Crushing some dreams (Tsubori^2)

Taking a long glare, Kasumi watched this new girl rehearse. It wasn't even one of her own shows that she was rehearsing for, the zora had just been passing by the theater at the time. This new girl was a Hylian, probably nineteen or so. How she'd gotten to the domain and why she'd decided to stay didn't concern Kasumi much. What concerned her was that she was getting big roles right off the bat. Not as big as "The Aqua Knight", heavens no.  

But still... This girl was threatening to Kasumi. She seemed all bright smiles and pert breasts, but the Zora knew with another good actress around, the spotlight would be split in two, and even though Kasumi wasn't particularly selfish or vengeful, she felt growing rage at this girl. Her name was even Joy. 'What a stripper name...' Kasumi thought angrily. 

Masaro was walking through Zora's domain, having not been there since his main villain role in the Aqua Knight. He liked the place though, and decided that he'd return, both to see old faces and try their food again. 

A few people recognized him from the play two years ago, asking for autographs and asking him to recite lines. It was definitely fun, but Masaro knew he had to go get an inn cave room. On the way to the inn where he'd stayed last time, Masaro wanted to stop by the theater, which was right nearby.

Walking inside, Masaro saw a familiar face, but not on the stage. Kasumi was standing near the back, looking out at the hylian who was in rehearsals. "Hey! Kasi! How are you hon? Checking out the fresh recruits?" The man hugged Kasumi, happy to see a familiar face.

Kasumi jumped a little when she was suddenly called and hugged. Was it a fan? One getting too excited? No... She soon recognized Masaro Otak. She'd met the Hylian back during the Aqua Knight, and he'd played the dark Wizzrobe master. Phenomenally too. Once he left to return to Hyrule Castle Town they'd tried filling his shoes for future showings, but nobody was quite as effective and convincing as this Hylian was.

Giving him a hug back and kissing both his cheeks, Kasumi beamed. "Masaro! Great to see you again!" She then looked back to Joy's performing. Oh goddesses, it was a musical too. Awful. That was the one thing she swore she'd never do, partially because it was even more realistic to have a masked zora vigilante fight off the forces of evil than it was to have everyone burst out into song and dance at random. Plus she wasn't fully confident in her singing voice. 

"Nah, Masaro. Or... I guess could say I am." She motioned towards the rising actress with a nod upwards. "That girl got here three weeks ago an started up in roles I took four years to get into. She's kinda pissing me off." 

Shaking her head she turned back to her old friend. "But anyway, what brings the mighty dark Wizzrobe master back to the domain?" She adopted a boxer pose and punched him playfully in the arm twice. "Here for another ass-whooping from the Aqua Knight?"

Masaro chuckled at her question and parried the second punch, spinning her around and putting her into a loose rear neck choke. "Hey, gimme some credit! I'd have beaten you the first time were it not for guard captain Forman busting in at the last moment!" He then turned his attention to the actress on stage. 

Inspecting closer, he did recognize her. "Joy Talouin? Wow, so this is where she went. She was a singer back in Hyrule Castle town, but not too many people paid attention to her. I guess she came here for a new start."

He pulled out his pictograph box, snapping a picture of the girl. "I'm sure people would pay a lot of rupees for proof of where she is."

Kasumi sneered at Masaro when he took the pictures, putting a hand on the pictograph box. "Jeez, put that thing away. Who gives a...." She stopped herself as the cogs of planning turned. "Photographic proof... Is undeniable proof." Blackmail. That's how she'd do it. She would get some secret, and threaten to expose her if she didn't leave the domain. 

The sneer parted into a slight smirk as she played her finger around on top of Masaro's camera. "Masaro... I have need of your abilities again..."

Masaro pouted when Kasumi covered his camera lens, but when she said she needed his abilities, he shrugged. "I have lots of abilities, you know that. Are we talking camera abilities, punching stuff abilities, or 'just like the Aqua Knight afterparty' abilities?" 

He then smirked and aimed his pictograph box at Kasumi, waiting a second before taking the picture. "Strike a pose, superstar." This would be great for his life book later. More adventures with Kasumi Gallota. 

Kasumi found it easy to smile now, flipping up a peace sign when Masaro snapped a picture of her. As the photo came out, she laughed a little at his question. "Let's go with the first of the three." Then after a moment of thought, she poked his nose. "For now."

