A tip of the hat and a rolling head.

[Mai Kobayashi]

These streets were dark at night, that might seem like an obvious statement But as her feet thundered down the steps of circular stone brickwork it became apparent that the tall buildings were built so close to one another in so chaotic a pattern that it left these backstreets encased by high walls on either side. This draped the very narrow street in a blanket of night and even deeper smothering shadows. The moon was only just peeking out from behind a carpet of wispy clouds and a drizzle of depressing rain lay like a smothering blanket over the still rather warm air. It was one of those warm summer rains that did not offer any relief from the day's heat.

Water soaked her socks and her sandals urgently clacked through puddles that had pooled in the uneven, worn-down centers of these old steps. The large silver-skinned Fishman was breathing audibly as she rushed down the street in reckless pursuit of a man that was running for dear life. His heavy boots clattered as he nearly broke his neck rushing down the stairs ahead of her. He was making a break for it in the most vexing way possible. Why did every single one always have to run away? She sighed to herself as she held a hand above her narrowed yellowed eyes, trying to keep her, by now thoroughly soaked, bangs from making it even harder to see where her prey was running to in the darkness.

He nearly fell down 3 steps as he was still heading further down the alley, past an old decrepit bar. The sign outside was faded so much she could not read in the darkness. She jumped the steps he had so clumsily stumbled down and her hand brushed his shoulder. The webbed fingers slid from his soaked-through leather jacket as she almost caught him and then he turned on a dime, darting into a side alley probably in an attempt to shake off his just as determined pursuer.

Her hand slipping off his shoulder had caused her to take a misstep. Her sandals did not offer enough purchase on the rain-slick stone street and her foot slid away in a puddle of rain causing her to stumble in the middle of her run. Tumbling down another set of small stairs She came to an embarrassing halt having stormed passed the entrance to the alley he just dove into and tumbled straight into a pile of rubbish left on the side of the street.*Floowp* It sounded wetly before she pursed her lips to blow aside a piece of cardboard from a soggy box that had fallen down on top of her head as she took a spill into the pile. She rolled her eyes before she yelled in frustration as the man had slipped out of sight but she could still hear the sound of his boots dying down the alley.

"Neh! Just give up! I'm getting angry! Your bounty isn't big enough you want to make me get serious for it you know! "

[Jade]

The bald man nearly jumped out of his skin as the hand came down on his jacket, which for once actually worked out - the extra adrenaline coursing through his system gave him the extra boost he needed to evade capture, and then hand failed to find purchase. But he didn't dare, nay, couldn't dare to look back to see if he had managed to lose his pursuer, even as he heard her stumbling behind him.

His breathing was heavy as he barreled down another back alley, heavy boots pounding out an erratic rhythm that was trying to carry him far, fast, away from the woman pursuing him. "Damn," he spat out with an exhale - but the gasp for air that should have followed didn't as he suddenly found what little wind was in his system knocked clean out after an unexpected collision. He hit the cobble street hard, splashing into a shallow puddle, his world nearly going black from lack of oxygen in combination with the force of an impact.

He never got a chance to properly look at what he had run into before a muffled bang! made sure he would never take another breath again.

Zora sighed as the man's now-lifeless body slumped into the puddle. The small silenced pistol in her hand was slipped inside her suit jacket, and gone a moment later - too short a time to be properly holstered. "Couldn't have picked a better spot, could we...?" she groaned as she stepped forward, grabbing the body of her target by the front of shirt. The body dripped as it was lifted, crimson blood mixed with the water that had been pooling from the rain still pouring down.

At least the weather would take of the clean up from her being a little lazy - a silver lining to having to deal with the corpse's partially-soaked clothes.

[Mai Kobayashi]

The other remains of a soaked cardboard box were roughly tossed aside as the Fishman clambered out from amidst the pile of trash bags and got back up to her feet amidst the ever-persistent drizzle. Her sharp teeth made a harsh saw-like noise as they were ground together in frustration as she clambered back up the steps and set back of into a run. She had hoped to still see his back rushing away in the distance as she turned into the alley but as the footfalls of his boots had died down her hope for that was dwindling rapidly.

