"This is ridiculous, Leonardo-san!"
The open perplexity in the rabbit's countenance is a rare sight for the almost-always stoic ronin. Garbed in luxurious silks and delicate ornaments, rose hued eyes flashed hotly at the mutant turtle before him.
"Trust me, Usagi! I have a plan!" Said turtle reassured, intent to placate the other with his full confidence, "Do you want my help or not??"
"When I went to you asking for your aid in shinobi skills, this is not what I have in mind," Usagi answered, white fur still bristling. He looked and felt ridiculous.
Unperturbed, Leonardo lazily planted his blue-gloved hands on his odachi, his ticket to travel between their worlds. Decided to distract his friend from his anger, he asked, "This latest... client of yours. Tell me about them."
"They are a tiger clan, Hakutora, whose daughter was abducted from them as a child. After years of searching, they have located her in one of the okiyas under Lord Hikiji's management. I am to infiltrate this okiya to retrieve and return her to her family."
"Is your samurai pride more precious to you than having this poor girl reunited with her kin?"
Subdued, the mammal averted his eyes before finally responding "...No."
"Now, I will bring you to the okiya, with which I have already made arrangements to deliver to them 1 geisha, you, for their consideration to purchase. I need you to bring your best rabbit's foot forward for you to get in, case the place, and find her," waving his huge sword with a flourish, Leo continued, "Once found I will teleport to your side and get us all out," lifting Usagi's chin with a green finger, he grinned as their eyes met, "Easy-peasy."
"You're the ninja, you should be the one suffering this indignity," the rabbit muttered, swatting the turtle's hand as he turned away, "Allowing me to focus on protecting you."
"Turtles are rare in your world! I would attract too much attention, and in turn suspicion," the mutant gripped his paw and pulled him close, "It has to be you, and I'll be the one doing the protecting," Nardo said softly as he bent down to rub against the soft fur.
Usagi closed his eyes with a resigned sigh. He swore he will never be sure if the fates have blessed him or played a cruel joke when this turtle literally dropped down from a glowing mystical portal above to land on the grass before his waraji-sandaled feet. The strange visitor joined him is his travels and adventures since, when friendship developed into something more as trust grew between them, borne out of loneliness and mutual respect in each others' impressive skills and sincere drive to do what's right. On Usagi's part, mostly. Kami knows the turtle confounded him on a regular basis with how much mischief and unpredictability resided within his shell.
"Yanno, when you're not looking at me with murder in your eyes, you look pretty damn hot," Leo drawled, "Heck, I'm lovin' the look despite of it!" he exclaimed with a laugh.
The ronin frowned and rolled his eyes, "I know that look, Leonardo-san," biting words with forced politeness, "This is not the time to attempt at any seduction. We need be on our way!" Usagi said with a finality as he gathered his silks and made his way out of the inn and into the carriage.
Leo could only chuckle as he followed to take his place on the driver's seat. Watching every head turn towards Usagi walking away in a huff, he couldn't help but be proud of his handiwork, the admiring looks from everyone not escaping his notice.
The original plan was to walk from the inn to the okiya, parading this beauty to make a splash, but Usagi put his foot down, reiterating that this is a covert operation and must avoid attention wherever possible.
When the cost of the horse drawn carriage was brought up, the ronin immediately secured one out of his own pocket, and that's that.
They pulled up to their destination soon enough, with Leonardo hopping off his seat to make his way around and assist the lovely geisha to the entrance. There the oka-san stood waiting as Leo straightened his haori over the blue kimono to formally present Usagi with a flourish.
"You call this a geisha? She obviously lacks training, a maiko at best!" the older woman sniffed, feline ears twitching in annoyance. "I will pay half our agreed price for trying to pass off this graceless wench for a full-fledged geisha."
Usagi stiffened at her words, to which Leo raised an arm before him, smiling wider, "But just look at her! You gotta admit she's a rare beauty. And she learns fast," the turtle argued.
"Well she needs to learn to hold herself with dignity for starters. I'll have my hands full just training out that insolence in her eyes. Half price. Mind that I am being generous here as I could easily have you both beaten and ran out of my teahouse instead."
With an exaggerated sigh he ran a three fingered palm down his red striped face, "Ugh, fine! This is daylight robbery but whatever," he shrugged with a practiced display of exasperation as he accepted the payment.
Inwardly he was thankful he got the rabbit in anyhow. Would it kill the samurai to keep a neutral face?? Instead, his 'geisha' held the mother-of-all RBFs on his white downy countenance since this all started. With one last look at Mr. Resting Bitch Face he thought 'It's up to you now.' Praying Usagi finds their target quickly, he turned and walked out of the wall-manicured grounds.
