Ashikaga Mansion

[Apollymi]

A large mansion on the outskirts of Shibuya it faces south and has an elaborate black roof. The building itself includes 5 watchtowers and two large wings separated by a large central structure, each wing is five stories high and the watch towers open a floor above that. It has large sprawling gardens, a vineyard and heavy woods leading up to it from the rear. It includes several access roads and foot paths for traversal both by employees and by the homes residences. The property is known to feature several places considered tourist attractions, a hot spring off to the eastern wing, a large lake and a lake house and stables. There is also a set of kennels, a large athletics park including a play place and giant maze for children. The athletics park includes, basketball courts, a baseball diamond, tennis courts and all necessary items to play those games. The amount of area covered by the property is so vast, the only way to properly get around is by horse drawn carriage or go-cart. There is also a small planetarium and star gazing facilities on the top floor. The entire property is also self-sustaining and includes fruit and vegetable gardens, large solar panels and hydro electric power as well as several deep fresh water wells. The house itself includes several large family sized apartments on lower floors for employs, guest suites on middle floors and full live suites for the family members. A large kitchen is in the central part of the mansion for entertaining guests, diplomats and business partners. And the entire place is decorated to include the finest luxuries money can buy.

Known rooms in Kimiko's wing:

~Kimiko's Master Suite/Bathroom
~Kimiko's closet
~A private library
~A private study
~A game room
~A movie theater
~A spa
~A kitchen
~A music room (containing all instruments the lass has learned to play in her life)

[Bloodedge]

"Is that a him accomplishment though?" she asked with a snarky countenance. "I am pretty sure if he passed the entrance exam we'd all know about given how much he talks about himself," she said seeming to think about it in passing. Fukuda was the kind of individual to talk himself up at every opportunity. If he actually had something worth talking about, the entire school would never hear the end of it, of that Kimiko was certain.

Still the lad was getting more dressed and Kimiko was doing something similar. She also pulled her own hood up while making sure her phone and other necessities were in her pocket. Still there was the matter of the payment for watching the lad's bum from the side which he said would have a fee nominal but fair. "Hm, well I appreciate the business acumen, but I don't know if I like it being used against me~" she teased lightly. What else would happen here, well, it seemed like they were honestly about to leave.

Yugi would apparently remember her slipping in this naughty nun of hers. She'd have to make sure it was good though... wouldn't want to tarnish it in anyway. "Hai hai," the lass affirmed. Soon enough though Yugi was grabbing the doorknob to his box home and extending a hand to the lass behind him. Of course this only came after commenting about how a tease was supposed to be a thing and not just an idea. "Well the idea makes you think and I like your face so that makes sense~" she said as if it were the most natural thing to do. Still, she took that hand that was extended to her and would slip out of his box with him taking up the sneaky route to the Ashikaga Mansion from here.

After quite the long trip from Aiba Yugi's live-in box just outside the former prime minister's manor, Yugi encroached upon the building known by most residents of Japan. It was a sight to behold even with knowledge of its existence and ridiculous scale, and above all else, he happened to be hand-in-hand with one of the mansion's main residents. Strangely, they weren't approaching from any route he would consider normal... though, that wasn't too strange. It was nearly three in the morning, and they were teenagers; avoiding the police had been the main objective of this entire trip thus far. Even from a strange direction however, the state of this mansion was phenomenal.

Still keeping an open eye and ear from time to time, Yugi moved through the darkness en route to the building. There were trees on either side of them, thick as a forest. Even so, this definitely wasn't a public street as far as he knew. How was he unfamiliar with it? They had recently passed what seemed to be a park of some sort, and that wasn't familiar at all either. "Where the hell are we? Even being here before, I don't remember this place being next to a park or anything. When do we hit the safe zone?" he asked, wondering when they would officially be on the property of the Ashikaga family. Ah, he knew so little. . .

[Apollymi]

Hand in hand with Aiba Yugi, Ashikaga Kimiko reached an area which looked a lot like a park. They'd cut through this area but it wasn't just because it was unpoliced. No... this particular park was part of the lass' backyard. She was easily walking at a less rushed pace after reaching it, knowing that there wasn't anything negative that could take place for the two of them here. Still there were words from Yugi which made her eyes widen gently. Oh? He didn't realize where they were... she was about to have to explain the scale of the property that the Ashikaga Mansion was on, and that could have some interesting effects.

