Red Lady Cigarettes

Chapter 3: Inebriate

He patted out his pants, hands over his lips with a cigar in between huffing smoke. It was the first day of the two supposedly working as a team, and they had to break down the innards of the circumstances before devising out a plan. Touza knocked for the fourth time and there was still no response. Briefly looking on the wristwatch, his precise mind count suggested, and the hands of the clock confirmed that an hour had passed since midnight; since the time he said he'd be knocking at her front door.

Before his fists could knock again he caught a sparse smell of a different smoke which doesn't have quite the odor of the cigar, and saw Shinkiro walking towards the door. "I said I would be here at twelve AM." He complained. She was wearing her gear composed of unusual equipments. A mask, cat ears, and platforms equipped with metal claws mimicking that of an eagle's talons. For someone who works in assassinations alone, Shinkiro surprisingly has too much exposed skin and it defeats the whole point of having armour for protection; or so he thought.

"Well I don't really have the time to calculate how fast I could strangle twenty men. And listen, you need me more than I need you, you're the one wasting my time." Shoving him off of the front door, she fixed the duffel bag hanging by her shoulders and typed the password. The door opened and he was greeted with a luxurious mess. Stacks of cash were stuffed and stashed in the most unusual and usual of places. The vases, ashtrays, tables, open drawers, shelves, and even the couch was filled with money. Shinkiro entered her abode and he followed her tracks. The duffel bag was then emptied to pour out more stacks.

Scanning the area, there is one wall that caught his attention. It was mounted with a map of the city and pinned pictures of high profile villains. Newspaper, business cards, and other paper clippings were attached to those associated with the information. Touza knew some of these people, and they're not simple-minded petty criminals, their pictures were also pinned to their current residences. What piqued Touza's attention was the doodles on their faces, Shinkiro drew cat ears and even a man's genitals over the pictures. "Is this your hit-list?" He asked, stopping by the front of the wall, reading those that caught his attention.

"Those are my potential enemies. I've hurt their ranks so... It wouldn't be new to be cautious around them."

Touza hesitated to ask, but he let his curiosity slip out. "Why is there a man's reproductive organ on 'Mr. Pigface drug-developer's' face?" Pointing out to an old man's picture with fangs and a pink pig nose over it. From what Touza knows about Mr. Pigface, he's a well known drug dealer in the underground selling quirk enhancers.

"He's a dick, that's why."

He then proceeded to ask about the elephant in the room, which was the money.

"Are these fake?"

"No. People say life is priceless, but this is what I get from taking lives." Swiping off of the cash on the couch, she sat and pulled a lighter out. "I had a dream where I was bathing on money, and I am. Kousetsu-san, look at this." A smirk plastered her face as the lady jokingly tried to light up a fire. With each downward stroke of her thumb the lighter sparked from the friction before he walked over and took it from her.

"Are you even sober?"

"I'm not drunk."

"I'm not asking if you're drunk. I'm asking if you're sober." He crossed his arms and scanned the room for any bottle or tracks of substances. "If we're going to do this I need your head to be clear." Removing the crumpled money out of the ashtray, he had almost snuffed out his half finished cigar but her hand reached out to grab the cigarette stick.

"Why are you wasting it? It's halfway done."

"You're burning money and you can't afford to see an unfinished stick wasted?"