Holding Out For A Hero [Open] [Akihabara]

Maria acknowledged the point that Naoko made. "Yes, that's true, and I think all of us would appreciate if that didn't change" she answered.

Following that, the individual that claimed to be the Gran Kuwaga Mask denied knowing what digimon were, despite digimon not being mentioned so far in this conversation from Maria's hearing. However, she wasn't willing to turn this into a battlezone over something like that.

But the DATS Agent's attention was most drawn to the obvious digimon, who even managed to slightly unnerve her in how prepared she was to talk to someone like her. Thankfully some encouragement from her partners in her pockets was enough to convince her that a public confrontation wasn't the right way to go about this.

Then what would be the right way to do so? A discreet conversation? How would that be possible in a place like this? Maria thought for a moment, then realized a simple corner booth in a fast food restaurant would probably suffice. Yeah, that should do. And furthermore, that should reduce suspicion at such a venue, minimum disruption, minimum suspicion.

Last of all, Maria turned her attention to the fox digimon. Maria set aside her patronizing tone for the time being. Well, at least all individuals here seemed to be capable of behaving within reason in Tokyo society. And her orders were to give them warnings in the most discreet way possible. Well, what better way than to do so over food?

Yes, that was likely the way of things. Food served by others, and even better still, Maria could bring out her partners in a peaceful setting, since she knew they were probably hungry. So, Maria planned her next moves for a moment, then answered the fox-like digimon.

"I care for reasons that I should speak only with discretion" she answered. "If you'd like to speak with confidentiality, let's speak over some bowls of ramen shall we?" she nodded toward what seemed to be the least crowded food bar in the area. "I can handle the bill if you're short" she offered. While in effect she'd be spending money on those that her organization opposed, well, a bit of manners to obtain information in a peaceful setting would hopefully be worth it, right?

Behind her visor, Otohime blinked. Shit, what does she do? Was this lady a cop? Something told her something was off! She tapped her chin.
Within the BlackFairymon, Otohime panicked a bit.
"Oh fuck, Jiro, what do I do? What if this is a trap??"
The Spirit was worried, himself, but he knew that panicking would be the wrong thing to do.
"O-o-o-ok, Ryuko-san, calm down! If we run now, she might get mad, and that will make things worse! J-j-j-ust go along for now!"
Otohime was not ok with this, but if Jiro thought it was right...
The BlackFairymon took a deep breath.
"I would like to have lunch with you, citizen! But then I must return to keeping justice! But please, allow my companions to come along, they are probably hungry too!"
For all the intimidating looks, this Digimon was clearly a dork.

Agent Maria was a little taken aback by the holosuited digimon's enthusiasm. But she quickly remembered her manners. It was a little hectic here at the moment after all, and she thought it would be for the best if she kept all this nice, easy and polite. "Hello, Reid. My name is Agent Maria of DATS" came the response. "Don't worry, I'm not here to arrest any of you, I only wish to talk to you".

At least that was her orders so far as she interpreted them. It seemed her appearance had startled a few of them, and she supposed them running away would mean that her objective to warn them not to be so blatant in public from now on would not be able to be achieved.

So then, it seemed that they agreed to a talk over some ramen. And ramen bars were aplenty in this part of town. Agent Maria simply looked around for the most suitable one. Not too crowded, that would be too distracting. But not too empty though, that would be too suspicious. In the end she pointed toward a middling one. "That looks fairly decent there" she said, pointing to a ramen bar half a block away. As she neared, her hunch proved to be right. There was a large group of anime fans already present in there, but they only took up one half of the establishment. The other half was relatively empty, probably because of how distracting the group was. They were dressed as various anime characters, including magical girls, shonen protags, even anthro animal characters. Their current party wouldn't stand out much compared to that crowd.

Agent Maria agreed to the added condition of fried tofu and proceeded toward it, if the others agreed. Hopefully they would pick a discreet table.

