack naming consistency. It bugs me..." she ended finally. It could be said that a lack of consistency seen in one place, usually meant a lack of consistency in other places. She often found that if marketing was off, other things were off. Because if what you were willing to show the public wasn't well put together what was behind the scenes was generally worse. Yugi's next statement confirmed this at least a little, and brought another strange reaction for the girl. "Also we are negging for the idea of any body being obsessed with clowns. Hard no to clowns."

[Bloodedge]

"Accurate word choice." Plain and simple, there was no better way to put it in Yugi's mind. Yes, it was neglect that she was left in the dark about the finest simplicities in ordinary life. Though his words were all in jest, part of Yugi believed this fully. How was anyone who held a position so high meant to truly flourish without properly understanding what one would consider 'beneath' them? He couldn't have possibly explained his actual perspective in the moment, but there was an issue in high society that he was always surprised managed to avoid Kimiko throughout life.

Ah, but there was something Kimiko couldn't let go of. She had some blaring issue with the inconsistency of branding in a simple chain restaurant like McDonald's. Why she was so hung up on the 'Mac' part of certain things, he didn't know. "It's fast food. The food isn't even consistent; you think the names will be?" he questioned rhetorically. As for the actual issue here, he couldn't possibly view it the same. Patrons of these restaurants had a general understanding of the ordering process, and as far as he was concerned, it wasn't worth questioning to such extremes. "It's a bigger system than just McDonald's. Whatever place you go, you should be able to order the staples. Cheeseburgers, double cheeseburgers and all that are everywhere you go; they're all basic. Only McDonald's has the Big Mac, only Burger King has the Whopper, yadda yadda yadda~" he explained, for whatever that was worth. Moving onto the matter of clowns, though... yes. There was no arguing the fact that a clown was the dumbest, most inappropriate choice for a mascot. "100% agreed. Worse yet is back when they also had a hamburger thief and a big, Barney-looking blob fucker for whatever reason─"

[Apollymi]

Yugi claimed his words were accurate. Well, he probably thought they were. Kimiko noticed a long while ago he held a certain amount of distain for high society. She couldn't really blame him for that either, from her general interactions with most people on that end... they were by far the worst that humanity had to offer in most cases. That being said, she also knew some points of interest in high society. She was always pretty confused about Yugi as well, it was obvious his aversion the wealthy types, the fact that he managed to actually like her was strange whenever she managed to think about it. Not because she thought less of herself, but because she wondered how he came to terms with it himself. Maybe sometime later, she'd ask him about it.

Moving on for now though, she was indeed hung-up on the matter of naming patterns and branding. There was the assertion that fast food products weren't consistent and thus expecting consistency in naming was outlandish. "Well, roulette on food is understandable at least. That is going through multiple different layers, different groups, different shifts, different stock... all kinds of things can change the outcome of a single moment of food. But names are thought up in board rooms, which means someone had all available information and complete control, and still decided to be inconsistent." Kimiko had a few hard and fast opinions but this one was probably a bit strange. But as a young business tycoon noticing this sort of thing was well within her purview. Whatever the case there was the statement about standards of any fast food place with examples to quell her mind. "Sou ka, so an industry standard is what made such a thing. That isn't good...aside from quality such standards do a great disservice to individuality, and give me an eye twitch," she said though these specialty items had even stranger names apparently. "Whatever a Whopper is sounds like something that should kill people. The name alone inspires fear..." she claimed. Oh this situation got worse for old McDonald's apparently mascots were notoriously bad in this brand, from clowns, to hamburger thieves and purple blobs. "I am..." she had no words. "I'm done. Nothing makes sense any more. This world isn't for me..." she came to this poetic conclusion.

[Bloodedge]

An on she went. She really wasn't letting go of this naming issue, which she seemed to be the only one harboring within the vehicle. She carried on, and Yugi did nothing but chew the final bites of his burger and... stare. This wasn't an issue for him. He didn't care about brands, he didn't care about business models, he didn't care about efficient sales or anything of the sort. "You're talking about cheeseburgers," he said flatly, still chewing as he did so.

