senhime 「 千姫 」 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
deontological) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
recountal2014-12-29 09:17 pm
deontological) wrote in recountal2014-12-29 09:17 pm
(no subject)
Nagumo clan estate.
Tosa, Japan, June of Bunkyū 1.
Tosa, Japan, June of Bunkyū 1.
["I come as a messenger of the Princess of Yase. My mistress wishes for me to see the face of the child under your care with my own eyes."
Technically, it isn't a lie. She does wish to see the ward of the Nagumo clan, and she is acting as a messenger - on her own behalf, perhaps, but on the behalf of the Princess of Yase nonetheless.
Sen is well aware that after so many attempts have gone horribly awry - her messengers being turned away or being entertained within the house but never actually being allowed to see Kaoru for themselves - that this isn't going to be easy. She is prepared to be stubborn with the men who have received her, and so she does. It's a fact that the servants have orders to placate her and send her on her way, but that is something she won't allow.
She had arrived the day before, just after noon. Now it is noon again, and she still isn't gone. Currently she is kneeling on a cushion in the room for receiving visitors, and she thinks that perhaps she has finally succeeded - a servant is dispatched to go and fetch Kaoru. She would prefer a private conversation, but that same servant will most likely be instructed to monitor them as they speak.
That's fine. Now that she's here, she's sure she can figure out a way. Things have been quiet enough lately that she has a little more freedom to act on her own (and she is acting on her own - for once, Kimigiku has no idea where she's gone, though she's left instructions with a child in the village to tell her that she saw the princess going to Tosa if she hasn't returned within two weeks), and she is sure she's up to the task of bringing Yukimura Kaoru home.
She looks up when she hears the sound of a sliding door, and smiles.]
Ah... are you Kaoru-san?
[She swears to god if they've brought some random girl to try and trick her, the Nagumo clan will become very well acquainted with just how much damage Yase can do when she's been offended.]
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[In other words, yes, please stay. Sen knows that she will have ample time to get used to sitting in this strange underground room all by herself as the days go on, but if she can put off getting used to it for just a little longer, she would like to. More than that, she would like the chance to sit an talk with Kaoru - their first conversation, after all, had been very rudely cut short by the demons calling themselves his relatives.
She gestures to what little space there is for the two of them to settle down, and sets the package of food in between them.]
Have you eaten already? If you're hungry, we could share...
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Ah... Well, if you don't mind sharing, I can take a little. I'm not very hungry, though.
[Which is pretty par for the course. Kaoru's appetite is low most of the time, but when it's high he sure can cram in a metric asston of food.
EITHER WAY scooting in closer now!!]
I apologize, but I wasn't able to bring any dishes or utensils.
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[On the one hand, maybe she should be hoarding the food. The package he's brought her is certainly more than she was expecting, but even though he seems relatively confident that he'll be able to come visit again, if the family members return and are in foul moods, she wouldn't put it past them to keep the two of them as separated as they possibly can.
On the other, the more she treats this like a vacation rather than an imprisonment, the easier it will be to keep her spirits up until Kimigiku arrives.]
Oh, don't worry about that. Maybe it will be a little messy, but the food will still taste just as good, won't it?
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Thank you.
[And kneeling! I FORGOT WHO HAS THE FOOD but if it's him, he'll start to unpack it and if it isn't, he'll wait patiently. Glancing over toward the lamp either way, and after a pause, he'll add:]
I can bring you more wicks the next time I come, too. This should be enough to get you through the night, at least.
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Mm... I was thinking I might let the wick burn out and try to get some sleep, once you've gone. Should any of those men come to check on me before you return, I doubt they would be very pleased to see the lantern burning.
[Considering comfort doesn't seem to be much of a priority for them.]
I would certainly be glad to have them for when you're sure the family members are not within the compound, however. So, thank you.
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Oh— [...Well, she isn't wrong about that. His lips purse briefly and he glances back to the lamp. He won't take it away, but he is worried that someone else might, if they catch her with more wicks than she should have.]