"Um... we are in the safe zone," she said, trying to break the news gently. She gave his hand a small squeeze and smiled before she began explaining. "That park is part of the property. Papa had it put up for employees who stay here. It has all fun sports facilities and a full playground and maze. I also used to play there a lot as a kid..." she explained. She realized the scale of this place was probably outlandish but it was a pretty huge piece of property with a lot of different amenities available to everyone who lived here. "If you've seen it before I assume you've only ever seen it from the front..." she said she was ready and willing to answer any questions. They still had a pretty decent walk ahead of them after all.

[Bloodedge]

With a light squeeze of his hand, Kimiko stated that the park they'd so recently passed was part of the property. That made sense of why he didn't know about it; it wasn't a public space. Since they were in the safe zone officially, he figured he could relax at last. Ah... that also explained Kimiko's slowed pace. And here, he'd been thinking she just knew there would be no officers around; that was technically accurate as well. "Ahh, that makes sense. All clear then," the lad said. What a relief! Even while being confident in the execution, avoiding police sights while moving around after curfew was always a surefire way to get the adrenaline going. Now, he could relax... on the Ashikaga property... which spanned the size of an entire town... and had an entire park as one of its facilities. . .

". . ." Yugi was silent, and seemingly content with all things. That is, until he realized the gravity of the situation. What did he just pass off as normal? "EH?!" An outburst the likes of no other escaped him. Luckily enough, they couldn't be caught outside after curfew now. Still, what the hell had he walked into? It seemed there was another ten minutes before they reached what he would accept as the property line. How much did this all cost?! "You fucking WHAT?!"

[Apollymi]

Ah, that was easy enough. Yugi accepted the knowledge that they had reached a safe zone for travel with fewer arguments than expected. What was more he relaxed quite a bit himself. Her own slowed pace seemed to encourage his and he had but a confirming statement to offer after having reached this junction. "Hai hai, it's pretty much smooth sailing from here. But I didn't take a go-cart out like normal so... we still have to walk back~" she mused happily. Of course, she couldn't have realized it would be a few seconds for the other shoe to drop.

Yugi hadn't realized exactly the magnitude of the Ashikaga Mansion's Estate. It seemed he didn't know about the Athletic Park or any of the other random features of it. And he would soon be expressing his surprise in the most extravagant way. The sound of 'eh' would echo through these woods and make Kimiko chuckle covering her mouth with one hand even while they walked together. "I used to play at that park a lot when I was a kid. It was a pretty fun thing... to come out here and run around. Now I mostly use it as a place to cut through while I am sneaking in and out, but I am less likely to run into my parents on this end of the property in general," she explained gently. "Unless that isn't what you're asking... in which case we have some time. I can answer any questions you might have~" she offered lightly. She wondered what part of this was so shocking. She knew the property to be quite large by normal people's standards. Even diplomats and businessmen were often surprised when the came to the property. But it was always a pretty lively place with people moving about most of the time. Only the Athletic Park was empty at this hour, unless someone happened to be in the gym or something. Thinking about it a bit more though, she figured Yugi would find this scale a bit overwhelming and probably thought it outrageously costly. That wasn't to downplay it all, but the girl did think of this as her normal life.

[Bloodedge]

Information entered Yugi's head bit by bit, though none of it was processing as it should have been. This was well beyond excessive. Why did anyone need an entire park and maze connected to their home? Why did the property need to be so expensive? Why the absolute hell were there go-carts? Well, the final curiosity was essentially answered by its predecessor. With all this space, there was no way they didn't need some form of transportation to get from one spot to another. Yugi could only imagine how long it would take to move from one side of the property to another. "There is an entire park. You used to play in it, and now you just cut through it to sneak out. The park... was put up for the employees. Because they need to go to a park while they're on the clock."

Yugi rambled and rambled, never coming to terms with the truth of this matter. The Ashikaga family was known by all to be in a different league from most citizens, but the real distance between them and society was something that had to be experienced for oneself. In receiving the experience first-hand, Yugi couldn't even manage to call out how ludicrous it all was. "No words. I don't need to know why anybody thought this was a reasonable idea. I don't need to know how much was invested in this house. I need... to sit down somewhere, and pretend I'm still on Earth─"

[Apollymi]

Yugi's mind exploded in his head, Kimiko could see that clearly. Hm, maybe she should have warned him a bit better? Well, that didn't really seem necessary. Everyone had some idea of who she was. People knew that the Ashikaga were exceedingly wealthy over the top individuals. The size of this estate wasn't really that far-fetched from an objective standpoint. Of course, she'd just spent a ton of time with the lad, both in this world and in another one. She could see how the magnitude of it might get out of hand quickly. Well... she did say before that it was something that got boring after a while. She hadn't been lying but this kind of surprise was about normal for new employees and visitors. "Well, not just while they are on the clock, but yes also for then too. Papa says it is important to take care of all employees and staff, making sure there is entertainment available for them here is part of that. And it was probably safer to have me looked after on property than to let me wander off too much..." she said of her previous adventures. Of course, this hadn't stopped her from becoming more adventurous as she got older, but none of the facilities here were really going to waste.

