Yakuza 0

Chapter three part 2 Interrogating The Homeless

[Kiryu finds a couple of homeless down the street.]

Smelly Homeless Man: Yo, you got word on any good jobs?

Cart-pulling Homeless Man: If I did, I'd be doin' em myself. Speaking of, I hear Saku-san just got back from that gig for Tachibana Real Estate.

Smelly Homeless Man: You serious? Lucky bastard... You think he'd cut me in on some of that if I asked him?

Cart-pulling Homeless Man: Who knows? Can't hurt to ask, I guess. He's probably over at Public Park 3 with his buddies.

Kiryu: (A homeless guy who worked with Tachibana Real Estate might have some info. I'll head to Public Park 3 and check it out.)

[He go to the park.]

Bearded Homeless Man: Gotta love Tachibana Real Estate. I wasn't expecting a sweet little year-end bonus! This calls for a toast, fellas!

Hatted Homeless Man: Yeah! We deserve to forget all the bad crap for one day. Let's live it up!

Kiryu: (Looks like these are the homeless guys Tachibana employed.) I was hoping you guys could answer a few questions. Is this a good time?

Bearded Homeless Man: Huh? Yeah, I don't mind. ...Actually, wait. Sorry. It's too cold. My tongue's frozen stiff.

Kiryu: What?

Bearded Homeless Man: Hmm, if only I had some booze. That'd thaw it right out. If you're that eager to chat, buy us a round. Only fair, right?

Hatted Homeless Man: Ooh, great plan, yeah.

Kiryu: Your tongue seems to be working just fine to me.

Bearded Homeless Man: Mope! It'f mumb. Cam't tawk!

Kiryu: Fine. You'll talk if I bring drinks? Well, first just answer me this. Who out of you has actually done work for Tachibana Real Estate?

[Everyone rises their hands.]

Kiryu: Heh, I see. Then at least it looks like I'll get my money's worth.

Bearded Homeless Man: Oh, and not just ANY booze will do. We get to choose our order, okay? Tongues are tricky like that. If you don't give 'em exactly what they want, they're just no good.

Kiryu: (It's probably quickest to just give them what they want... I'll take their orders and bring what they tell me to.)

Bearded Homeless Man: Me, I'll stick with beer.

Kiryu: Heh, after all that talk, I was expecting fancier.

Bearded Homeless Man: Yeah, well. There's just no beating a beer at the end of a job!

Kiryu: What job?

Bearded Homeless Man: Whoa, you almost got me there. Nope! First the beer. And I got a bottle opener on me, so I don't care if it's a can or a bottle. Whichever works.

Kiryu: (Okay, beer's easy. They sell that pretty much everywhere.)

Hatted Homeless Man: There's nothing like sake to warm you up in winter!

Kiryu: Whoa, whoa. You don't expect me to bring you hot sake, do you? Because that's more than I can promise.

Hatted Homeless Man: Ooh, that'd be amazing. But I'm not that greedy. Room temperature works.

Kiryu: (Sake, huh? They sell that in convenience stores.)

Preachy Homeless Man: For me? Hmmmm... I'm in kind of a sweet potato shochu mood.

Kiryu: ...It has to be potato shochu?

Preachy Homeless Man: What are you, crazy? Sweet potato shochu's the only shochu worth drinking. You one of those kids who only drinks beer? You gotta expand your horizons! You'll never get a woman. When I was a young stud, I'd take gals out, get 'em wasted, and...

Kiryu: Yeah, I don't need to hear any more. (If I check a few different convenience stores, someone's bound to have sweet potato shochu.)

Cheery Homeless Man: Ee hee hee, didn't expect a free drink tonight! Life's just great, I tell ya. Oh, and I'm a whisky hound, thanks.

Kiryu: Whisky? Got it.

Cheery Homeless Man: Oh, and I'm real particular about my whisky. Make sure it's a scotch, would you?

Kiryu: (Hmm, scotch... If I hit a few convenience stores, somebody should have some.)

Quiet Homeless Man: ...Champagne.

Quiet Homeless Man: ...Christmas.

Kiryu: Ahh, yeah. I guess it is that time of year.

Kiryu: (Champagne... They probably have some at Don Quijote.)

[Kiryu finds and buy all booze they need.]

Kiryu: Here's your beer.

Bearded Homeless Man: Ooh, perfect! You're a decent guy for a kid your age!

Kiryu: Here's that champagne. You'll have to ask Santa for the next bottle.

Quiet Homeless Man: ...Merry Christmas.

Kiryu: Here, this one's yours. Scotch.

Cheery Homeless Man: Ooh ho ho! It pays to ask, I guess! Ahhh, tonight's gonna be a fun one!

Kiryu: Here's that sweet potato shochu you've been waiting for.

Preachy Homeless Man: Nice! Now let's induct you into the club of connoisseurs, kid!

Kiryu: Thanks, but I'm not drinking tonight.

Preachy Homeless Man: Whaaat? You got the wrong attitude, kid! When an elder offers you a drink, you drink it! Doesn't matter if you're a featherweight, that's the rules if you want to get ahead! Back when I was a businessman...

Kiryu: The sake you ordered.

Hatted Homeless Man: Ah, beautiful! This is the only stuff that gets me buzzed. You're the best, man!

Bearded Homeless Man: Aaaah! Booze really is the water of life!

Kiryu: Tongue limbering up now?

Bearded Homeless Man: You bet! My whole mouth's nice and warmed up... *hic*!

Kiryu: Should I be worried?

Bearded Homeless Man: I'm fine. I'm fine! ...Not that there's really all that much I can tell you, buddy.

Kiryu: Let's start with the work you've done for Tachibana's firm.

Hatted Homeless Man: Sure. You just go wherever they tell you and camp out for the day. Make a nuisance of yourself. Its easy money. We just finished our shift at one spot today and got paid. Tomorrow it's on to the next place.

Kiryu: You were at the Hakua Building until a little while ago, right? I was there myself.

Bearded Homeless Man: What, you already knew that? Then what else crad you wanna know?

Kiryu: Is it Tachibana's company that reaches out to you for jobs like that, or do you go to them?

Bearded Homeless Man: Yeah, they come to us, same as you did.

Bearded Homeless Man: Sometimes yakuza from the Tojo Clan hire us to do the same thing, They're in the business of chasing people out, too. It's a bull market for us homeless folk these days.

Hatted Homeless Man: And we don't really care if ifs for the yakuza or for Tachibana-san. Anybody wants to pay us, we're there.

Kiryu: Fair enough. One last question: you know where the Tachibana Real Estate guys hang out?

Bearded Homeless Man: Yeah, that'd be the Champion District. I see 'em going in and outta there all the time. That area's a gold mine for land speculators. It's nothin' but tiny bars, all packed tight. If you could chase 'em all out and bundle those properties together, you'd make a killing.

Kiryu: All right. So you think their next target's the Champion District?

Hatted Homeless Man: Pretty sure. Though they're not the only ones. The Tojo Clan's been going after those properties, too. If a yakuza-type like you waltzes in there, all the locals are gonna clam up, though.

Kiryu: I see. Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it. (The Champion District... That may be my ticket to bumping into Tachibana's boys again.)

[Kiryu leaves.]