It's Not Like I'm Making Friends or Anything

What all did he need again?

Aito mentally rattled off a few things he'd need to pick up mentally to himself; water, couple of things to snack on...

He didn't have much he needed to get, and really this could wait, but he figured he might as well get what he needed while he was out. He'd left the cat back home, because obviously he couldn't just go into any stores carrying a cat around...no matter how much the thing wanted to come.

Alison glanced in a window as she passed, checking her reflection. Not that that was necessary. She was trying not to be noticed. Or well. Relatively not noticed. She glanced up to make sure he hadn't noticed her. Crap. Had he noticed her?! She ducked down a side path for a moment or two. Okay. C'mon, Lauregarde. This scoop wasn't going to get itself. And he's the only even plausible lead so far.

She composed herself before heading back out behind him from some distance, trying not to get too close. She knew he had some friends who probably wouldn't take well to her nosing around, so she needed to find a way to talk to him soon....

Aito continued walking, though as time passed he started to get the eerie feeling he was being watched...though, that wasn't entirely out of the question all things considering...

Well, with his brand and scars gone now, could anyone even tracking him prove who he was? Scars weren't so easily removed and they did help distinguish...but...

"Tch."

He couldn't be too carefree or careful after all...

That in mind, his guard was up as he continued walking.

Alison hesitated. Had he just... made a little noise? She tilted her head, trying to figure out if she'd been made... Damn... she wished she had Holly's power right now. It would prove ever so useful, right now. Well, she'd just have to... Well... Okay, he PROBABLY knew she was there. She wasn't doing the stealth thing right..

Oh well. She had tried things the sneaky way, anyway.

"Uhh, sir? Excuse me, sir?" She called out, seeing if she could flag him down the old fashioned way.

Aito slowed to a stop at hearing someone...addressing him(?), he guessed. If so, he'd been right on the money about someone attempting to track him...

He turned his head to looked at the woman as she called out to him, she didn't look familiar...

He waited, letting her get out what she had flagged him down for.

Alison blinked. Oh! Oh, he'd stopped. Okay. She relaxed a little. She'd been worried she was going to have to chase him. These shoes were no good for running, she'd have to chuck them off and hope nobody walked off with them before she got back. But all that could be avoided now.

"Hi! Hello! Hey." She greeted him in decreasing levels of energy as she ran up to him, before stopping. "Hey! Name's Alison Lauregarde, nice to meet you!" She stuck her hand out for him to shake, a smile on her face.

Aito blinked, glancing down at her hand for a moment before he reached out to awkwardly take it. What...?

"...Aito Yoshioka..." He replied; his identity wasn't that big of a secret anymore in his...circle, he supposed, but with everyone else, he was still giving out his alias, playing it safe.

Alison nodded. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Yoshioka." She said, nodding her head. Okay, she'd introduced herself. But how does she proceed from here? Just say "I'm digging up info on some sort of secret lab"? He'd probably attack her. Not that she was PARTICULARLY worried about that, but...

"I hope I'm not being too forward, but... I wanted to approach you directly, Mr. Yoshioka, rather then flitting about behind your back. Can we go somewhere to talk?" She asked pleasantly, not giving up TOO much information.

"..." Aito was silent for a good few moments, trying to figure out what she wanted to speak with him about. Go somewhere else...?

If this turned out to be a problem...he could always bolt, and run for it...

Perhaps flare his presence and draw hollows in as a distraction...?

"...Fine." He replied, waiting on her to lead the way...

"Great!" She said with a grin. "Were you going about something? We can go do that if you please." She didn't want to inconvenience him any more than she already was. Hrm. How did she start this....

"So, Mr. Yoshioka, I'm.. something of an investigator?" It was half true, anyway. Though she hadn't decided if this was a matter worth reporting. That depended on what she found. "Mr. Yoshioka, do you... know anything about..." She reached into her coat and pulled out the picture. "This symbol?" She handed him the picture. It was a rough sketch, but it was clearly the Bell's Viper logo.

"Just getting water..." Aito replied, "It'll be something to carry back so it can wait."

He didn't want to go buy water and have to tote it around for however long this was gonna take...it'd be an unnecessary hassle.

An investigator?

He was silent as she pulled out a picture, a sketch of sorts...? When she handed it to him, it only took one look after he'd taken it to realize what it was. That...

"...Why do you want to know...? How'd you even find this symbol?" He felt he had the right to ask at least...Where had she come across it?

She crossed her arms. That was reasonable... she supposed? Why didn't he just get a water filter or something? Oh well. She didn't fully understand water drinkers anyway. What was wrong with diet cola? Still, that was neither here nor there.

"That symbol was found on several bodies and, according to my sources, may be linked to some sort of underground organization." She said, moving her hair out of her face. "It took a lot of resources before I found even a vague lead, but when I started asking about this symbol, I eventually was pointed in your direction." She remained quiet and let him respond She didn't want to ask any questions yet.

...Why him?