"Let's sit here!" a familiar voice suddenly said. Maria turned to see with horror that Sistermon Noir had already realized herself from the digivice, standing next to a large berth at the quiet corner of the bar. Maria was about to chide her for leaving the V-Pet without permission, but, thought against it. She stood out no more than any other in this bar, and at least for the moment she wasn't baring her cross-guns. And Blanc was standing there too a few moments later, looking a little awkward.

"Well, here we are then... what would you guys like to order?" Maria asked them. The young assistant at the bar seemed eager to be of service, given that they seemed to be a party of eight.

Otohime stuck out like a sore thumb among all the others at the cafe. She was the tallest, with those horns adding even more height.
She sat on her chair, awkward and stiff, trying not to seem suspicious. She did yipp in just her own voice when the Sistermon appeared, but she quickly tried to play it cool.
"What i would like to order? Oh, just some melonpan, citizen!"
She wiped some sweat off her brow. The nervousness, not to mention the stress of staying digivolved, was making her winded.
"So what is it you want to talk about, citizen?"

"Hel- I mean- Heck yeah!" Noir declared at the invitation to have a meal of ramen with others. That was the reason why she had burst out of the digivice after all. Sure, she knew Maria didn't like that, but, she felt the benefits in the long run would be worth it. And she was glad that Blanc backed her up by following her.

Agent Maria took note of the orders, then reluctantly asked her partners for their choices. "I'd like Miso ramen please" said Blanc.

"Spicy spare ribs ramen for me please!" Noir added. Agent Maria gave a smile at that, just as expected. So with the orders made, she briefly went to the counter, ordered and paid for everything, then returned to the table. A hefty bill indeed, but, the DATS agent having so many tamers and digimon in one place in a peaceful setting, perhaps there could be much information to be shared and gained here?

With the orders made, the kitchen behind the counter came to life. The owner seemed delighted at the sudden arrival of the party and that they had made such a big order, so he for one didn't care that some of them were weird cosplayers.

"Well then. Now that we're here and waiting, I should probably get down to business..." Agent Maria said, sitting down between her partners. The Sistermon twins seemed amicable enough, especially when they were permitted to be out to have food in a public restaurant. But there was still a bit of anxiety present in her voice, as though she was worried about the news she had to impart here. "I should let you know that the policy of the Japanese government in regards to digimon has changed. Today, DATS will not pursue charges against any of you, but, I fear that you need to know that in the coming times, it would not be wise for digimon to be present here on Earth."

Agent Maria was fully aware that this would probably be something of a harsh statement to make. But, she hoped that in the current setting, nobody would make an extreme move. After all, they were all seated down civilly, awaiting some tasty food. Hopefully they could discuss this peacefully.

Otohime listened along to what the agent had to say. When the agent reached the part about the law being changed, she blinked behind her visor. She did not move for a few seconds, then picked up a cup of tea, took a sip, only to then spit it out again as a spit-take.
Then, she coughed. And stood up, slamming her hands on the table, which wobbled dangerously.
"The laws have...changed? What, is it now illegal for Digimon to walk the streets? You're gonna imprison Digimon just for -existing-? That's bullshit!"
That was no longer the strange, interpolated voice that the Fairimon had been speaking with before. This was clearly Otohime's voice. And she sounded upset! The very thought seemed to upset her!

First off. A taciturn "Calm down." was delivered from Naoko to Otohime. Even if they both sucked at talking to people, it was clear Naoko had to remain level-headed in all of this. Especially since Titania and Nereid were dead silent. Well, almost. The latter was muttering something along the lines of "But I just started coming here..."

The disguised Syakomon had honestly sounded a little hurt. Titania meanwhile didn't have much of a grasp on human world politics, especially those of Japan. So, this was all new to her. Naoko on the other hand had a vague understanding of what had occurred. "So, it's a gradual wave of 'get off our planet.'" She began. "I can sort of see where you're coming from, but at the same time it's incredibly disruptive to the Digimon that've managed to...actually acclimate towards living here. I don't...know if there's any way this can end amicably for both sides of this equation..."

Titania then finally spoke up. "So...This is just a warning, then? Or is there anything else?"