To her surprise then she ended up staring back at her bounty's leather jacket-clad back.

Bang

Water was pouring down her hair and across her face, wide with shock and disbelief. Her eyes were bulging wide open as she stared at the man sinking into a crumpled heap as if in slow motion. The body made a dull thud into the pool of water and crimson essence staining the stone below as it mixed into the rainwater and washed away like so much filth.

For a moment all she could do was stare at the now corpse as hundreds of thoughts fought for supremacy in her mind. Then, when the killer bend forwards and picked the body up by its collar her eyes snapped into focus at the person standing over the lifeless body. Her eyes lingered for a moment on the hat, before being drawn to the tiny droplets of red dripping into the pool beneath the bounty she was after not a moment ago. For a moment she shivered.

Then, regaining her composure, she raised her fists in a defensive position. The wanted posters did say dead or alive after all but... was this another bounty hunter then? she wondered for a moment.

"Uwaah... that bounty was only a few thousand Berry... isn't it majorly messed up to kill someone for that little...?"

[Jade]

Zora tilted her head up so that she could see the newcomer on the scene past the brim of her top hat - a fishman woman, quite a bit taller than herself. "Pretty far from the brine, aren't you?" she said in lieu of an actual answer to the woman's question. She hoisted the body in her hand up like a sack of grain, resting the literally dead weight on her shoulder as she considered the woman before her.

The simplest solution, of course, would be to just leave. There was little threat of this woman blabbing - and it wasn't as if it were illegal for a Cipher Pol agent to engage in a little bounty hunting on the side, in their free time. A little extra cash in one's pocket was a reasonable enough thing to go after, if one had the ability to make it happen.

But... "Consider it the principle of the thing. One less stain on society to worry about running around, causing everyone a headache until someone finally catches him," she explained coolly, and then raised the shoulder supporting the body such that it was jostled, ideally catching the fishwoman's attention. "Though it sounds like I stole your payday. I got what I came here for - you can have the body and the bounty, if that's what you're after."

[Mai Kobayashi]

"Wow.. That's sorta rude and racist don't you think? "

She blinked, it was sort of surreal to be arguing politeness with someone who just killed a man in front of you but at the same time what was that even supposed to mean!? Far from the ocean? What was she supposed to tell every human she met on a boat on the ocean they were kinda far from land now!? It was just kind of senseless she thought. She slouched her shoulders down ever so slightly. If she had eyebrows they would be narrowed now for sure. Instead, the lanky, silver-skinned, woman's eyes narrowed in quite a literal fashion as she just looked rather disapprovingly with her lips pouted and everything!

There was a comment about how best to deal with criminals aimed her way. Not an unfamiliar one, mind. Slay. Evil. Instantly. was it? She never really agreed with the sentiment of such absolute justice herself but she also couldn't really argue that it brought results. But, that did NOT mean she had to agree with that line of thinking either.

"You.. have no mercy at all huh..? That's kind of scary you know... Just going around killing people for the small stuff is just messed up and kinda scary if I'm honest... "

She sighed and ran a hand through her waterlogged locks rubbing her temple in a sign of conflicted frustration. At least this woman was courteous enough to offer her the reward. And after chasing this baldie halfway around town and even ending up in a thrash pile she deserved that bounty! But... She threw another glance at the corpse and then back at the woman as her expression hardened.

"I....was after the bounty before... but... I really don't want to bring in a corpse for a few thousand Berry as a Fishman... People already have a low opinion of me..."

[Jade]

The two women made quite the sight, chattering on in the warm rain, in some dingy back alley, one carrying a man's body on her shoulder. Zora reflected on that thought as the fishwoman prattled on about how she personally found it frightening that someone could go around snuffing out lives for so-called "small stuff".

"I don't really want to bring in a corpse for a few thousand beri..."

"Then don't," Zora said, her tone flat and dispassionate. "It makes no difference to me."

