Tourism, "Who says I can't enjoy this mission!?"

[Matt McLaughlin]

Matt smiled broadly as the bullet train whizzed down the tracks. He was very excited. It was his first real break from school, and he was going to enjoy it to the best of his ability. Even if he did have work there as well...

He was traveling to Osaka, the great city of the west. He heard that it was one of the locations for the the upcoming Shin Ichidai tournament, but that wasn't the main thing on his list of things to check out. He wanted to check out the famous Osaka castle, which was rife with Japanese history. He also heard that there were many talented martial arts students and competitions to be seen. Although, he wasn't relaly sure if he wanted to go see all of them. Sometimes, seeing so many people that were stronger than him often killed his self-esteem. Beyond all of that, he heard that Osaka was the home of a particular person who may be a key to his investigation of discovering the whereabouts of the missing detective, Shinichi Kudo.

A few hours later (or however fast those trains go), the train stopped at a station in Osaka. Matt got his things together and stepped off the train, looking around and taking in the ambience of the city. It was a lot more Japanese-looking than Tokyo, which had a bigger emphasis on new technology. He began to walk down the road, hoping not to be stared at because of his blatant...err...well...American-ness.

"Hmmm..." he thought, "I wonder if Ran has any friends in Osaka..."

[Toyama Kazuha1]

[Matt, I'm REALLY sorry I didn't post when I said I would, or that I haven't been around here at all for a few days now... I was sick for a bit. xX; And I just seemed to keep getting caught up with other stuff whenever I have got online recently, and didn't get time to post here. So I'm really sorry about that, again... ;_; So I'll post now.]

Kazuha yawned, as she rolled over in her bed. She glanced at her clock... 7.59AM. She blinked a few times, before stretching... she had an Aikido Tournament later that afternoon, right after school. She had been training plenty a few days before that though, so she was sure she'd do fine. It was nothing major, anyway...

Right now, she was more interested in this 'Shin Ichidai' tournament that she had heard about just the other day... to her, it sounded like it would be really interesting, and probably quite fun too. It would give her a chance to see how good she really was, going up against other fighters from around Japan. She was really looking forward to it now...

She stretched again, before sitting up, deciding she should go and get dressed and grab some breakfast before she had to head off to school.

[Sorry... I know it's not much, couldn't think of anything else. x__x;]

[Matt McLaughlin]

(*many hugs to Kazuha-chan* It's okay! ^^ I'm glad to hear from you again. I was afraid you were gonna go missing T_T. I'll post now!)

Matt walked down the streets, taking a deep breath.

"Ahhh," he exhaled happily, "Such a refreshing ambience!". There were many things to see. Small shops, large shops, shops specifically for souvenirs, museums, old temples, new temples, old-made-new temples, and other various attractions. He caught sight of a few flyers as he passed. A couple of them were about the Shin Ichidai tournament, but there were a few more coming attractions as well.

"Hmm...an Aikido tournament," he read, "and it's going on today! Sensei would've loved to go see this. I should check it out."

He continued to read. Apparently, there was a kendo competition in a few days. It was somewhat open ended, but there were a few dojos entering. From what he was told, the person he was looking for participated in these competitions. "Hmmm...if I enter myself into that competition, perhaps I'll run into him. I just hope that one of the requirements isn't that you actually need a rank in kendo to enter..." He groaned a bit.

"Hmm...well," he said to himself, rubbing his chin, "If I wan't to enter this upcoming competition, I should go work on my swordplay. But first..."

In a few moments, Matt was seated at a noodle shack, vigorously chowing down on a large bowl of ramen noodles. He was a voracious eater, was was evident in his huskiness. In a matter of minutes, the bowl was empty. A good three bucks well spent...or whatever that was in yen.

"Ahh...." he said, "That was fulfilling." He then got up out of his seat at the shack, walking out towards the main walkways. "Now, to go and tr--"

Matt was interrupted as his eyes caught a glimpse of a particular animal nearby. It was small, mostly white with patches of black and brown fur on it. Its pointed ears twitched idly in the air as it licked its forearms contently. Matt could only utter one word...

"Kitty..." He said, blinking.

As if he was in a child-like trance, Matt wandered over to the cat, following it as it began to walk away in search of food. He made a few inaudible 'mrow's under his breath as he did so. This would be an interesting "training" day if he was this easily distracted...

[Hattori Heiji 1]

Heiji yawned as he woke up, sitting up on his futon. He had a pretty refreshing rest in spite of how excited he was. He had already signed himself up for a kendo tournament that was going to start in a few days. It was quite amusing to see. IT was an open tournament, probably sponsored by a particular federation, but not having usual requirements. It was more of an open sporting event than an actual kendo match. And with Heiji being a champ in spite of his loss to Okita, the tournament would be a cakewalk.

He quickly got dressed and ate a quick breakfast. His mother might have been resting a little longer to relax, but he knew his father was probably out at work already. He headed outside, putting on his helmet as he jumped onto his motorcycle. Perhaps he'd run into Kazuha on the way to school and give her a lift.