She circled the Hylian Mage, putting a hand on his shoulder. "What we're going to do, is we're going to blackmail Joy. We'll use your photogenic mastery to take a picture of her doing something she shouldn't be, threaten her with it, and boom bam, no more thorn in my side. How about it Masaro? Sound like a plan?"

"Ah, blackmail. Sounds fun. It's like being a detective!" For a moment, Masaro questioned whether or not Joy truly deserved to have this done to her. But you know, maybe she really had done something bad, and needed to be brought to justice. 

Besides, Kasumi was a dear friend. In any situation, he should definitely help her out, especially if Joy is putting Kasi's career in danger. He gave a slight nod to the zora, smiling a bit. "I'm in. Where do we start?"

"Good boy." She gave him a light hug and then backed off, leaning against the wall. "This really means a lot to me Masaro. I'm very thankful." She wasn't lying either. Masaro was a helpful friend and even though they'd only met a few times before, he'd proven himself insanely trustworthy. 

"I think we'll start here. Just stick around for a second and watch where she goes." At this point, the director turned around, taking notice of the two people in the back. He was about to shoo them away until he realized who they were. 

"Oi! You urchins! No peeking on the productio- Wait... Kasumi Gallota? Oh my, I apologize ma'am!" This director had already pissed the zora off quite a bit. She swore in becoming an actress that she'd never be called urchin again. This director was also one who'd tried to get her into his plays many times. All musicals. Now she knew for SURE it'd never be happening. 

Joy, on the other hand, reacted like a rabid fan, jumping off the stage and running over. "Kasumi Gallota?! Wow!" She stopped right next to the zora woman and bowed lightly. "I'm Joy Talouin, a huge fan! You're my inspiration in why I got into acting!" 

Kasumi put on a big smile, acting like she did best. She was pretty sure Joy was acting it up too. The Hylian was good... "That's awesome! I'm glad I was able to inspire a fellow actress. How long are you in Zora's domain for?" 

Joy stumbled with her words, though that could be either forgetting her lies or just stuttering like a rabid fangirl. "I'll be here for good, I hope. There're so many more opportunities here than back in Castle Town." 

"Nice, nice. I hope to see a lot more of you. Now... Masaro? We've got to go, right? It was a pleasure to meet you, but my companion and I really have to go."

She led Masaro out of the theatre and glared into space while walking with the Huylian. "The bitch was lying through her teeth, I could feel it."

Masaro watched the situation unfold and was soon led out of the theatre by a fuming Kasumi. He simply looked behind him as Joy got beck to her rehearsals. "I don't know, Kasi, she seemed pretty sincere."

Masaro saw a nice looking bar just off of the street they were on, so he pointed it out to Kasumi. "Hey, let's stop there for a drink and to plan this stuff out." 

Kasumi gritted her teeth gently. "She seemed nice because that's what we do, Masaro. We Seem. It's acting and apparently she's pretty good at it." 

When Masaro pointed out the bar he'd seen, Kasumi smirked. "Hey, that's where I had my firs- You know, actually that one's a tad personal." The two walked inside  and took a seat at the bar. The place was pretty fancy with a nice bluish glow to the room. A live band was playing, and there were quite a few people drinking and having a good time. 

Kasumi called over the bartender and recognized him. "Hey Rudain, how are things tonight?"

The well dressed zora turned and saw Kasumi, offering up a smile. "Hey, miss Gallota, how're you tonight? Same as usual?" Kasumi nodded, glad the man remembered what she liked. "Alright, one Zelda's Lullaby coming right up." Rudain starting mixing her drink masterfully, turning to Masaro. "And what can I make for you, bud?" He asked the Hylian, giving Kasumi her drink.

Masaro thought through his order in his head before saying it. "You know, sir, I'm feeling crazy today. I'll get a drink that's one part of each of these: Goron Whiskey, Lanayru brandy and lost woods mead. Then two parts Eldin vodka with a bit of lemon shavings and if you've got it, a hint of bombling juice. Adds some kick."

Rudain looked at Masaro incredulously for a few seconds. "Uhhhh... You do know that this drink is going to cost you like.... 70 rupees, right?"

Masaro raised a fist, excited to try his new creation. "I care not! Let there be drink!" Masaro paid the rupees and waited for the bartender to mix his drink. 

"So, this is the first time I've ever seen anyone order this. It's only right you get to name it."

Masaro pondered deeply, thinking about what to name the drink. And then he knew. "It'll be called the Derzhinskovich Destroyer. It's a call back to an old story I know."