She stood there for a moment, looking up to stare the bigger woman in the eye. The brim of her top hat kept the rain out of her face, but the pitter-patter was still a pain - Zora was already eager to get back to her hotel room and change out of her damp, teetering on soaked, clothes and into something more comfortable to unwind before falling asleep. But she didn't move, not yet. Not while this unknown figure was still here. She had, after all, taken the woman's payday, and bounty hunters weren't exactly known for being the most reasonable actors, especially when it came to matters of money.

Though the woman wasn't exactly your standard Blues bounty hunter fare, either. A fishman was strange enough to see running around the streets of an island like the Polestar archipelago, but to hear her bemoan the loss of life... One would almost think she were wet behind the ears, and not in the literal sense. "... What kind of bounty hunter is so fussed with the value of a criminal's life, anyway? He was looking at a swift execution, at best, if you turned him in to the Marines." A fate that he'd met anyway for spitting in the face of her benefactor's so-called benevolence, at least according to the man himself - hence her arrival on the scene - but no matter.

[Mai Kobayashi]

"Eh... It's not like I'm a bounty hunter because I like killing or anything... I'm just a traveling swordsman! Just... getting a normal job while looking like this is hard and I have to eat too!"

She folded her arms together and puffed up her cheeks in a huff. A purple-colored blush tinged her cheeks as the Fishman seemingly took offense to the implication of being called a bounty hunter. What was with this person being so... so utterly vexing! Wasn't she a bounty hunter herself? No, probably she had some other circumstances herself. Nobody was ever just any one thing. What did they call it again when you went off your own ideas like that, stereotyping maybe? Right right...

A sigh escaped between the lips of the barracuda girl as she threw up her hands defensively and in denial of the plain accusation that she was only gonna get bounty heads killed indirectly. It wasn't that simple, was it? It wasn't supposed to be at least...

"I'm not a judge or an executioner either, we have laws and courts and impel down and other prisons exist. Not every bounty is just gonna get executed and even if they are it's not my place to decide that. If I turn them into the Marines it's their job to make sure Justice is carried out right."

She took another look over the other woman. Well, getting her hair in her eyes was annoying but it was obvious being out in the rain would bother the Fishman a lot less than it would someone trying to protect a large tophat from getting waterlogged, right? But her words did raise questions and Shiromi definitely wasn't the type to keep her thoughts close to heart. Rather she wore her heart on her sleeve so to speak and just blurted out the thoughts that came to mind;

"But then. If you aren't here to collect the bounty... why did you kill him? Could it be... you are just a criminal?! A regular killer!?"

She blinked once. before pointing at herself with a sheepish look of seeming comprehension on her face as she drew her conclusion from that fact.

"Ahh... does that make me a witness?"

[Jade]

"Laws, courts, prisons - yes, they all exist. But his fate was sealed the minute his face was printed with a value and the words 'Wanted Dead or Alive'," Zora answered. "The only difference between you or I killing him and the Marines killing him is a guarantee that his end would be immediate, rather than dragged out while he rotted in some prison. He was a walking corpse the moment he ran afoul of the World Government, and now," she bumped the body up with a movement of her shoulder, "the only difference is that, now, he's not walking around."

The consistent pitter-patter of the rain was the only thing that filled the silence that followed, while the fishwoman started running some sort of calculation about the scene she'd run into. Zora kept her cool, standing there and staring up at the other woman as she suddenly started spouting accusations. A criminal? A regular killer?

The conclusion she drew was the first thing that broke Zora's facade - a smirk tugged at the edge of her mouth at the same time as she let out a short half-exhale, half-chuckle. "A witness? In the sense that you witnessed a concerned citizen terminate a criminal deemed too dangerous to let walk. Now, wandering swordsman who isn't a bounty hunter, profiting off of the doomed lives to make the beri she needs to keep herself going..." she took a step forward, closing what little distance was between them.

It was definitely a dangerous move, but there were plenty of places to escape beyond where this woman could follow her. The situation was, as far as Zora was concerned, already solved - the complication of someone seeing what she'd done was a small wrinkle, but nothing more than that. But it was only the one step, though her eyes never left Shiromi's face.

"Are you planning on causing a scene? Because I'd certainly appreciate being able to get out of the rain."

[Mai Kobayashi]

"No. I'm not going to."

