Get_Medieval (get_medieval) wrote,
@ 2013-01-10 01:14:00

She has the power to change what she thinks is wrong - from Can't Change Me by Chris Cornell
Regardless of how things have changed, at least in people's knowledge, Hajime hasn't shown signs of changing a bit. He still mostly lives between the training facilities, his room for sleep and cleanliness purposes, and his personal shrine, more or less in that order. He's at the latter currently, speaking silently with his ancestors.

(Post a new comment)

hotlittlehands
2013-01-10 07:02 am UTC (link)

Kayura was on the job in the library. Keiji was with her, both as emergency backup in case of sudden ogres -- one could never discount that these days, with Kayura -- and as consultant. And Amiko, well, she was feeling as on top of things as could be managed at the moment.

There were, indeed, only so many places to find Hajime. She approached quietly and waited patiently until he was done.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	get_medieval 2013-01-10 07:06 am UTC (link)
	Done can be subjective. He's said the necessary prayers, now its just... talking. "Hello, Amiko-sama." he calls, from the shrine, starting to stand and turn, before bowing respectfully. "There is something I can help you with?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

hotlittlehands
2013-01-10 07:19 am UTC (link)

She hadn't meant to interrupt. She knows what it's like. Well, sort of what it's like.

"I wanted you to be informed. The forensic artist's sketch of the man Keiji saw has been sent, with what context we can give, some invocation of clan connections and my father's influences, where applicable, to the PSIA, Interpol, and SHIELD, as well as some of my father and Yukio's less official connections. The information is spreading fairly well. We will have a lead on where he can be found soon. The only risk is it spreading that we are looking, but, admittedly, my family has never had a strong objection to the Hand's knowing we were coming for them."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	get_medieval 2013-01-10 07:21 am UTC (link)
	"I have no objection. If it means that he can be brought to justice, and some hope of my family being able to rest, you will have my thanks. I will do all I can." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	hotlittlehands 2013-01-10 07:29 am UTC (link)
	"I'm sure you will. And it is always good to see such people brought to justice, in addition to the urgency of preventing the Hand from making further such actions. We'll do it. And ... please forgive any unprofessionalism, but as a friend, I'm very happy they may be able to rest soon. Seven hundred years of your life is enough." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	get_medieval 2013-01-10 07:35 am UTC (link)
	He nods. "It will be a great honor to finally put the clan to rest. I do not know how many generations there were, but they were surely never the same. Ronin rarely made history." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

hotlittlehands
2013-01-10 07:43 am UTC (link)

She frowns. Just thinking of Hajime in connection with ronin is almost cognitive dissonance -- even though she doesn't have as much stigma attached to the thought, considering Yukio. Her heart ached for him. They wre going to nail the bastard.

She nods. "But justice will happen. And then you can consider the future of your line." Maybe she could finally set up that date. She wanted them happy so much.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	get_medieval 2013-01-10 07:46 am UTC (link)
	A brow raises at that. "There... will not be a future of my line, Amiko-sama. I am the last. Killing my father's killer does not eliminate our failure... he still failed his daimyo. Someone must still atone if they are to go to their proper end." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

hotlittlehands
2013-01-10 08:08 am UTC (link)

The horror is only on her eyes for a moment as it all goes through her mind, but it feels longer.

She's about to ask him what he means, but she knows.

She's about to tell him that's not how it works -- and it isn't. Her Lady-Mother laid down her life in the struggle to fix what had happened to the clan, but once it was fixed, that would have been it. Her interuppted marriage could have resumed; Shingen's sins could have been laid to rest after him. As she had not had to slay him herself, she could have moved on.

But while Yashida Mariko was old-fashioned enough to be a great daimyo, she was not from the 14th century. People had the wrong idea back then.

And normally, Amiko is always ready to say when something's wrong. Criminals, bureaucrats, and Yomiuri Giants fans alike have all met the brutal force of her impeccable correction.

She'd corrected Hajime before, of course, about perfectly understandable ignorance in navigating the modern world, and he had immediately been corrected (even without understanding the new information). But that wasn't about his family.

It wasn't that she hadn't broken down a man's total worldview before. But Keiji had been duped, manipulated, and abused. He'd been made into a weapon of lies, and there was something else he was supposed to be, and Amiko felt that deep down, he'd known it.

Hajime was exactly what he was supposed to be. There was nothing more to say about this.

And Amiko, with her push for the investigation and pursuit, a pursuit she can't in good conscience call off....she's killed him.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

hotlittlehands
2013-01-10 08:15 am UTC (link)

The professional poker face comes quickly.

"Please excuse my mistake," she says, her voice flat and even, because she won't let it tremble.

"And I am afraid that I cannot lose you" ~~because you're my friend and I'd have killed you like I kill so many I care about~~ "as a national asset at this time." Cool, smooth. "We will continue the pursuit, but when justice is done, you will await further notice before doing anything that would remove you from my service."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	get_medieval 2013-01-10 08:18 am UTC (link)
	There's only the briefest of pauses before he bows, and his demeanor never shifts. "My family has failed one daimyo. So close to clearing my family's name, and our shame, and letting them rest, we will not fail another. It will be as you say. To live is to serve. And no apologies are necessary. From you, not ever." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	hotlittlehands 2013-01-10 08:26 am UTC (link)
	Shame. There's that cognitive dissonance again. And she's ordering him to live with it, make his clan live with it. She hates herself, but she keeps her mouth shut. She'll find a way, somehow, to fix this. "Of course. Thank you for your time, Hajime-san. I will continue to keep you appraised of the leads on the killer." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	get_medieval 2013-01-10 08:29 am UTC (link)
	Any recrimination is on her. He shows no signs of blaming her. Perhaps its simply his family has waited this long, they will wait until this, too, is worked out. Until then, he will serve. He will be a samurai, and his life is not his own. His family would wish it that way. "I thank you, Amiko-sama. I will be ready to go at any time." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	hotlittlehands 2013-01-10 08:35 am UTC (link)
	Well of course it's on her. That's how she operates. How would he know to blame her? She has to do it for him. She nods and, with appropriate decorum for the area, leaves, feeling powerless. (Reply to this)(Parent)

scribbld is part of the horse.13 network
Design by Jimmy B.
Logo created by hitsuzen.
Scribbld System Status