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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 6, 2019 0:17:07 GMT
It had been a long week.
Naoki was ecstatic about getting to meet the infamous Karyuudo, and that he seemed to not be the enemy after all. But he had learned within the first few hours not to talk too much about it with Ryo, who had withdrawn, confused and conflicted now. Unsurprisingly, he was highly doubtful of the Karyuudo’s ability to simply provide a cure, but while the emperor would undoubtedly have something to protect himself from Noroi and would thus be a source to get it from… it was all based on catching Karyuudo. Ryo hadn’t been able to ask for anything yet, and he had always known the risk of possibly being refused.
Karyuudo had offered the cure. And for what? To work together? As a team?
That alone was difficult to imagine working out.
Kitsune was used to being a solo act, enabling his recklessness and preventing concerns over someone else getting hurt. All his life, Ryo hadn’t really found people who could keep up with him… or wanted to.
For once, however, it was probably good that he was used to being alone. He needed the time to think, taking out his frustrations on some thieves one evening, not as focused on reconnaissance as he usually was. But his head was on a perpetual track, running back and forth between trusting someone he had actively tracked down and attacked, and a man not known for his own good will. The former had offered hope, the other had not. The former knew about his secret ability, the other did not. Who to trust? It was enough to make him feel like he was going mad.
After another long night, Kitsune found himself darting between the shadows of the encroaching morning, looking about the old buildings that made up this area of town. A place that looked favorably upon the Karyuudo. Had he gone there to face the man down again, then? Did he really want to? This uncertainty, this… strange sort of truce… was worse than fighting the great hunter.
It was here, leaning against the upper part of a roof, when he heard it. Kitsune paused, thinking over the voice that had sounded faint but so recognizable, but how? A look over the roof’s edge explained why. The helmet must have distorted her voice a little, but it didn’t hinder the sound of Kasumi’s cry of pain as an Imperial guard lifted her arm up, the men laughing. Invisible beneath his helmet, Kitsune’s lip curled, and in less than a heartbeat had disappeared from the roof.
The only thing the guards would say was that somehow the figure was now in their midst, as he seemed to appear in the blink of an eye. As soon as he had appeared his hand had grabbed the arm of the man tightly, fingers pinching into the exposed tendons in his wrist and making him release Kasumi’s arm immediately, crying out in pain himself as well as surprise. “I didn’t think the emperor was interested in sending his guards to go flower picking,” Kitsune’s voice taunted, dark as it had been when defending Naoki against Karyuudo. With a shove, he released the man into a few of his fellow guards, putting himself between Kasumi and the men at least on this side.
Once recovered from his surprise, the same guard pulled out his gun, the humor in the men gone at the intruder’s insulting remarks. “You’re a fool for getting involved,” he growled, aiming his weapon at the masked figure. “We work in the service of the Emperor. Challenging us is like challenging him.” Kitsune laughed, surprising the men given the gun aimed at him, shaking his head almost in pity. “Well then. I guess I’m challenging the emperor,” he mocked openly, then he struck.
For anyone who had seen him fight before, the edge of anger was evident in his technique this time. His hand had grabbed the gun in a flash, spinning in and jumping to deliver a knee to the guard’s face, taking him down in seconds. Before the others could even react, Kitsune had started on them, a roundhouse kick to one that flowed into an uppercut punch into another. One guard had taken his sword out and lashed out at Kitsune’s back, but was shocked to find he almost cut one of his compatriots instead. Somehow, Kitsune had ended up between Kasumi and the men who had been behind her, disarming one and using the sword hilt to knock out the other. The last two had pulled back from their near friendly fire, only to turn and run when they saw the masked man begin to run towards them. Running ahead and between, Kitsune flipped in front of them, using his momentum to jump into one, spinning the man before crashing his face into the ground, deftly blocking an attack by the other before grabbing both arms and jumping to kick with both feet into his stomach. The kick let Kitsune flip back onto his feet as the other went flying, but he didn’t hit the ground. Instead, Kitsune was suddenly grabbing his collar, and with one solid punch knocked the man out cold. His methods had been direct, knocking out the men in short order rather than relishing the fight as he might have done, were Kasumi not there.