She held up both hands and waved them in front of her in a manner that distinctly deflected the question. She wasn't going to make a scene. There was no point to it now either way. She didn't want to drag a corpse into the nearest marine base with her face. They were usually suspicious enough of her motivations as a Fishman even if she brought a bounty in alive. On top of that, it stung her pride a little having to rely on a handout like this. If someone treated you to food that was one thing but like this, it felt both a little morbid and like she would be taking credit for someone else's work. She looked down at the dead body with a last doubtful look. Her stomach grumbled but her conviction here was clear as day.... even if it was night and all!

"I might not agree with your reasoning, but you are right about one thing. You haven't broken the law so it would be unreasonable for me to get offended on that guy's behalf or because it doesn't sit right with my moral code when it doesn't involve me anymore."

She sighed and raised both hands is a blatant shrug before putting her hand in the back of her neck and rubbing it as she continued;

"Frustrating as it may be, I lost my target and someone else got there first. And as cold as you seem about this outcome... it doesn't seem like you intend to escalate if I don't. It is not my style to get worked up and get into a meaningless fight."

She took a step backward and to the side of the alleyway making a motion with her hand toward the stairs from which she had come. As if to say; the way is clear.

"I won't get in your way... It would be nice to be out of the rain."

[Jade]

The fishman woman relented, and Zora made an effort to put on a smile. She dipped her head, letting the brim of her hat break the eye contact, in what amounted to a very slight bow. "Well, I do appreciate that, miss." Did she? The thought of having an actual fight to get the blood pumping held some appeal...

She stepped past Shiromi, making a point to take the path the other woman had so graciously opened up. Once she was three steps past her, though, Zora stopped and glanced over the shoulder that wasn't occupied by a body. "... Tell you what. I don't really need the beri, and I think we could both use a pick-me-up after such a dreary and disappointing night. Where were you planning on spending your earnings tonight?" She hadn't missed the way the woman's stomach had grumbled - and stopping in somewhere for food didn't sound so bad, as long as she could change into some dry clothes first. "I hear they have some pretty good lamb and mutton dishes around here."

[Mai Kobayashi]

"Ahh... it isn't Miss. It's Shiromi!"

She pointed at herself with her thumb and puffed out her chest proudly, seemingly taking the way the tophat-wearing assassin had used 'miss' to address her as an invitation to introduce herself. Even so, where normally she would append that her friends could call her Shiro for short she left it off this time. As friendly as she acted, and given the nature of how they met she was acting pretty naively friendly at that, she still seemed a bit reserved in her interactions here.

It wasn't until Zora halted and offered to treat her that her eyes went wide and starry-eyed and she raised a finger as she put her other hand on her hip. She relayed her plans for the money she now obviously didn't have with the air of someone offering up a very important and very secret bit of info.

"Neh.. Neh! Listen! About that... well to tell you the truth. It seems that the local fishermen beached a young adult kappa whale that strayed down from Reverse mountain. It has been years since I ate any food from the grand line. But they are selling the prime underbelly cut for 20.000 beri a pound. I was planning to use the reward money to buy some and make sashimi or have some Hari-hari nabe"

A small drop of saliva had pooled at the edge of her mouth as she thought about the sort of food from her childhood. It was nostalgic just thinking back on her father's cooking.

"Ehh.. but I guess Mutton or Lamb or sweets or anything will do if you treating me. It would be rude to be picky at this point! "

[Jade]

"It's Shiromi!"

"Mm." Zora acknowledged the misguided correction with an upward tilt of her head. "Miss Shiromi, then, sure."

Offering food definitely seemed to have flipped a switch in the not-bounty hunter - where she'd seemed apprehensive (and liable to talk) before, now she was like a kid being promised candy, talking nearly a mile a minute as she conveyed the plans she'd had for the beri she would've made from taking the man on Zora's shoulder in. And she was... Actively drooling, thinking about the seafood.

