<div align="center"><a name="user_fuschsiafox"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>The Fuchsia Fox and an Artifact Absent</strong></span></a></div><br/><div class="floatleft">(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/3f/cb/51/3fcb513183b094b643a10c74bed38b1e.jpg)</div><strong>NAME:</strong>Date Toshiro<br/><strong>DAY:</strong>December 26th, 2018 | 3:00 PM<br/><strong>LOCATION:</strong>Nerissa's Bank | Pawnhouse Zaisan, The Gate<br/><strong>TAGGING:</strong>Nerissa | Mentions: The Papayo, Albion<br/><strong>EXTRA:</strong><br/><strong>WEARING:</strong>An overly large gray hoodie with a Polkadot Stingray emblem (https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.746250090.2683/ssrco,lightweight_hoodie,mens,grey_lightweight_hoodie,front,square_product,x600-bg,f8f8f8.2u3.jpg), black jeans, and his worn running shoes.<br/><hr/>“I did think about it for a moment. He has the thing I need. He will not give it to me in exchange for money. He plans to give it to someone who outbid you to the point where he wouldn't even consider bargaining with you after you showed him a backpack full of cash and offered him the services of one of the greatest minds in the world. With all this in mind, the only smart thing for us to do is break into his shop, grab the statue, grab the guitar, and get back to SOPHE before the artifact auditors realized I took the haniwa.” There was not a single point of this that sounded peculiar in Toshiro's mind at the moment, and it was only the light but surprisingly cumbersome weight of the fox demoness that prevented Toshiro from executing his master plan.<br/><br/>Smiling slightly what was certainly intended to be a compliment with Nerissa referring to his plan as<em>'bold'</em>, Toshiro became much less enthused with her interjection that was laced with unfortunate and sobering logic. Tilting his head for a moment in genuine consideration of her words, Toshiro had to admit she had a point in how little information the pair had regarding the occupants of Pawnhouse Zaisan, although he had to correct her on a few things in a somewhat exasperated tone, “It could be worth dying for, because I don't know what it is. All I know is that the statue is powerful, and some powerful person who I also don't know wants it.”<br/><br/>Unable to shake Nerissa's surprisingly tenacious grasp loose through the meager strength he could muster and with all the the eloquent pleas of ,”C'mon,” and “Let go!”, Toshiro had to momentarily cease his charge in concession to Nerissa's unbreakable might and titanic will. Sighing in resignation, the defeated scientist continued with lessening irritation, “And I wasn't going to kill anyone with the gun, just... you know, point it all scarily. I pretty much promised Albion I would do everything in my power not to fire a gun again after we had a few... not great lessons.” For a moment Toshiro couldn't help but look to be on the verge of bursting out in laughter before a shadow fell across his features as the pleasant memory now shared an unbreakable link with one less enjoyable. Fortunately, his mind was soon relieved of this burden at Nerissa's unveiling of her arsenal of intriguing bombs.<br/><br/>“Two things Nerissa. One: I've never said anything bad about you, but if I had, I'd take it back. You're a remarkable genius and you deserve the best this world or any other has to offer. Two: You don't always need to be a good fighter if you have nice enough toys and are smart about using them.” Scratching lightly behind Nerissa's ears in approval for a moment, Toshiro held up one glass grenade in each hand towards the thin amount of sun that peeked between the narrow alleyway, one black, and one green, the pain of raising his arms above his head largely lost to fascination. As Nerissa explained their functions, Toshiro's eyes widened in both astonishment and admiration as he rolled them around in his hands in an attempt to understand how they worked. With all traces of previous concern lost to excitement and enthusiasm Toshiro fought off the desire to shatter the glass orbs immediately to see how well they worked before looking towards their creator with newfound respect, “All right, you've convinced me. We'll wait till it gets dark and then storm the place.”<br/><br/>Toshiro wasn't entirely sure how the orbs would come into play with their upcoming attack on Zaisan, but the ability to restrain and conceal had proven themselves to be immeasurably useful qualities to have in prior SOPHE operations, so he had little doubt that he'd and Nerissa would come up with a use for them in the next six or so hours. The remainder of the weaponry was, while potentially useful, less appealing in Toshiro's eyes, “I hope you're a better shot than me, and I really hope you won't get a chance to prove it.” Looking at the stun baton in silent thought for a moment, Toshiro assumed Nerissa had retrieved it from the detention floor armory back at SOPHE HQ, but he hadn't ever seen that particular model used on any of the many occasions that called for uncooperative prisoners to be pacified, “On a good day I'd be a bit more comfortable using that, those batons have saved my life more than a few times when I haven't made the right first impression on a few of the less friendly demons. Hurts like Hell, but I'd take getting zapped over being shot. Still, I'm betting the best way of doing this is to use those vine bombs? Are they thorough enough to keep their targets from making noise?” The implication was potentially unpleasant, but such a feature would be undoubtedly useful.<br/><br/>Taking a seat in Nerissa's car, Toshiro withdrew what appeared to be a palm sized compass with a plastic card similar in size and shape to a credit cart protruding from the side. “I'm not sure if you've seen these before, or at least not this particular model, but this is the answer to your question of whether or not the statue is in the shop.” Lightly rapping on the top of the compass for a moment while reassuringly stating in an almost cloyingly sweet voice, “Good morning little guy, mind giving me a hand with this?” The compass shuddered as if waking from a deep sleep before the needle abruptly began pointing towards the Pawnhouse. Around the glass window of the compass, an array of green lights began to flicker to life from the noon position, to the five o'clock position. Scratching his chin for a moment he gestured towards the lights before explaining, “The more of these flick on, the more the little guy is vibrating inside, the more the little guy vibrates, the closer we are to the item he has a taste for. In this case, the statue. From the looks of it, he's pretty confident the haniwa is in there.”<br/><br/>Without warning Toshiro tossed the compass to Nerissa before digging a small translucent jar of capsules and a can of BOSS Coffee BOSSPRESSO (https://www.napajapan.com/collections/boss-coffee/products/boss-coffee-bosspresso-espresso-blend) out of his messenger bag. Pulling the tab open, he leaned forward and relished in the nostalgic scent before opening the small jar. Placing a single capsule on his tongue, he swallowed it down with a long swig of that bittersweet nectar. Holding the can towards Nerissa in offering he asked conversationally, “So, we have a few hours to burn... Want to get some ramen? Or should we just wait here?” Toshiro's stomach offered up a long and mournful wail in response as he hadn't had anything to eat in all of the excitement of the last twelve hours, but he'd understand if Nerissa didn't want to wander around The Gate, especially with a backpack full of cash.<br/><br/>