While Yugi could only have mild interest in the actual issues being raised, he remained interested in hearing the standpoint itself. Satoru, however, let out an exasperated sigh while shoving his hand into the food bag. Two small, rectangular boxes were pulled out and thrown into the back, where the teens sat. "Urusai! This isn't a limo; there's no partition I can lift to avoid hearing you talk business mumbo jumbo!" he said. Yugi snorted, closing his burger box and taking up one of the apple pies. That was that, then. He'd leave it at that, and begin the consumption of a handheld pie. "So yeah, pie. No fork, no knife, just hands. It's kinda like one of those uh... whatever its name is. Yeah, helpful, I know~"

Now that the conversation he preferred avoiding seemed to have been dropped on one side, Satoru decided it was high time to speak on why he'd picked these two up in the first place. There wasn't much time left before their arrival to the theater, and he definitely wasn't going to be sharing this information during, or after the movie─ that would ruin the film. "By the way, I'm not going to be on your case anymore after today. Sad day; you're gonna have to deal with someone actually doing what they're told."

[Apollymi]

"It's not about the cheeseburger, it's about everything after the cheeseburger. Cheeseburger is the center point in a spiral of creativity, food, and marketing. It should be the absolute best reaching greater heights and depths than anything. To see a spiral stopped before it reaches its furthest point is infuriating. Why stop there? Why rest on mediocrity and idiocy, push boundaries, go crazy... but be consistent in your efforts!" Ah, that was it. She was finally done. And what great timing, there was now food flying towards her. And complaints being lodged about the lack of partition and how Gojou apparently wasn't fond of business talk. "Iie Gojou, that was theory crafting. Business talks are way worse~" she mused. Ah, but now there was pie. What came with the pie exactly?

Kimiko opened it up to find a little tart like dessert. Covered in cinnamon sugar with apple chunks in the middle. Again surrounded by bread. She was beginning to wonder about the number of starches included in the diet of normal people. Whatever the case, she'd look at it for a bit and pop it out of the top to take a bite. She'd find this whole thing surprisingly hot. "Ah... why is it still on fire! We've eaten everything else!" she exclaimed but she didn't stop eating. No, now the hot pie filling was simply being allowed to cool as Gojou gave off his next big confession. According to him, today would be his last shift on her case. Kimiko would apparently be stuck with the type who followed orders from now on... how sad. "That's such a waste," she said but she wasn't at all surprised. By her own logic, the police following her without simply contacting her parents was a bit outlandish. There were tons of options about how sketch that was, "Am I to take that to mean you got an order you didn't want to follow and I should be worried?" Oh, Kimiko rather suddenly sounded quite serious. It wasn't that she was upset, she expected this, but it would be quite annoying to let go of one like Gojou just because of the corruption of the police.

[Bloodedge]

"Urusai! I swear to God, I will turn this car around right now!" Satoru yelled after hearing yet another line about business or... whatever the hell those two were talking about back there. According to Kimiko, all that talk was just theory crafting. He wasn't going to sit here and argue semantics while driving to a theater. All he had to offer in return, was a short series of grunts.

Yugi didn't care about the detective's annoyance, nor did he really care about the details regarding restaurant details like... burger names. Ah, but he did take an interest in what Satoru brought up during dessert. The lad listened silently, biting into his own pie just at the corner. Steam erupted from the small opening made by this bite, and he began blowing into the hole. Kimiko, on the other hand, got to learn firsthand the dangers of fast food pies. "Oh yeah, these things will hold heat for a lifetime. Wait until Hot Pockets. Way too hot to eat for way too long, but always cold as ice on the other side." Yugi's explanation was left at that, and another event was added to the future list. Ah, but the atmosphere was changing with an interjection by Satoru. It was true that he'd been given orders he refused to follow. Actually, that was often the case, but never more so than it was today. "You should take that to mean, somebody's after your head," was all Satoru had to say regarding the situation. This definitely wasn't a matter handled in any official capacity. He was told to go under the radar and find reason to bring Ashikaga Kimiko in. Of course, he was using his 'under the radar' status for entirely different reasons. His career was officially a loss regardless, so he was going to take it on his own terms.