Rudain shrugged. "Okay, whatever. It gives me a new way to cut people off too. They can't pronounce it." He put down the drink, and unknowingly to most, put a small amount aside for himself after his shift.

Taking a sip, Masaro made no strange face or anything and smiled at Kasumi. "Okay, because the whole trailing her thing didn't go well, what's the next step?"

Kasumi looked on with a bewildered face as Masaro ordered his drink. "I'll... Have to order that some day." She then frowned, deep in thought. "Right... It'd be too suspicious to stealthily follow her, and it's not like we can too easily blend into crowds."

She then thought. If she was keeping something personal... Where would it be... "Well... Her house is always an option. But it's getting late, so she'll be heading there soon. Her change room at that theatre?" She thought out loud, taking a sip of her sweet drink. "I'm sure she leaves some stuff there."

Masaro nodded. "Sounds like a decent place to start. We can also check her house tomorrow while she's at rehearsals again."

He glanced around the bar, seeing quite a few interesting people, though all zora. Upon locking eyes with two fairly cute girls across the bar, he winked and made them break into a fit of giggles and blushes. Was this seriously how Kasumi felt all the time? 

It was nice... He then went ahead and downed his drink, feeling the rainbow of ethnic booze swirl inside him. But really? He didn't feel much. He had always had a pretty high alcohol tolerance. "Alright, let's go Kasi."

While she certainly wasn't drunk, Kasumi felt the effects of her drink more than Masaro. She was a bit of an easy drunk though... She polished her glass as well, putting it down. She then called over to the barkeep. "Rudain, put it on my tab." She then stood up. 

"You've got it, miss Galota, have a great night!"

"You too!" She blew him a kiss and turned to face Masaro. "Let's go." It had turned to night, and only a few zora roamed, giving an easy walked to the theatre. Once there, Kasumi used her own key to open the back hallways.

She immediately saw an older looking kikwi pushing a broom along the floor. "Hey Scruffy, I just left a few things in my room that I need."

The kikwi replied in an oddly low voice. "'s'all good, hon. Just finished. You kids have fun."

This made Kasumi laugh a little and blush, but when the kikwi left, she walked over to Joy's dressing room, unlocking the door and walking in. "Now, if I were a deep dark secret, where would I be?"

Masaro kept an eye on Scruffy after the kikwi left, but joined Kasumi shortly. "Deep dark secrets? The bed. Always the bed." He looked around. "Shit. No bed." Peering around the room, he figured he'd check the closet. He opened it, seeing a few dresses and such, and upon looking more carefully, not much else.

"I'm not finding much Kasumi. Any luck on your end?" He asked her, turning towards the zora.

Kasumi started with the vanity. That's where she kept most of her stuff that was in the dressing room, so it made sense that Joy would put stuff there too. After a minute of searching, she found an envelope, unsealed, but somewhat weighty, as if there were a stack of small papers inside.

"Ooo~ Mysterious envelope." She said, about to open it when she heard light footsteps outside. "Shit!" She hissed, looking around frantically for a moment. The best thing she could think of as a cover... "Masaro, come here!" She said, getting close and putting herself into a kiss with the Hylian.

Masaro realized something was amiss and went with Kasumi's ruse, kissing the woman back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Scruffy again, this time holding a dustpan. "Sorry, f'got me dustpan... Bye 'gain kids." 

The kikwi janitor then casually strolled off. Masaro separated from the kiss, walking over to the vanity and opening the envelope, pulling out multiple photos. Looking closer, Masaro realized that they contained Joy engaging in... Lewd acts with the director of the play she was in. "Woah. Kasumi? I think we found what we need."

Kasumi lightly wiped her mouth with her arm after the kiss, walking over to Masaro and checking out the pictures. It was all pretty tame though. "Nah, we can't really use any of this. Put it back." She could see the confusion on Masaro's face. "Something like this? certainly not illegal or anything, and I'd be a huge hypocrite for calling public attention to someone else doing it. We'll find something else..."

She tucked the photos away in the envelope and put it back into the vanity where she'd found it. After another hour of searching, they'd found nothing else. "Damn... Oh well, we'll check her house tomorrow. That should yield something. You want to stay at my place Masaro?" She asked casually.

Masaro shook his head. "Nah, it's cool. I've already got an inn and all my stuff is there. If we're done being weird and sneaky for today, you mind if I get back there? I'd like some sleep for snooping tomorrow."

He gave Kasumi a hug, leaving the zora in the dressing room as he went back to his inn room, patting Jimmy on the rock and going to sleep.