Yesterday Upon The Stair // oxo, rated M or something// CLOSED

"You better watch your back." The man growled, casting a wary look to the entrance she's come through, and then the one behind him. "You just made the wrong enemy."

"Tragic." Was all Tango had to say about that, and she watched carefully as the man grabbed his companion and bolted, disappearing around the corner. Once she was sure they were gone, she was at the side of the dying woman, couching and checking her over for her worst injuries. "Cassidy, did you make the call?" She called, shrugging out of her jacket and slipping out of her shirt to use it as a tourniquet on the woman's arm, where she'd been stabbed. Stabbed. They'd had a knife, and a gun, and who knows what else. And Tango had smiled at them. "Come on. You gotta make it 'till someone gets here."

Cassidy steppes our from behind the corner, “Yes, I did call them. I don’t speak much Japanese but I think they got the point and location.” He rubbed his hands together nervously, “Is she doing okay?” He took a couple more steps closer to Tango, “What was going on?” He had way too many questions—better start with two at a time, and even that might be overwhelming. He pressed a thumb into the heart of his palm.

"They were going to kill her." Tango answered, not bother to look up at Cassidy. Her eyes did flicker up to the ghost fading in and out like TV static, and her jaw set with determination, despite the fear sparking in her eyes. "Don't you dare. You have got too much to live for, so don't you dare give up like that." Shaking her head, she thought for a split second, before starting on CPR. She'd have to thank her dad later, if he didn't kill her for putting her life in danger first. "Come on, help is almost here. Stay with us, alright? Cassidy, I need something to help stop the bleeding."

Cassidy swallowed an looked around wildly, “I don’t see anything sterile here, I’ll have to go back to the convenience store.” He took stumbling backwards steps out of the alley, “I’ll be fast!” He dashed down the sidewalk back to the store they had just left.

“I need a rag!” He nearly yelled to the cashier. Did he know English? Oh, what was the word for a towel or rag again? He swore he knew it!

"Keep an eye on him, Hino." Tango instructed, and for once, the problematic ghost listened. He flickered out of view, following Cassidy down the street. "Alright. Alright. We can do this. You got family?" The lady had a son. A son she didn't want to leave behind. Her name was Rei Tokino, she was a nurse. Keep her talking, but get her back in her body. "He's too young for his mother to die, you hear? I need you to not give up. Get back to him. You have to keep fighting, to get back to your son."

The cashier, though startled, understood enough English to know what Cassidy was shouting, and had enough common sense to tell something wrong. He motioned for Cassidy to wait, disappearing into a backroom and returning not even a minute later with multiple rags. He handed them over to Cassidy, raising an eyebrow in question.

Cassidy took the rags and thanked him. He mustered enough Japanese to sputter out “Woman is hurt.” He didn’t remember the word for bleeding, so he hoped hurt would be enough to get his point across, “The ambulance is coming,” he said in English, then dashed back out of the store to return to Tango and the bleeding woman.

It was working. Thank God, it was working. Just as Cassidy turned the corner into the alley, Hinata preceding him to let Tango know things had gone fine, Rei flickered out of view for good. Her body gasped suddenly, lurching forward as her eyes shot open, with only Tango to keep her down and from moving to fast. "That's it. Stay awake for me, the paramedics are almost here." She repeated her words in Japanese, before speaking to Cassidy. "Look for places with the most fresh blood, and you'll find the entry wounds from the knife. Her arm and abdomen are the main places to look. Put pressure on the wounds with the rags, but hand me a few first."

Cassidy handed her the few rags before searching for the wound, “Do you think she was stabbed or shot?” He asked, at last locating the worst spot and pressing the rag against it. “Do you have any idea what was going on?” It sounded like she had been talking to no-one, or just herself, since he hadn’t been able to see the men.

"Stabbed, not shot. The gun was a backup, and twenty yen says it wasn't even loaded." You could have been wrong. You could have gotten yourself killed. You could have gotten everyone killed. Shoving aside her thoughts, Tango continued speaking. "Yakuza lackeys. Put more pressure on that. My guess is, Rei either owes them money, or she got in the way of something." It completely skipped her mind that she shouldn't know the woman's name, considering she'd just woken when Cassidy got there, but luckily she was too preoccupied to notice or worry.

Cassidy listened with a few nods, leaning more into the wound on her arm with the rag. Nearly everything she explained went over his head; he knew none of the names, but he followed the vague situation and her tone suggesting how serious things actually were. “So should we call the authorities? Is there something we can do?”

“I’ll take care of that.” Tango assured, her eyes flickering to the mouth of the alley. Emmy signed quickly, letting her know the ambulance was close. “Ironic I guess, that I just ran into two of the men that are the reason I’m even here. Add another rag on top.”