Rambling was happening on Yugi's part. Maybe it was a bit too much to take in at once? Well, he claimed all he wanted right now was a place to sit and make sure he was still on earth. Given where they were currently she could manage that. She diverted their path just a smidge to a gazebo which gave an interesting view of a dimly lit koi pond. Ah, this happened to be one of her favorite places. It might be best to let him come to terms with all of this before pulling him into a house that was undoubtedly going to set off all kinds of alarm bells in his mind. She'd pull him along until they could be seated on the benches within the gazebo and look out over the koi pond happily. "There you go. Let me know if you go into shock... we can go to the kennels and let you pet some of the puppies until you feel better~" she joked, though it was technically something very possible.

[Bloodedge]

In response to the mass confusion and disbelief happening in a single mind, Kimiko decided to take a slight detour. Yugi didn't truly need to be seated; the situation wasn't that extreme. Alas, that didn't mean he would say no to the idea of taking a break just to absorb the sheer scale of this place. More surprises were in store; he knew it. Oh... actually, he didn't have to wait until he got inside. Kimiko tugged him along to a gazebo with one of the most scenic views he'd ever seen in this world, at least with his bare eyes. While the lad sat, the next frivolous thing was listed. If Kimiko thought he could go into shock, she had no idea how very different her life was from what most individuals considered normal. This was already so far beyond luxury, that the rich and famous would feel unworthy.

Kennels? Some of the puppies? Yugi was imagining something ridiculous, and he doubted he was very far from the truth. Based on existing information regarding this place, he could only assume these kennels had no less than a few dozen dogs, each with several puppies. Actually, no─ that was probably underestimating the truth by a lot. "Not gonna lie, I think I'd rather avoid going to the kennels just to find out you have an entire zoo at your house," he said, leaning against his knees and exhaling a deep sigh. With his head lowered slightly, his eyes were drawn to the koi pond. That was nice... and very normal. "Okay. Koi. Very normal, very... obtainable for humans. . .

[Apollymi]

Was Kimiko aware that her life was beyond what other people considered luxury? Yes. She had at least a cursory understanding that her life was very different from that of any of her peers. Even the one person she considered a friend before meeting Yugi, didn't live quite as lavishly as Kimiko did. Of course, that didn't matter very much to the lass. Kimiko had grown up with all of this and somehow managed not to be a spoiled, entitled brat. In fact, she was a pretty funny joking sort of person in the right company. Yugi was the right company. As they took a minor detour to the gazebo he seemed to be taking in the scenery in a fairly calm manner.

Yugi sank to his knees looking at the koi pond and going on to explain the level of audacity he expected from the Ashikaga Mansion. A chuckle escaped Kimiko as she gave his statement some minor consideration. Still she was watching him instead of the view so much as she was curious about what was going on in his mind. "Hm, I am pretty sure what we have doesn't count as a zoo... there aren't any crazy exotic animals here," she said giving it a bit of thought. "But there are a fair few different varieties of the normal ones. It wouldn't be trauma inducing..." she explained. The ones that came to mind immediately were the Aquarium in the Eastwing, the stables with their horses, the aviary her mother kept and the kennels where her father raised dogs. "Hai hai, koi ponds are pretty normal. There are a few of them peppered around mostly at these little rest stops. This one is one of my favorites... it has the pretty ones in it~" she said. Speaking of the koi this one was full of the red and white speckled ones along with a few of the black ones. She enjoyed looking at this pond and could be found here frequently. There was the fact that this gazebo existing as a rest stop meant the property was large enough to require random places to sit and rest, but... that wasn't really worth thinking about.

