Chapter Ten
Missy knew that if she wanted to nab Kenta and his partner, Lee, she would need to be very convincing. That was true of anyone if she was being honest, but she had to be
extra convincing if they were actual pillars of their community. They'd probably heard it all before but, unfortunately, she wasn't quite sure where to start. Politics were a somewhat complicated subject.
"I... yes." She stood up straight. Not that she'd been slouching before, but her posture could have been better. "Right now, I'm running a campaign that promises to be tough on crime," Missy said. She then raised a fist up to head height and shook it about a little. Rabble rabble. "Brockton Bay has been plagued by criminal scum since before I was born... long before I was born. It's high time that someone does something about it! That
I do something about it!"
Missy felt Taylor nodding behind her, but neither of the men before her seemed all that impressed.
She just needed to try harder then.
"Aren't you tired of the filthy Empire Eighty-Eight harassing and assaulting you? Of racists and sexists telling you how to live? I am. I am, and I aim to make their lives as miserable as they can possibly be through any means necessary. If that means giving more money to the police and, and uh…" she paused, "funding things that stop those sorts of people in their tracks, then so be it."
That had been a seven out of ten right there. Maybe an eight. It had been good enough to put a spark in Kenta's eyes and make him sit up, the extended legs of his sofa creaking as they bent down and folded under his seat. "You plan on attacking the Empire?" he asked.
"Of course I do. They're nazis." Missy huffed. "I'm an American."
"Aren't most of these nazis also American?" Kenta prodded.
Missy worked her jaw. "Well, they're not very good at it."
"I see," he said. "I happen to be a very big employer in the Asian community. Many people obey me. I even have many young women working in my establishments. The Empire is a large problem for us. If you keep true with your promises to curb the Empire, or even just make a lot of noise and humiliate them, then I think I could assist you."
"Really?" Missy said, surprised. This was going a lot better than she'd thought. "I'm not really looking for assistance yet, we're trying to run a very... economical, grassroots sort of campaign, but any help would be appreciated."
"The Empire has been a thorn in my side for a long time. If you are a thorn in theirs then I will gladly watch them writhe."
Missy could imagine. The E88 held protests against homosexuality, encouraged people to fire openly gay people and in general were just a bunch of asshats. "I can't imagine how much you must have suffered, Mister Kenta," Missy said. She stepped over to him and patted him on the arm. "Don't worry. We'll do something about it. We'll stand in solidarity with you!"
Kenta blinked and shifted a bit on his couch so that he wasn't quite so close to her. "Right," he said.
Missy backed away. She was probably making him uncomfortable and all, what with being a girl. Or maybe he just wasn't the touchy-feely type. She'd been a little forward, hadn't she?
"Well, um, it was a pleasure meeting you Mister Kenta, and your partner, Mister Lee." Missy put her hands behind her back. "Unfortunately we have a bunch more homes to visit today and we need to spread our message across the entire city."
Kenta nodded and made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Go. You are dismissed. Do well by me and I'll see you rewarded."
"Cool," Missy said. She flashed Taylor a giddy grin and got a thumbs-up in response.
"Lee, go escort them to the door. Then call the fools in this part of my territory. Tell them to make sure nothing happens to the children."
"Yes, my dragon. I shall return to your side as soon as I can."
Missy felt a bit of a blush springing onto her cheeks. She had never really been into the whole... boys love things, but some of the girls in school raved about it. Looking at the way Kenta and Lee interacted she could almost understand the appeal.
Almost.
"Well, we're off!" she said.
They were led out by Lee who wished them a good day with a polite bow before he shut the door behind them.
What a nice couple.
Misys waited until she and Taylor were on the sidewalk and on their way before piping up. "That went well," she said.
"Yeah, really." Taylor nodded.
"So, they were gay, right?" Missy asked. "Because it might have been just me and I didn't want to be the only one thinking that."
"Um. I'm not the best at social things," Taylor admitted. "But yeah, super gay."
"Okay, good," Missy said with relief. "You know, I never gave it much thought, but there are a lot of little communities like that in Brockton Bay, and they're not treated really well by most. We should totally help them out."
"And get them to vote for us at the same time," Taylor said.
"Exactly!" Missy said. "We need to get those minorities working for us. Then we can kick the nazis to the curb."
Taylor blinked a few times. Flies buzzed. "You might not want to say it like that."
"We'll be extra careful when writing speeches and such," Missy agreed. "Not sounding like an asshole is harder than it looks."
Taylor coughed, and that was that.
***
Give
Marchenblanc, the co-author of this piece, some hugs too!
Wanted to give a shout-out to Eli who made the bad grammar go away.
as "I'm gonna eat you", which is needed a lot more often than you would think.
is there for?