"Well, it's not like I'm picky. I figured a restaurant with indoor seating might be appreciated, though, unless the rain starts to let up." Zora held her empty palm up and out, letting the warm drizzle from above patter against her skin. "If you want seafood, I'm sure we can find a place - plenty of fresh and exotic fish in the water so close to Reverse Mountain. Just pick a place, and I'll meet up with you after I've dealt with..." She raised the shoulder carrying the dead weight again, drawing attention to the body in lieu of actually saying it aloud.

[Mai Kobayashi]

"Ohh! I guess that would be easier, wouldn't it..? Well I'm staying at a small inn called the Seaside Inn near the harbor district. It would probably be easier to meet up there then I guess? I can put on some fresh clothes too. It's rare for rains to last very long here, these islands don't really get storms much... probably. "

She scratched the side of her cheek as she looked down towards the ground. It was easier to not feel conflicted if she wasn't looking directly at the corpse hoisted over her shoulder. She was of course aware the world wasn't quite so kind but it still made her feel ill at ease how differently they thought about these things. On the other hand... she was flat broke and the thought of a free meal was making it so her protesting stomach was rapidly overcoming her moral conundrum.

"We can probably find a nice restaurant around there too. If it's seafood usually the best and freshest you will get is near where it gets brought ashore after all!"

She offered the woman an awkward and very toothy smile and a thumbs up before staring up at the sky and sighing.

"At least I hope it will stop raining soon..."

[Jade]

"Seaside Inn," Zora echoed. She wasn't familiar with the location specifically, but it likely wouldn't be too difficult to find, especially if she asked around. Meeting at a location prior to their final destination would be a pain, since she wouldn't be able to take her special short cut to avoid the rain... But nothing that grabbing an umbrella couldn't mitigate. "Very well. I'll head over there just as soon as I finish with my business. I won't keep you waiting long."

With that, Zora turned back to face forward and strode forward up the alley, taking the stairs two at a time, and then rounded the corner - but, as she moved swiftly to break Shiromi's line of sight on her, not onto the adjoining street. Where a woman and the body she had been carrying had been one moment, they had vanished without a trace the next.

---

Roughly forty-five minutes later, Zora found herself advancing toward the "Seaside Inn" - a smallish place, removed from some of the more prime pieces of real estate around Loguetown's harbor district, but not a bad spot. The rain had shown no signs of letting up, so after a stop at her own hotel room to change into a set of fresh and, more importantly, dry clothes near identical to the outfit she'd been wearing when she bumped into the bounty hunter fishman woman before, she'd made a stop to acquire an umbrella after all. The late hour meant that there were few people on the street, but the subdued bustle of a living world made for a refreshing change of pace from operating in that muted world all of the time all the same.

She didn't duck into the Seaside Inn, however, and opted instead to stand across the street from its front entrance. Zora knew she was right on time, just as she said she'd be; if Shiromi decided not to show, then that was the not-bounty hunter's fault for missing out on a free meal.

[Mai Kobayashi]

The Fishwoman did not keep Zora waiting for too long, at most a minute had passed while she was waiting across the street, before a tall silvery skinned figure came running out of the Inn. In contrast to the nearly identical outfit that the tophat-wearing woman had donned however, Shiromi had taken the opportunity to switch to a more locally sourced seeming outfit.

She was now wearing a pair of shorts in a bright pink hue over a pair of black knee socks with a purple diamond pattern on them. Her feet were draped in a pair of heavy black leather boots which laced up to about halfway up her shins. A thick leather belt, from which her sword loosely hung slung behind her, separated her shorts from a strapless top that left her shoulders and gills exposed by having a single piece of cloth overtop that served as both sleeves and neckline in a matching diamond pattern to the socks and a bright pink scarf was tied around her hair at the back to keep most of it pulled back save for a single asymmetrical curtain bang covering her left eye.

She was hoisting a massive umbrella over her shoulder as she came running up through the rain that had yet to let up in the slightest and squeezed herself under the overhanging entranceway of the building where Zora had taken shelter and greeted her with a small wave. Up close it was easy to tell she even replaced her Earrings and was wearing a lace bracelet with a single pink rose attached to it to her wrist. She had clearly dressed up for the occasion.

"I made you wait, sorry! I didn't see you out here at first. I was kind of thinking you were gonna bail on the food honestly... "