[Bloodedge]

Luckily, there wasn't something as outlandish as a zoo on this property. At least there was one thing that could be considered normal about this building and all of its features; they hadn't gone full Neverland with the design. Even so, maybe Neverland should have been considered a massive downgrade, even by a child's standards. That place had all sorts of exotic creatures, entertainment, the whole shebang... but this place seemed like it was only missing the creatures, while having much more of anything else one could imagine. He hadn't even seen the entire place, or even a quarter of it, yet he was already sure of that much. "You say it won't be trauma-inducing, and here I am mentally debating what you think is normal dog varieties. I'm still expecting to see something that cost a hundred billion yen." He was joking, but only slightly. It was difficult to expect anything in this place to cost more than a normal person's salary. He could adjust, though... in a bit.

The property even had rest stops. How did this quantify as anything resembling normal? No matter; Yugi had enough of a breather now to move past the ridiculousness of it all, mostly. Slapping both of his cheeks simultaneously, Yugi steeled himself to see whatever else this mansion had in store. "Yosh! All rested! Now, what other crazy shit am I gonna be seeing on the way to the game?"

[Apollymi]

Apparently Yugi was debating within himself what would count as a normal dog breed for someone like Ashikaga Kimiko. The truth of the matter was her father did raise a particularly rare breed of dog, but he just liked it. There was a vast difference in how Ashikaga Tokiomi approached life and how others interpreted that information. "Hm, Papa's favorite and personal dog is a Kai Ken. He breeds them from time to time. But we also have Hokkaido and Shikoku as staples around here," she explained of the lad's likely passing curiosity.

Ah, but it didn't really matter soon enough, Yugi had gotten himself together. He claimed to be rested enough to continue and as such Kimiko stood, stretched and this time she extended a hand to the lad instead with a smile on her face. His inquiry about things between him and the game made her brow raise as she tried to think of anything too outlandish for normal people. "Between us and the game, is a not much. Outside there is a garden and we'll pass my garage. The more interesting things are on the eastern side if I am being fair. Then for the building there isn't much... A ground floor sitting room that leads to the elevator and then a five floor trip and then we'll be on my private floor so it won't really matter," she said with a curt nod. To be honest, she'd gotten used to much more privacy than most people her own age, she lived on the top floor of the western wing and the entirety of the western wing belonged to her. Her parents lived on the eastern wing and they tended to entertain and keep guests in the central compound of the house. All was fair and there was nothing much to be worried about. Hell, it usually took her parents about fifteen to twenty minutes to arrive on her side of the house after telling her they were coming. It was rare indeed to run into them at random so, she could have a decent bit of faith they'd not have to go through much between here and the end of their journey.

[Bloodedge]

How strange. Being quite fond of dogs himself, Yugi wasn't expecting that particular list of canines. For a personal dog, hearing the breed Kai Ken was even more outlandish than whatever top-dollar foreign breed he could think of. Actually, there was another coming to mind, which he would've expected to be her father's personal favorite. "So your whole family just specializes in making me unable to predict stuff, huh? Akita is what I would have expected your dad's favorite dog to be. Let me guess, it's not yours either?" he asked. interestingly enough, that happened to be his favorite dog breed. Of course it was his luck to favor the most expensive breed in Japan; such was sod's law.

Apparently, there wasn't much of merit en route to the gaming session. A garden? Normal. Kimiko had a garage? Strange, but somewhat expected. There was an elevator? That one was worth a pause, but he wasn't about to get absorbed in that sort of outburst again already. "Alright. That all sounds... sort of acceptable," he said while accepting an outstretched hand, letting it be a guiding force for his rise. One could say he was actually looking forward to the trip itself, whether for the sights, the gaming experience, or otherwise. Perhaps it was all three. Whatever the case, onward he'd go along whatever path Kimiko chose to lead.

[Apollymi]

Kimiko got to watch as Yugi expressed some manner of surprise. It was interesting to her that he claimed he'd not been able to predict the favorite animal of one Ashikaga Tokiomi though he'd had an idea of what it would be. It seemed that Kimiko alone wasn't the only type of person who's thoughts he couldn't predict. A smile crossed her face as he expressed a breed that he thought her dad would have liked. "Probably, yes... but it will likely wear off," she said about the nature of her family and being unpredictable. "We raise Akita a bit. They can be a bit hostile to strangers, other dogs and they have a pretty high prey drive... we have a lot of kids running around during the day so they always have to be trained extra so they can be more amiable. But the families that like to live off site are usually really happy with them as watchdogs," she said of the woes of raising Akita. Strangely enough though, Kimiko's mother favored Akita as a personal choice in dog, so maybe Yugi wasn't too far off from the norm. "As for my favorite, it's the Shikoku. They come in the best colors and they have the best temperament for me," she explained of her personal choice. What she didn't know that there was a rather strange irony associated with her choice, as Shikoku were historically bred for hunting boars.

