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Characters: The Watch & OPEN to everyone
Location: Death City
Time: May 10th-13th
Rating: PG-13 for now
Warnings: Potential violence
Summary: The city is in chaos and the Watch is trying to do their job, but it's a little more than they can handle on their own.

The civilians have taken to the streets in a formal march of protest, holding signs both insulting and critical; some simply vulgar while others call for action- for change. They come from everywhere and don't stop until they reach Shibusen's stairs to rally with a growing mob of protesters. Shibusen agents gifted with Calming Wavelength stand by to allow attempts at mediation, but while they aren't violent, the protesters remain unyielding in their convictions.

In other parts of the city, trouble-makers work tirelessly to disrupt or sabotage businesses, paint graffiti over any untouched wall of known guest establishments, and harass the unusual-looking passerby. Don't go out alone, or you might find yourself cornered by these troublemakers with unpredictable temperaments.

The Watch is on the move in every district, working to protect its citizens and try their hand at peacemaking, but they're stretched pretty thin...

[OOC: Coordination post is here and as always, feel free to make your own threads!]

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'I wi--' Lee's inner voice was lost when a punch to his jaw landed shamefully easily in his distracted state. Granted, he had taken harder hits before and it looked like the delinquent had managed to break a few fingers if the way he was suddenly clutching his wrist was any indication, but the fact that he had made a clean hit at all bruised Lee's pride.

Growling, the green beast wrenched his head back and glared at the trio. The other two boys looked ready to brawl if he retaliated. Lee weighed his options, then sent a cursory message towards Neji. 'One moment, please.'

Neji jumped out of his chair, dilemma forgotten as Lee's voice dropped out, a little more worried than necessary. Lee wouldn't be kidnapped and the situation would resolve itself before he managed to get there, but he was half-considering a run straight across the city anyway.

Lee..?

Lee didn't answer immediately. He was too busy discussing with the boys about the inappropriateness of threatening strangers on the street. Lee let his fists do the talking this time, though, but only used methods that would not harm beyond discomfort.

He moved first to the one that had injured his hand with the improper punch, finding a pressure point that sent the young man to the ground in a faint. He hadn't planned on taking down the others by force until they jumped into action, apparently intent on avenging their comrade. They didn't last long. Lee had one pinned to the ground and the other in a choke hold not two minutes later.

Hardly breathless, Lee opened up his communication with Neji again and went back to their conversation. 'You were saying something about needing another to be in command, Neji?'

Neji waited, eyes snapping to Lee's location, jaw clenched and fist curled. But he breathed and forced himself to relax, reminding himself again that a few civilians weren't nearly enough to subdue Lee. But if something did happen to him while he was clear across the city...

He blinked, brought back to his own surroundings. Lee was fine. Of course he was. I.. yes. The Watch would need direction. Who would you say is most qualified?

The young man in his arms continued to try and wiggle free, forcing Lee to squeeze just minutely tighter in order to send him into a faint like his other companion. The third currently pinned under Lee's knee seemed to understand that struggling was futile and just lay there, looking mildly terrified. Lee didn't have sympathy to spare them.

'That is difficult to say, as Kerrigan was our most senior member. There are not a great deal to choose from...' Lee finally moved off the young man and let him up, but he placed a hand on the male's shoulder and that seemed enough of a warning to keep him from wandering off. 'It may sound biased coming from me, but I know you are quite capable, though I am certain office work does not suit your tastes.'

Neji nodded his agreement although Lee couldn't see. There really weren't many people to choose from that had both significant experience and leadership capabilities. And while he had expected Lee to mention him as a possibility, it wasn't particularly helpful. He wasn't against the idea, but in addition to preferring field work, there could be complications if he took the reins. Not that anyone had really given him any grief about his age or qualification as a Zone Leader.

Not particularly, however... I could manage it. It's simply a lot of work and we're already short-staffed. I'm not certain how active of a Zone Leader I'd manage to be.

'Troubling...' Lee was quiet a moment, considering. 'Maybe--'

"Why aren't you saying anything?" The young man's panicked voice reached Lee's ears and he turned his head sharply to his conscious captive. The young man flinched and Lee realized he hadn't said a word since the short brawl.

"Ah! I am sorry!" Lee apologized. Almost ironic, considering he had just laid out two of the boy's friends. Lee cleared his throat and spoke in a serious tone. "But I do hope you understand that you are under arrest for disturbing the peace, blatant defamation of public property, and for attacking an officer of the city Watch. You will need to spend the night in jail unless a guardian or spouse is willing to pick you up. And you can expect some fines for your actions."

"I don't care! Just..." The male seemed at a loss for words. Sighing, Lee bent down and threw one of the culprits over his shoulder, then reached for the second to put over his other shoulder. The conscious young man was either in shock or knew better than to attempt running at this point, meekly following along with Lee as he headed to the station.

'Sorry, I was distracted a moment.' Lee sounded a little strained, but certainly still capable of continuing their conversation. 'You could possibly delegate your zone to another until things are adjusted?'

Neji paced for a minute, then forced himself to sit back down. Lee was fine, just occupied. He tipped his head in consideration and shrugged.

Would you mind? I know you haven't been a Zone Lead long, and you could still reach me if you needed to, of course.

'Of course, Neji!' Lee replied immediately. He saw no reason why he couldn't step up his game a little in the Watch. It wasn't like the zone was particularly hard to hold, though with the protesters and riots it was marginally more perilous.

'I will do anything that needs to be done. I can even double up on your zone and the Red Light District if necessary.' While he already worked that area during the day he knew he could handle both, especially with training being canceled for a while.

Heading up two districts? There was no denying that Lee could be an overachiever, but managing two districts was challenging even with Clairvoyance.