...I'll try to set up some sort of alarm so that you can tell when someone is approaching from the outside. That way, you can put out the fire and hide anything that you need to hide.
[HE WILL BE USEFUL!!!
At the thanks, he just blinks in his owlish way before giving a hesitant nod. He doesn't have to say anything for it to be obvious that he isn't comfortable accepting that sort of sentiment here.]
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Her gaze wanders to the lantern as his does, but hers lingers on it even after he looks back from it. An alarm... even aside from using it to cover up the fact that she may have a fire burning, it has other uses, too. If she knows someone is approaching, she can mentally prepare herself for whatever might come. That, to her, is a more precious gift than being able to keep a light.
After a moment, she nods.]
If you wouldn't mind doing so, I would greatly appreciate that.
[She smiles faintly, then once the food is set up between them for easy access, picks up a small helping of vegetables with one hand before gesturing to the remaining food with the other.]
Go on, help yourself! Food tastes better when you eat it with a friend.
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But Kaoru at least seems assuaged by the fact that she'll accept his help on the making weird home-alone style alarms front. He can't even ensure that they'll be foolproof, but they will work, at the very least. That's... that's gotta count for something.....]
I don't mind at all. I'll set it up when I'm on my way out.
[And then she's gesturing toward the food and he's midway to reaching out, but what she says next catches him by surprise so greatly that his hand freezes.]
—Friend? [He has yet to escalate to the "what is friend can I eat it" stage of his life, thankfully, but it does seem like a foreign concept to him nonetheless.]
i tHOUGHT I'D RESPONDED TO THIS ALREADY. KILL ME.
[Sen doesn't seem too perturbed by his surprise, but maybe that's just because she has an inhuman amount of composure. She waits politely for his hand to unfreeze, apparently unwilling to just snake in and grab food before he can.
That wouldn't be very friendly behavior, after all!!]
I meant what I said when I was speaking as Kimigiku... I would very much like to be your friend, if that is acceptable to you.
LMAO WE GOOD... ill save ur viking burial for later....
But to be my friend... [What could possibly come of that? It's not like Kaoru has a lot of power. He has no place of political prestige. The only thing he has that really counts are his looks, but that's not something Sen needs.]
I have nothing to offer you.
god bless......
...that's not actually why she wants to be friends, just so we're clear.
Anyway. Kaoru's bafflement is something that Sen wishes she could banish, but she assumes that after so many years with the Nagumo, such a thing is easier said than done. Nevertheless, she smiles and folds her hands daintily on her lap.]
You don't become friends with someone because you want something that they have to offer. You become friends with someone because you want to get to know them better. [There is a light giggle before she continues.] The Kaoru that I have gotten to know so far is a kind person who has gone out of their way to make me more comfortable in a rather terrifying situation. To be able to do something like that even after having lived here for so long... It is a very admirable thing. I hope that someday I can be as strong as you are.
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He's watching her carefully as she speaks though, and it's because Kaoru is starting to hone people-reading skills out of some sense of necessity.]
I'm not very strong... but you're kind to say so. [Kaoru can still take a compliment without completely turning it down, at least!! He folds his hands together nervously, thoughts of food temporarily forgotten.]
I can't promise you that I'll be very interesting to learn more about, either. Even knowing that, you would still say that you'd like to be my friend?
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Even watching so carefully won't make him notice any signs of deception, because, well, she isn't trying to deceive him. He can take that as he will, but she is hoping that if she continues to be honest it will sink in that he's much better than the Nagumo clan gives him credit for.]
I would. [She says it gently, although she's being rather stubborn about this.] Whether you believe it yourself or not, I think you would make a wonderful friend.
[The question is, will he still be a wonderful friend once he completes his descent into shitheadedness...]
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That said, since Kaoru has yet to fully descend into the pit of shittery, his reaction to this is definitely much different than it will be in a few years (ie rude rude scorn). Instead, he's caught between gratitude and awe, because he really never thought anyone would genuinely want to be his friend, but he can't pick up on any lies, either. It's possible she's just extremely well-versed in the arts of deception, but...
