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Oyama Yuriko (小山 ゆり子) (yuriko_o) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-05-12 20:41:00

Who: Yuriko and Logan
What: Talking about responsible things. And hot people.
When: 5/11, just before the wedding goes pearshaped.
Where: A steakhouse in Santa Ana
Rating: PG for talking about the sex industry
Status: Complete



Logan was waiting for Yuriko for lunch. He’d already ordered beer and some appetizers, figuring the latter would arrive when she showed up. He was really curious what she might have been talking about, and he wanted to grill her about that guy.

Yuriko had been planning and drawing up notes on her idea, including a financial plan, uniforms, anything and everything she could think of. She was even excited to discuss this under her father’s nose. It was his fault that she hadn’t done much up until now, after all. Or at least she felt that way.

She walked into their lunch spot, asking after Logan and being directed to a table. She’d covered the scars the best she could, but the dark, heavy lines were still visible. Unfortunately, she was getting used to them. “Hello, Logan.”

He gave Yuriko a smile and gestured at the seat in front of him. "Appetizer should be here soon. Glad to know you're still punctual." He waited for Yuri to get comfortable.

She sat down across from him, smiling a little. “I tried. How are you? You look extremely well.”

“Doin’ good.” He couldn’t help but admit that. Things were going good with Vel, he was gonna have two kids, Neena was getting a lot better and her man passed muster.

“Good. You look it.” Yuriko ordered a beer, light and frothy. “Things are calmer now?”

“Much calmer. Creed is taken care of. We can all rest a little easier. House huntin’ with Vel now.” He took a sip of his beer as a sampler tray arrived.

“With her?” Yuriko chuckled. “Truly? I would not have thought you would get so close.” She had to be honest.

“Me neither. But she puts up with my shit.” Which was important to Logan. Putting up with his shit. “Vel’s shit I can put up with too. She’s....really somethin’.”

“I’m glad.” Yuriko sat back, crossing her legs, smiling. “Truly, I’m glad. If there is anything I can do in the future to help protect that, please tell me.” Her jaw set, even as she looked pleasant. “I will not become what you see in dreams.”

“I believe you. Specially if you got a special somebody you wanna tell me about, Yuriko.” He grinned at her as he picked up the menu to order his entree.

Yuriko rolled her eyes. “I have had one date with a man, and I have another tonight. That hardly counts as a ‘special somebody’, Logan-kun. I actually wanted to talk mostly about business today.” Though she was fairly sure that wouldn’t actually work out that way.

“You’ve had two dates with the same guy in as many days, practically. You walked in here with a sway to your hips and this glint in your eye like you just won a lottery.”

“I asked him home the first time. The second time he asked me to dinner.” Yuriko raised an eyebrow, amused. “Shall I tell your lady friend you are jealous over きずもの?” It was a Japanese expression meaning ‘damaged goods’.

"You asked him home?" He raised his eyebrow, then popped an appetizer into his mouth. That was amusing to him. "You ain't damaged goods, darlin'." He just hoped this guy wasn't taking advantage. Yuriko was in a vulnerable place with her scars.

“I did. And I was sure I wanted to.” Yuriko shrugged. “We were speaking for hours before I offered. And don’t be silly, of course I am.” No one would have her with these scars, or with her father as he was. To say nothing of having the dreams in the first place. It wasn’t something to mourn, just something that was now a fact. Turin was an enjoyable diversion, but she didn’t expect him to be anything more.

"You're not." He sighed, but decided that he wouldn't win that argument. "So tell me about this business idea."

“I was in a tea shop the other day and the counter girl had worked before as a stripper.” Yuriko replied, breaking off to thank the server when her beer arrived, ordering food. “She said that in this country, the closest you will find to a hostess club is a strip club - where the ladies do not engage in sexual acts, but can talk to men and let them vent. Was she correct?”

Logan blinked, then nodded his head. “Yeah, pretty much. It’s still a lot more sexually oriented. Lotta guys just wanna watch a girl dance or have her dance in their laps. Or their girlfriend’s lap. Some places do the sex under the table. You ain’t thinkin’ of strippin’ are you?”

“Oh, no. I was thinking of opening a burlesque-type club.” Yuriko replied. “A bit classier, but still a place where sexually liberated women can take their pick of the men who wish to patronize them.” She grinned. “I am better nowadays as a mama-san. But too many women in the mizu shobai” - the sex trade, basically - “are abandoned or left with no protections. I would enjoy seeing any stuffed-shirt buta try to cross one of my girls.”