[Apollymi]

Oh, that interjection was hilarious. Kimiko couldn't help but laugh in response to it, "Bwahaha~ You can't be serious, did you just adult voice me?" Kimiko was beyond amused. "What a funny man~" she mused. It was funny to her when other people treated her as they would any regular person in her age group. It gave her strange feelings, Gojou Satoru was definitely worth his weight in gold. This young detective brought out her desire to troll which was quite unusual in real-life scenarios. It was taking all she had to hold back a bit. Beyond that, right at the moment he created within the lass a desire to possess. It was a strange thing to realize but, having been in the other world, she was beginning to realize that she collected people to work for her based on her own greed.

Speaking of her greed, she'd taken a bite of something way too hot, and was forced to slow herself to a near halt. She would look to Yugi, taking his apparent skill when dealing with this upon herself to use. Apparently she was to wait until something called Hot Pockets. That sounded sexual. "I have something to say about that... remind me later," she said without a secondary thought. Compartmentalizing was a special skill. Oh, but then there were the words of Gojou apparently someone was after her head. This of course, wasn't really surprising to Kimiko at all given the nature of the interaction she was currently having. "Sou ka, I figured as much. Any one of these sorts of interactions that doesn't just end in call to my parents is pretty shady," she said as if this was a perfectly normal thing to have happen. Well, she didn't know exactly who was after her and that was problematic, but Kei should be off vacation pretty soon and everything would be fine upon his return as far as her personal safety was concerned. "Still wasteful..." she said going back to her pie having had it reach the right temperature for consumption. The sparkles returned to her eyes in an instant, actually being able to taste the darned thing. "Whoa, this is great! I feel like I'm gonna be mad when it's over!~" she mused back to food. Way more important than plots against her life.

[Bloodedge]

"I'll do it again if I have to! And so help me, don't test my patience, or I'll come back there!" Satoru announced, almost as if he were serious about it. Moments later, Kimiko was commenting on something said by Yugi. Hot Pockets made her think of something, did they? Ah, but she didn't want to say here and now. Satoru wasn't so stupid as to not understand where the mind wandered, especially after what he knew these two were up to earlier this day. "I didn't think girls knew about pocket p─" "Ahem! Anyway," Yugi interjected, knowing exactly where the detective was going, and wanting no part of that conversation. Satoru's mouth hung open slightly. Was it really that big a deal? Oh well. "Uh-huh. So yeah, the last thing anyone plans on doing is calling your parents. I managed to talk my way out of being too invasive just by giving my boss the idea your dad could be around earlier. Now, I don't know how many enemies your family's got, but I would assume at least some sort of ransom plot."

Guesses aside, there were several possibilities for why one would want the young tycoon brought in, and none of them were good. "That might sound like movie nonsense, but these things happen," Satoru continued while, at long last, pulling into one of the theater's parking spaces. "Just make sure you're careful. I'm done with the force, so I won't be able to help out with any additional information either." When this came up, Yugi finally had something proper to say. While Kimiko was munching on probably her first ever apple pie that didn't come out of a normal oven, he looked between the two. "Well... I wouldn't say there's no way," he said without much thought, failing to realize he was starting down a road he'd traveled before. . .

[Apollymi]

Oh more words came from Gojou Satoru, and they were hilarious. "Hahaha~ I can't. Stop. I'm trying to eat~" the girl said she was obviously far too amused by the words this man had to offer. She saw no real threat in him, nor did she find his almost sit-com style ranting to be anything other than what it was supposed to be, well timed comedy. What was more, he proved a certain amount of understanding. Her unmentioned thought was almost expressed by the man driving them to the movie theater. "Hoh..." she had to stop herself but couldn't resist the quick eye dart forward. How interesting. This man would truly fit in with the group of misfits she had working under her at her business. He was great at what he did, and as proving it more and more with every sentence.