Well, that would have been his thought, but there was a limited number of actual escaped subjects, most had already been recaptured or killed. That place wouldn't last much longer though...so if she wanted news on it, she was probably a little late in the game, that damn place was in it's dying days considering the people working on it...

Aito glanced off to the side for a moment, they really hadn't moved much considering this was a...rather private conversation.

Still though, he gave a sigh and motioned with his head to somewhere off to the side; this shouldn't be even vaguely discussed out in the open...even with the organization dying out, right now it was impossible to know if anyone else was listening...Trackers needed to be stealthy, he knew that for a fact.

Oh? They were going to talk.. or he was luring her off of the path to attack her. Still seemed like he planned to talk, but... just in case, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a pen and a little notepad, as if to take notes. Really, all she needed was the pen.

"So, I take it by your reactions my stabbing in the dark paid off? So, what can you tell me? Who IS this organization anyways?"

Aito leaned against the wall once they were in a more private area, his hands in his pockets as he watched Alison pull out a notepad and pen...She was gonna take notes on this?

"They kidnap orphans off the street, ones that won't be missed if they disappear." Aito replied, "They're used for experiments, drugs and stuff...sometimes they're pitted against each other with the demands only one can come out alive...."

He kept his eyes off of her as he explained this, well...he got straight to the point anyway.

"Bell's Viper...though, that place is dying off; there's people that are taking care of it..."

She scribbled down notes, but that was mostly for show since she'd pulled out the pen and the pad. She was committing everything he said to memory anyway. Jeez... She'd never imagined it was anything that bad... orphans? What sort of sick shit...

"To what end? Why would they do that? And.. what do you mean people? Who's taking care of it?" She asked, urgent curiosity obvious by her tone. Who the hell would take care of something like THAT?

"I don't know that much..." He didn't know their goals, they didn't exactly share things with newly picked trackers, you had to earn your worth as far as he knew; the ones with weaker minds tended to become brainwashed...

"Some subjects that escaped are still alive, they made it out, met influential people and they're working on disposing of the organization..." That's what he meant by people, well...two people, but Selena had her ways and he supposed Iyuki's brother had his considering that name was all over the damn city.

"Hm... So how do you fit into their organization. Were you an employee, a victim?" She asked before following up very cautiously. "...an experiment patient...?" She didn't want to assume one way or the other. This was all new information to her. She was pleased as punch her lead had worked out though, even if he did seem a little grumpy.

She wanted to know which influential people though.... that could be anyone... the shinigami, the espada, even the frigging quincy.

An here came the personal questions...whatever, that was all over with now...Soon it'd be over with for good, it was only a matter of time before the organization died out completely.

"Experimental subject." He replied, glancing off to the side for a short second.

His scars were gone, his brand mark...all that was left really were the memories, that and his file possibly, where ever it was, that would contain his information such as his identification number and records there...

Oh well, it could be burned for all he cared.

She quietly lowered her pad. Even with the cautious tone and simple question, she felt like she'd probed too much. Asked something hurtful. This was the kind of thing that happened when she didn't have questions made ahead of time... She took a step up towards him.

"I'm.. very sorry. That was cruel of me to ask." She said, with a sympathetic frown. "Would you like a hug?" She offered rather genuinely. She opened her arms, offering a hug. Hugs made everything better, right?

What...?

"It's fine, and I...I'm good." Aito replied; hugs? What...?

His whole ordeal had been shitty, yes, but he was fine...He had a home, food, and means to survive on his own now. He was all set.

Though...such affectionate gestures such as hugs were still...foreign to him.

She shrugged a little, dropping her arms. "Sorry. I just felt like I'd pushed too far and offered condolences." She said with a small but pleasant smile, before glancing down at her notepad again and frowning.

"Hrm.. Tell you what, Mr. Yoshioka. I have a lot more questions... If you're not willing to answer them, I'd understand, but.. if you'd LIKE, there's a diner around the corner. I'd treat if you'd be willing to talk about this further." She hoped that free food could entice him.

"s'Fine..." Aito replied, his hand moving to his hair for a short moment just as she went on to continue speaking.

Well...He hadn't eaten yet...

"...Alright." He answered after a bit, giving a small nod as he lowered his hand. Sounded fine to him, he could get a meal out of this and not have to worry about it later.

"Alright then!" She said with some enthusiasm, before heading back to the main thoroughfare. "Before we really get to talking though... Mr. Yoshioka, how much do you know about the spirit world?" She asked rather pointedly. It would be easier to explain things if she didn't have to hide her nature. Well... one layer of her nature anyway.

The diner really wasn't far it seemed, as they approached it after a few moments.

Spiritual World...

Oh, so this wasn't just a human meets human thing? Well, he supposed that saved some trouble, at least he didn't have to seem like the weird one then...

"I know enough..." He replied, "...Met a few others..."

Shinigami, Quincy...Spiritually powered humans...He was well aware of the other worlds, well, mostly.