"Burlesque? Saw a couple shows in Vegas. Real classy, real sexy, real tasteful. A club like that would be a lotta fun." He could picture Vel at one. Might be a good outlet for Laura too. "That's one way to take out the aggression." He smirked.

“It is similar to a strip club. But also to a hostess club. Shows, et cetera. And afterward, it’s like a good sit-down party.” Yuriko smiled. “I think it makes good sense.”

"Seems like it might be a lot of fun. Is that what you want to do?" He raised his eyebrow at her. Logan could think of a half-dozen neighborhoods where a place like that would do well, all of them high end and classy. He hoped she'd let him help her. He felt like he owed her that much.

“Yes. Eventually. When my money is mine.” Yuriko looked over at him. “I know it sounds very bad ... but honestly, Father sees me as a maid.” Her tone grew slightly bitter. “Is it remarkable that I cease to think of him as a father and more about my life once he is gone?”

“Not really, Yuriko. I think you need to look forward, rather than backwards. I think you need to start thinkin’ about this shit right now. If you want, I can give you a loan. Won’t even be high interest. Feel like I owe you in a lotta ways.” Logan was one hundred percent serious, and he framed it like a loan knowing she couldn’t view that as a hand out.

Yuriko’s eyebrows shot up. “Owe me? Why would you owe me, Logan?” What in the world had she done for him to be that grateful?

“You gave us a place to hide out. An’ I feel like I owe you for everything that happened when we were together. I know that didn’t help your relationship with your father.” He smirked. “It ain’t like I won’t want my money back.”

“I wanted to save your life, if at all possible.” Yuriko raised an eyebrow. “And you don’t owe me for my father being racist. If you want to help me, I will accept a loan” - a loan, not a gift - “but you don’t owe me anything.”

“I still wanna help out. The idea intrigues me an’ I got more money than I know what to do with. 3% interest, an’ the interest will all go to a charity.” He raised an eyebrow at her.

That was hard to turn down. Yuriko sighed. “In theory, I never want to go into business with friends or lovers, but the alternative is waiting like a vulture for my father to die. So, with the terms you just stated, I accept.”

“We’ll draw somethin’ up, get a lawyer to make it legit.” Logan smiled at her. “Figure out how much you need first, of course. You’ll want the right kinda buildin’ an’ those can get pricey. But you do this right you’ll be set, an’ helpin’ people at the same time.”

“Agreed.” Yuriko’s food came, and she began to eat, speaking between bites. “I have worked with enough potential business owners at the immigrant centre to know how to draw up a prospectus. I will do that and then go from there.” She chuckled. “Helping and protecting people gives my life meaning. But I also approve of the right of ladies to have the same rights as men - to meet people, to have a good time, and to choose their own paths without guilt or judgment.”

Logan nodded his head. He generally agreed with that, but mostly, seeing her happy and not going all Lady Deathstrike on people? Was worth the potential loss. "Should do an amateur night." He grinned.

That got a laugh from Yuriko. “Oh, that’s why the idea intrigues you. Is your lady friend a dancer, by any chance?”

“Vel is, yeah.” Logan grinned. He had that stupid grin of a man in love.

Yuriko sighed indulgently. “Perhaps I can speak with her to surprise you once the place is running. You are very transparent sometimes, Logan-kun.” Her tone was fond, though.

Logan laughed. “I don’ really want to interfere. It’s your place. But it might be nice to watch. I really...she’s really somethin’.” Those words again.

“At the risk of sounding overbearing, I hope you have told her that once or twice.” He would never be the sort to say it constantly, but every woman needed to hear it every so often. Yuriko smiled. “Is she like you, may I ask?” Did she have special gifts? Or did she need more looking after?

“I have..probably when either of us wasn’t expectin’ it.” Logan looked down at his drink, reflecting on his life. “She ain’t like us. No gifts, but she’s..strong-willed. She’s learnin’ to fight.”

Yuriko nodded. “I had to ask. Though I have no ‘gifts’ like you have right now.” She frankly hoped she didn’t get any. “Logan? ... How do you live with yours?”