We'll see. I'd rather assign you a second district adjacent to Outer I if you're going to take up another. I'll ask for Zone Leads... At any rate, this is hypothetical at the moment. I'll give it another day or so before I make any announcement of such intent.

'That is true. Okay then, I will let you get back to work sorting things out. But I will probably see you shortly.'

Lee hefted one of the young men on his shoulder. At least he was getting a good workout.

Neji nodded again, picking the sheet of paper back off the desk, reconsidering the rest of the work before him.

Be careful, Lee.

'I will be.' He had no worries of that. Despite the dark looks he received from some of the other civilians they passed, none dared to confront him with the two delinquents tossed over his shoulder.

Lee went through all the necessary protocols once he arrived at the jail. It was uncomfortably full lately, but the three young men had earned themselves a night of discomfort. Having filled out the proper forms, Lee left to grab a few sandwiches and lemonades from a shop that was close by and headed towards headquarters. He took the stairs up to the main office two at a time then reached out for Neji as he neared the door.

'I am here, Neji. Coming in.' And knowing he wouldn't need to wait for an answer, Lee reached for the handle and entered.

Neji glanced up, feeling a frisson of nerves although he knew it was Lee. He imagined this was how a Kage might feel, with shinobi walking through the office door to report and receive further instructions. He'd managed to complete and set aside a small stack of papers before Lee arrived outside the door.

Catching sight of the bruise forming on Lee's cheek, his partner didn't seem otherwise injured.

"You'll be my Second, of course, if everything happens this way," he said after a moment, leaning back "One of them, at least. Since you'll often be absent along with me as my partner, we'll need someone else to handle the Watch while we're on missions."

Lee's brows rose, and he closed the door behind him and approached the desk. "It is nice to think ahead, Neji, but do not over-think things so quickly. You will only add more stress than necessary."

He placed a warped sandwich and bottle of lemonade in front of Neji on the desk. Then he moved away some of the unread papers to the side and sat on the edge so he could eat his own lunch. "Eat. You will feel better."

Neji sighed, nodding. He really was overthinking everything. But with Sarah's disappearance and few others with his experience, it seemed as though he had a short amount of time to pull everything together. But he had time to eat, at least and offered Lee a faint smile as work was moved aside in favor of a small meal.

"Thank you." Reaching for the sandwich, he unwrapped it and took a bite. "..I just don't want the organization to fall further apart."

"You are welcome," Lee said softly, glad to see Neji wasn't going to turn his nose up at food. Neji needed to eat to stay strong. He needed sleep, too, but one thing at a time. Lee wouldn't push until it became necessary.

"I understand your worries. Perhaps we need more advertising. Or we should attempt to reach out to the newer guests earlier." He took a big bite, chewed and swallowed. "At the moment, it is not feasible, but once this is over we should attempt to come up with better advertising strategies."

Neji hummed in consideration. "We had liaison officers in charge of promoting the organization when Roy was here. He also addressed the network semi-frequently."

Which he could do, but perhaps not as well as Roy had done. Maybe he'd need to find someone else to be the face of the organization.

"It's also gotten more difficult to tell when new Guests arrive, as BREW is bringing in much smaller groups of people now and more frequently by the reports I've heard."

"We can always appoint new officers to take care of it, then," Lee said mildly, but obviously not too worried about the problem. Things would sort themselves out when they became more important.

The BREW situation was a little more imperative. If they didn't get enough guests, there would be little blood to add to their ranks. "Hmm... Then maybe we can introduce ourselves through the Demise Network more often and that might help. Possibly."

Neji frowned, but nodded and took the time to eat more of his sandwich while he mulled it over. Who would be ideal, and among them, may willingly take to the position? There were a lot of changes and promotions that needed to go around.

Lee had a lot of spirit, but tendency to be overzealous and a bit strange to those that didn't know him. Liaison officers needed a certain amount of subtlety and tact.

"We can try," he said at length. "It's the most we can do on our own."

Lee was patient as he waited for Neji to digest his words. He spent the time eating his own sandwich and enjoying the sweet and sour taste of the lemonade.

"Yes. And there are certainly others that would not mind becoming spokespeople for the Watch." Lee thought so, anyway. Worse came to worse, they pulled in a third party to speak for them. Perhaps get Cupid and Rise to endorse the Watch through their show.

"Just do not push yourself too much, Neji. You can always ask me for help, even if no one else is available." Lee felt it was important to remind him.

Neji tipped his head, interested in who Lee thought might readily accept the position. It wasn't a particularly appealing job title, with little power or authority associated with it.

"I know, Lee." And he did. Lee would do almost anything for him if he asked. "There will be a lot I'll need you to do for me if I take command."

"Well... I am certain, at least." Lee didn't have any names, really. But there had to be at least one person willing to take the job.

"It sounds like it could be very stressful." Lee put down his half-eaten sandwich, his gaze falling over his Meister to check for signs of stress. He already looked so tense and yet...

Neji lifted a shoulder in a mild shrug and took a drink of lemonade.

"I've never managed a group this large before. Being a Zone Lead is close to what we're accustomed to as Chuunin. I'm not a senior Jounin, so I haven't led the leaders of other teams before, but.. I'm sure I'll manage. I know how they should work, at least."

"I know, but I am still..." Lee frowned. He trusted Neji, but that much responsibility was quite a bit. Especially considering they were the head organizers of Morning Training on top of their Watch responsibilities and, of course, field missions.

Lee slid off the edge of the desk and back to his feet. Without giving it much thought, he moved to stand behind Neji and reached his arms over the back of the chair. His palms came to rest on Neji's shoulders and he moved his fingers to knead at the muscles there, feeling the tension gripping Neji's body.

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