Moving right along though, her explanation of what was between them and their gaming goal didn't seem to set Yugi off too much. She could still see the man's brain working, but he was at least calm enough to take her extended hand so they could continue. "Hoh? Good good, I wouldn't want it to be unacceptable..." she joked as she lead him along. Eventually they would come to the door at the rear of the western wing. She'd enter a code on the keypad at the back door and have it unlock enough so they could slip inside. Once they succeeded in that, she'd breathe a sigh of relief, "Yosh! Made it in... now then, school tomorrow is probably out of the question," she mentioned as she led him along the darkened sitting room with the greatest of ease. "But, that just means we can game all night which is a way better use of our time... I'm really excited about that~" she mentioned casually. That darkened room was one she passed through from time to time. When she wasn't receiving guests and no one needed a place to sit, it was never really necessary to have the lights on. It was decorated with a few plush couches, some high backed chairs and a couple of tables. It would have looked cozy if not for the massive size of it all, and at the far end of it, was the lit elevator she'd spoken of. They were home free, only the length of this room to the elevator before they could fall into the gaming situation.

[Bloodedge]

Akita were indeed a troublesome breed, beyond the matter of their expensiveness. Yugi still had the desire for one, but he would never have been able to afford such a creature. Even if he randomly stumbled upon one to take in, paying just to keep it alive and healthy was an expense he couldn't deal with. Well, one had to have their pipe dreams. It seemed Kimiko's family had a few of those dogs around, though. Maybe he'd take her up on that offer to go see them eventually. She went on to address her favorite dog breed, which was one he couldn't fault anyone for liking. As for their common use, though, there was only something to laugh about when hearing she preferred them over other breeds. "Uh-huh. Y'know, it's hardly anything besides fitting that you always get stuck with the pigs," Yugi commented.

In they went after a code input from the lass to gain entry. Yugi entered the mansion prepared for anything... well, almost anything. There was one thing he was prepared to go without, and it just so happened to be the case that he would be surprised by the truth. Within that dark room Kimiko guided them through, there was another figure seated atop a high-back chair. This figure came into sight upon switching on a small lamp next to the chair. At this point, the figure was revealed to be a middle-aged male with sleek, dark hair, and a well-trimmed goatee. An open book was in his hand when he came into view. Why? How was he reading this book in the dark? He wasn't; this was just something he always wanted to do, because he thought it would look 'cool' or in some way stylish. Ah, it was just like the movies. Prior to basking in the success of the moment, he had to sell it, right? The man would do so by addressing Kimiko's mention of skipping school. "School is out of the question, is it? Are we under the weather, or just playing hooky?" he asked calmly, causing Yugi to freeze with all the knowledge of who this man was.

[Apollymi]

"Eh?!" Kimiko seemed aghast. It was fitting that she got stuck with pigs all the time based on her favorite breed of dog. That was pretty true huh? She wasn't herself the kind of person who hunted, but if she was she'd likely hunt pigs. Depending loosely on your definition of pigs, she was often seen murdering them... at least by ego. That little bit of surprising banter aside. Kimiko was ready to go into her room, and settle up for her first term of long term gaming. But of course, the universe wouldn't simply allow her to have that.

Within this darkened room a light clicked on, and instead of input from Yugi about the nature of their extended gaming session she got the sound of a familiar voice hitting her ear. This particular voice wasn't supposed to be, anywhere near this mansion or even on this island in Japan. Some 6 days before now, Kimiko had returned home from school to find that her mother and father were taking a vacation, so why... was her father sitting within this room? He was holding within his hand an open book and questioning her lack of school the next day. This was a problem Kimiko didn't foresee having this day. "Papa!" she exclaimed, seemingly surprised. Kimiko hadn't let go of Yugi's hand and also didn't seem entirely phased by her own father's antics. "You aren't supposed to be on this island right now, why are you back so soon?" she questioned. "As for no school, well it's three in the morning and I am not sleepy. So, I wouldn't be ready for going out again by six. Take that as you like," the girl explained herself in an almost completely transparent way. She was basically skipping school, but it was late and she had been up at out all day. their own conversations about school meant it didn't really matter if she skipped either. "Also tell me you didn't take that book out of my library," the lass said running her unoccupied hand over her face. She really didn't like the idea of having to explain her literary choices to her father this day.