Logan lifted his head, so he could look in her in the eyes. “Depends on which. Once I..accepted the claws, I just look at them as an extension of my body. As tools, an’ not just weapons. An’ the healin’ just means I can help people an’ not worry about myself. Vel don’ have to worry about tearin’ me up.”

That made more sense. Yuriko nodded, looking down a little. “Tools are obviously much easier to live with than weapons. I hope, should it come to that, that I can reach that mindset.” She was very afraid of the dreams, despite her tough talk; she didn’t want to lose herself in whatever that Yuriko had become.

She smiled, trying to deflect a bit. “That sort of thing is why I don’t think that Turin will be anything long-term, so you have no reason to threaten him. Even if he was, he seems a very kind soul. Sad, somehow.”

“I’ll still give him the talk.” Logan smirked at her. “If he lasts longer than a few dates. Don’t discount it, but yeah..don’t get your hopes up.” He thought that Yuriko was very sad, too.

“I will enjoy my time seeing him while it lasts.” Yuriko didn’t really see a point in living any other way. Life had taught her to take her pleasures as they came. Both literally and otherwise.

“Just be happy,” Logan replied, eyeing her with a bit of that old passion he’d had for her.

“It’s difficult for me to remember doing that, which is why I wish to do it now.” Yuriko smiled back. “You should do the same thing, but you seem to be doing so already. I would like to meet your lady friend, if your time together lasts. I would like to see this woman who is able to put a smile on your face.”

“Hopin’ the time lasts...” Logan was cautiously optimistic. Maybe more so than Vel. Certainly a lot more so than he usually was. He could make things different, he wasn’t going to expect failure or death and ruin just because that had always happened to him.

“Did you not say that is all you can do?” Yuriko smiled, sitting back from her plate. Something did occur to her, though, and she had to ask. “There may be one more thing I can do for you, since I am native Japanese.” She had to be cautious and diplomatic. “Could I perhaps try to speak to the temple representative, or the cemetery porter, out in Numata? Perhaps they can at least fix the gravesites that you told me were defiled.” Cemeteries often used other bone chips or skeletal material as a stand-in when no bodies were available. It had happened in the case of many bodies stolen by the recent tsunami. And the temple would speak more readily to a Japanese person than a gaijin.

The look on Logan's face was hard to describe. Touched, heartbroken, grateful, and even a little shocked. His throat worked, but the words couldn't come. It got incredibly dusty in that cafe...

He finally nodded his head.

She took his hand, squeezing gently. “Logan-kun. It is as much a kindness to them as it is to you. I know that if my mother’s grave had been dug up and defiled? I would feel sick. Not ... whole. You are one of my best friends. If I can help, I wish to.” She could at least call and explain the situation, and tell them to be kind to her gaijin friend. “They deserve rest, and you deserve to know they are taken care of.” Part of his soul wouldn’t let it go until he could.

Logan’s voice was thick and choked. “Thank you, Yuriko-chan. That means a great deal to me.”

“Dō itashimashite.” Yuriko’s eyes were a bit filmy as well. “I was going to say now we are square, but you have an irritating habit of feeling beholden. So I suppose we will trade favors until eternity is upon us.” She smiled, wiping her eyes.

Logan took her hand and squeezed it. “Not a bad way to be, you know. Really glad you’re goin’ to pursue somethin’ you wanna do, too.”

“I’m very excited.” Yuriko couldn’t stop smiling. “And I will consult a lawyer very soon. I deserve better than being an angry old man’s maid.”

“Yeah.” He raised his glass to toast her, before his phone beeped. He took a look at it and snorted. “I might need to leave a little early.”

“Oh? Is something wrong?” Yuriko raised an eyebrow. It was never easy to pinpoint if Logan was amused or annoyed.

“Just gettin’ a page. Somethin’ about Stark’s wedding being attacked.” Logan got to his feet. “Orcs or oni or somethin’.”

Yuriko’s eyes went wide. “Orcs? Like in Rōdo obu za ringu?” She made shooing motions. “Is there someplace civilians should go? Or is it contained, did they tell you?”

"Yeah, exactly like that." Logan nodded, throwing some cash on the table to cover the meal. "They've got it contained for now but they need more help."

Yuriko bobbed her head. “Still, I will turn on the news.” She shooed him again. “Go, go. We can speak later when I have news for you. Be careful, ne?”

“I always am.” Logan kissed her cheek, and headed out.