He'd rather hope for the best, even if it's just this once.]
Then... I hope that I won't be a disappointment.
[Which is about as close as Sen's gonna get to a "SURE LET'S BE FRIENDS". On the plus side, despite the nervousness present, Kaoru seems somewhat pleased and excited, too. It's very tentative and faint, but there nonetheless.
After that, he'll finally reach forward for some vegetables to feed his dumb self with.]
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[They're both going to look back on this conversation in a couple of years and wonder what the hell Sen was thinking, aren't they? For the moment, though, she seems happy enough, exchanging pleasant conversation with the ward of her captors in an underground room. Wow.
Once Kaoru has taken some vegetables, Sen helps herself to the same, munching on them and making sure to chew and swallow before she speaks up again, because she's a princess, not some ruffian with no manners.]
When you come to Yase, it will be my turn to treat you to a meal. ["When," she says, full of confidence that she's going to pull this off and Kimigiku is going to show up in a timely manner to carry them both home. If only she knew...] What would you like to eat?
[She's just going to mentally be planning it out... look, she needs something to do to take her mind of things once the family members come back and Kaoru has to avoid this area lest he get in trouble.]
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But those thoughts are shoved to the side, because they have no place in the current conversation. Kaoru focuses on eating, too; it's every bit as bird-like as most of the rest of his movements.
At the question, he looks up, uncertain. At least he'll swallow before speaking too, since he is also not a heathen.]
Ah... Anything that you would prefer would be fine. [He doesn't have any preferences of his own so this is a terrible question?! He at least tries to make it sound a little better by adding:] I'd be happy to share any meal.
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Mm, in that case I'll be certain to have the very best things we have to offer prepared.
[She isn't going to push him on it; she doesn't want to make him so uncomfortable that he either up and leaves or just flat-out refuses to come to Yase once they get out of here. As brave a face as she's putting on, she doesn't particularly want to be left alone in darkness and silence too often.]
I hope it will be to your liking.
[She's a demon of her word, so in a couple of years she's just going to have to sit the shithead down and make him eat, even if he's being passive aggressive the entire time...]
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Oh— You don't have to do that... [THE VERY BEST THINGS. That seems like an awful lot of effort...] Something simple would be fine.
[AND NOT A LOT IS NEEDED EITHER, which is probably pretty clear. Kaoru already seems to be done eating, despite having barely touched anything beyond that first helping of vegetables.]
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[She's still going to make her servants prepare the very best things anyway because it's a simple matter for her to tell them to do it. So there. She'll just have to remember not to tell him that's what she's ordered so he doesn't protest.
Sen starts to say something else, but before she can, a loud thumping noise comes from somewhere above them. She frowns, because that doesn't really sound like a demon's footstep, and looks up.]
...I assume that was an animal of some kind? [Rabbits can be loud when you're right under them. Makes it obvious where Thumper got its name from.]
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[This said decisively. Kaoru wants to put as little strain on her as possible... Though this will probably end up with him being like "oh shit Yase demons live it right" since he'll see all these very best things and think they're still not as good as they could be, because gosh, Sen wouldn't trick him like that!!
But then there's the sound, and Kaoru starts a little on reflex, glancing overhead quickly.]
...Mm, it may have been. I'll go check.
[STANDING UP and moseying to the door already, good work Kaoru. At least he seems to be trying to see through the cracks first...]
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That disturbance aside, there is nothing else to bother them during their creepy underground picnic and the rest of the visit passes peacefully enough until Kaoru heads back to the compound and Sen settles in for what is undoubtedly going to be a very long night. Time passes - how much of it she isn't entirely certain, given that she's being kept underground; has it been days or even a whole week? - and life goes on. Somewhere, she's sure, Kimigiku is on her way here.
Right at this moment, however, there is something that interrupts the routine. A servant on their rounds stops to clean Kaoru's room. This is nothing new - but the fact that the servant is clumsy and manages to trip and dislodge a floorboard is. Privacy is a rare commodity in the Nagumo household, and Kaoru doesn't get much of it. The servant goes rooting through the space under the board and comes away with the pouch Sen had given to him.