Ah, too bad Yugi seemed so content to change the man's topic of conversation. Though she could understand. She had no real desire to discuss her sex-life with Gojou whether he was already aware of it or not. "Sou ka, that's some pretty quick thinking, Gojou..." she said and honestly meant it. He'd done a good job of not having to be a total creeper this afternoon, but apparently also had far too much information on her now. She'd definitely prefer to have him on staff than out wandering the world with this information, but he'd given her no reason to assume he planned to do anything with that information either. What was more, he made the claim that though it sounded like a movie plot kidnapping and ransom plots did happen... "Well, if I was going to hold any random person for ransom I'd likely choose me too. Well, I wouldn't but I also have enough logical foresight to see beyond the moment," she said of the entire plot. But that wasn't the only likely reason anyone had to kidnap someone like her. Her experiences in the other world let her know that there was more than one reason random people wanted to get ahold of her, and she wouldn't properly be tolerating any of them. Beyond this Gojou claimed he couldn't be of much help anymore because he was done with the force and wouldn't be able to provide anymore information. Before, Kimiko could voice her thought that it was wasteful once more, Yugi spoke up making the claim that there was in fact a way that Gojou could help. "There are a couple of ways I see that thought ending... what do you have?" she asked of the lad. She still thought it was a waste not to put Gojou to work and planned to hire him regardless, but if she could do so while helping her cause overall that would also be quite good.

[Bloodedge]

A plot was in the works. The car was parked, but no one was exiting. No, this wasn't about to be a discussion worth having while anyone else had a chance of hearing, or even seeing. Yugi had the floor. What would he do with it? Well, there were indeed a few options that could solve the current problem. Satoru could quit his job and divulge whatever information he already had, leaving to wonder whatever remained. Alternatively, he could stay on the case in one of two ways. He could let things play out in a careful manner, but ruin his reputation as a result. That idea wouldn't make much of a difference if he wound up working for Kimiko, but there were short-term implications to be taken by the general public, and those would have at least some small effect on the Ashikaga family as a whole. Not worth it, he thought. Ah, but what if he remained on the case and let it end in failure? No, that would ruin things for Satoru himself. Once more, it wasn't worthwhile.

One. All of Yugi's thoughts led to a single, optimal solution. A cheeky grin stretched across only half of his face, and with the final piece of pie thrown into his mouth, he closed his eyes and offered this stroke of genius. "Let it ride. Detective Gojo keeps the case, completing a select few objectives given by the boss. But..." There was more─ so much more. When Yugi opened his eyes again, there was red in his irises. He felt as if he could see the future, but it was all simple conjecture... he thought. "Ask the right questions every time an order is given, and there will be just enough information to find out what's really going on. Why her, instead of anyone else related to these disappearances? What other cases have been centered around the Ashikaga family? Not the completed ones; the ones that were dropped and filed away as pointless investigations. And, most importantly... what is the boss doing after everyone else has been sent on wild goose chases? Stick around long enough to get those answers, and the game's won. The job is lost either way, but no harm comes to anyone except those who are in the wrong. The chief, whatever person he's dealing with, and everyone connected to their plot, go down in the end."

[Apollymi]

A plot was indeed in the works. Kimiko didn't seem to have a problem with this in the long run. She trusted her personal assistant to keep her safe, but the idea of what should be trustable public servants being corrupt enough to help with some illegal plot against her specifically was a bit problematic. What was more not knowing how far up the chain it went and how far out it spread would lead to problems overall. But she was willing to give a pass to the lad known as Yugi and he seemed to offer up his expertise after taking a few moments to think about it. While Kimiko finished her pie, Yugi explained the gist of the best course of action to be taken by one Gojou Satoru.