Now this is something that, by all rights, shouldn't be here. The very same servant recalls retrieving an identical pouch from the reception room the day they had taken Sen captive, and he is certain it hasn't been returned to him. Which means... well, something sneaky is going on here. The servant abandons his cleaning and exits the room to go turn the pouch in to the head of the family.
On the way, he passes Kaoru and smirks as he nods to the pouch.]
You're in for it now, brat.
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This particular interruption is a very unwelcome one indeed, and though Kaoru is entirely prepared to brush past the man, the sight of that pouch is enough to cause him to freeze. His lungs feel impossibly trapped within his ribcage, refusing to budge as they should, and then there's that smirk and that cockiness and he can feel the weight of all his potential outs crashing down around him--
If he takes that bag, that's it. It's over.
Kaoru is not exactly accustomed to doling out harm at this point, but he's always had a wicked temper and it's only been fed by the years he's spent here. It's a combination of that and pure animalistic fear that drives him from his frozen state, breaking past his reserved reactions and causing him to launch forward with so much frenetic energy that it almost scares him.]
Give that back—!!
[He'll crash into the servant with his unimpressive weight, but his searching hands are a much larger danger, since they reach up and up and seek for his neck to wrap around. No wrestling for the bag itself happens; Kaoru seems fixed on dealing damage to this man, instead, and clearly intends on getting the bag back that way.]
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Luckily for the servant, though, his struggle doesn't go unwitnessed. While he claws at Kaoru's hands with his free hand to try and make him let go, another servant coming out of another room spots the struggle and lets out a piercing yell. This isn't the place for a covert fight; there are loud, pounding footsteps and it's clear enough that in the next couple of minutes the area is going to be swarming with Nagumo clan demons come to see what all the commotion is.
The servant knows that all he has to do is hold out long enough for one of the family members to arrive.]
What were ya— [The words come out strangled and choked, since that's basically what's happening right now.] Hiding this for, huh? You little sneak!
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[Kaoru can feel hands at his arms and back trying to pull him away, but his rage serves as an untapped source of fuel, driving him forward even as his knuckles and fingers are scratched raw. HE IS CHOKING THIS POOR DUDE WITH THE SINGLE-MINDED FOCUS of a future serial killer, basically. Wow. Here's your warning, Nagumo clan...
He isn't even paying as much attention to the bag anymore as he should be, instead using his pretty sizeable strength to slam the servant's head back into the door frame once, twice, three times-- each hit stronger than the last, until the wood splinters. It seems like he'd have kept going too, if it weren't for the fact that enough members show up by that point to forcefully wrench him away, and even then he still struggles forward like a spitting cat, hands lashing out wildly like he could still finish choking the life out of that man if he could just reach. The members unfortunate enough to be closest to him aren't spared either, whoops... With angry shouts and cries of don't touch me!, he violently elbows one in the stomach so hard that they drop to their knees, bringing his feet down on the shins and toes of so many people that he eventually has to be picked up (and then the kicking starts, oh boy!!)
By now, the bag has likely fallen into the hands of another clan member, one who is in less immediate danger of Death By Kaoru.]
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At least most of the wounds he's inflicting on the servants and lower-ranking family members who have to restrain him will be easily dealt with. Many of them are already starting to heal, though the first servant's injuries are much more severe - the crashing of skull against wall has splintered more than just the wood, and there are bits of what looks like bone, blood, and cranial fluid splattered across the ground. He's still breathing and he'll heal, but it will certainly take more time and he may never be quite the same.
If nothing else, Kaoru has at least accomplished that much.
The family member examining the pouch spoons up a small amount of the powder within on his finger and tastes it - his expression sours and he goes to tell a higher-ranking member what he's found. That family member approaches once Kaoru has been properly restrained, and his hand snakes out to grab him roughly by the chin and hold his head in place. Here's hoping the others have his legs grabbed so he can't kick him...]
Why were you hoarding poison under your floorboards? Answer me.
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