His words took a very specific meaning for Kimiko as she knew internally that this lad didn't lose games in the same way that she didn't fail a business transaction. Beyond that, he saw it as a puzzle so he had no problem properly breaking it down. It was still surprising to note that the only problem the lad had ever faced difficulty with was the lass herself. Still she finished her pie while taking a look into the lad's eyes. They looked strange in the moment, but not unfamiliar. "Sou ka... that is well within manageable expectations," she said. "Nothing lost... only gains added safety and rooting out a problem that could have potentially been very long and drawn out for me," she said giving a gentle nod of her head. The only potential downsides to be taken from this kind of situation, were the branches off the spiral. Points of those who fell further down the line who might not necessarily have anything to do with the problems. But that could also be sorted out by varying degrees as far as Kimiko was concerned. "Gojou Satoru, is such a plan agreeable to you?"

[Bloodedge]

Yugi had done this sort of thing before. Actually, what he'd done was rather close to identical from a conceptual perspective, and more dangerous to the whole of society as opposed to a select few individuals. When he thought about the current situation in comparison to the former, there was one conclusion reached by the lad: this one was easy. Still, one variable remained. Yugi himself wouldn't be working both sides this time. If Gojo Satoru failed to fish out the proper information, all would be for naught. Just the same, the man's cooperation remained in question. Kimiko latched on quickly, though. She tended to do so, but this particular instance caused Yugi's already-worn smirk to one of satisfaction. "Iie. There's no conceivable way to lose nothing. But, this time, maybe losses can be minimal," he said, knowing fully the size of a wave that could be produced by these actions.

The major question at hand, was whether Gojo Satoru found this plan agreeable or not. He'd been sitting in the driver's seat, hearing every word mentioned, and knowing exactly how certain events came about while he was attending the police academy. He leaned back, sinking into his seat while contemplating his own future actions. Well, he could trust the plan, at least. Though it came from a teenage boy, it had been done before when the lad was even younger. "Yare yare. I'm not old enough myself to start complaining about this generation and what its members are capable of. Oh well. If it'll give me a chance to do what I joined the force for, I'm in. We'll need an alibi for today, though."

[Apollymi]

Kimiko hadn't necessarily done this exact sort of thing before. But she'd made a few decisions and dismantled a large scale corporation because of corruption in its highest branches. She understood directly how such things played out and also the sort of fall out to be expected for playing a part in the downfall of such an organization. But the lass wasn't exactly heartless so she'd make sure to compress the fracturing branches back into the spiral as much as possible. "Hai hai, minimizing losses is my job. It's no problem," she said offering the lad a smile.

Ah, but what of Gojou. The man who would be the crux of a plan like this, would need to agree to play his part and also be good enough at it to get the information necessary for the pair to figure out what was going on and do something about it. The man sank down into his seat and made his thoughts on the matter known. This came with some sort of appreciation for the skills of their youth. He claimed that he was fine with being part of the plan so long as he could actually do the sorts of work he'd actually become a police officer to do. How very idealistic. Still, Kimiko could appreciate that and it only worked in his favor for her long term capture of him as a person. Ah, but now there was another minor issue, he needed an alibi probably for the time he was spending off the radar, trying to figure out how to pull her in. "Oh? Well, you could always tell him the simplified version of the truth, finally making use of the out I've been giving you to dealing with me since we met," said Kimiko sitting back once more her hands in her lap. "It be pretty believable that you are playing general good cop role and being helpful to me, to keep my parents from being involved while you continue to 'investigate me'. And as such you fed me and gave me a ride to the place I wished to go. Sticking around to find out any information you could from a relatively close proximity while trying to garner a bit of good faith. Isn't that what manipulative cops do, when trying to extract confessions out of people, right?" the lass asked. She had no problem appearing as she generally did in public. She was quite the bossy individual if not outright bratty and other cops had already seen her behavior. It wasn't like she took no for an answer so if she made a demand of anyone she would expect it to be followed through, whether that was actually true or not wasn't the key piece of information. Instead it would simply be this young detective getting an in which would likely keep him in her presence more often than not.