Dropping the last guard like a limp rag doll, he walked over to Kasumi, noticing her bound hand. “You alright?” he asked, his tone now full of only concern, only slightly breathing hard after taking out the seven men.
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 6, 2019 0:51:42 GMT
It was strange to find the shoe on the other foot, to be the one rescued rather than the rescuer. That fact, and the skill and speed of which Kitsune had taken down the guards had struck her momentarily speechless. During the fight, there had been nothing for her to do but clutch her injured arm to her chest, watching with wide eyes as the guards fell before her. When she finally did find her voice, it wasn’t to answer his question. “How did you do that?” she sounded, perhaps, surprisingly calm considering what she had just witnessed. Then again, perhaps not so surprising if she moved in similar circles as Karyuudo, as might be suggested by the fact that she had been the one the ‘he’ had trusted to watch over Kitsune when he had been injured. Her words might have seemed to be just in general in regards to the fight, but what she said next clearly pointed to exactly what she meant.
“You disappeared. How…?” she paused, eyes moving over the felled guards, before returning to Kitsune.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 6, 2019 1:31:12 GMT
Kitsune hesitated at her questions, glancing back at the men momentarily as one started to groan. “I know where we can talk, it’ll be safer,” he noted, and with one arm pulled Kasumi in close, not unlike how he had when the cart had started to roll towards her. This time the move was calm and not rushed, however, his hand gently holding her waist as he looked to the nearby rooftops. Not even a second later they were there, he looking down at the guards for a moment again to make sure their retreat wasn’t observed before moving on.
Carrying someone during his teleporting was more difficult because it was dependent upon where he picked to land. When he was alone, he was reckless because he could simply teleport somewhere else. With Kasumi, he’d hesitate if he didn’t see a reliable ledge ahead, slowing their progress a little, enough to see just how quickly he could traverse the distance. But Kasumi’s early assumption about his ability had been correct - it was always to a place he could see, even if only for a heartbeat. But he went high then low, only once letting them hover in the air before he found the right ledge to land on, with a confidence that came only from years of practice. After all, they managed to traverse to the other side of the old town within minutes.
Finally they arrived at the safe place Kitsune had in mind, a park path that wound its way around a large pond, well sheltered by the trees around it. There wasn’t another soul visible in the area, which was probably his intention. “We’re safe here,” Kitsune said as he looked back at Kasumi, then - as if aware suddenly of how close she had to be in order for him to carry her so far - slowly pulled his hand back as he stepped away, and for the first time showed an awkward hesitation even with his Kitsune mask. “You… you certainly seem to work your way into trouble, don’t you?” he asked, well aware of the mask hiding his face and trying very hard to stay firmly behind it.
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 7, 2019 5:38:17 GMT
Of course, Kasumi had been witness to Kitsune’s teleportation before, but she had not had any chance to question him on it until now, as previously he had used that very skill to take himself abruptly away. Even so, seeing it being done was very different to actually physically witnessing it... When he had pulled her in, she hadn’t resisted or even tensed with the action, which was perhaps a testament to how she had subconsciously begun to trust Ryo, only returning his gaze questioningly. His actions soon became clear as they suddenly found themselves on the rooftops, Kasumi gasping in surprise rather than fear, her hand reaching out to clutch the front of his suit. As they teleported again, she steadily became used to the feeling, and she found herself looking ahead to try and guess where they might end up next. At one point, she found her gaze straying from their path to him, and had found herself wishing she could see his face rather than the visor, a desire to be experiencing this with Ryo rather than Kitsune…
Their destination was beautiful and peaceful, especially with the slowly growing light of dawn as a backdrop. She was sorry, however, as Ryo pulled away, letting him go but already missing his touch. She wanted to mentally shake herself as the thought crossed her mind. She had just experienced something otherworldly, and yet, she seemed more preoccupied on focussing on Ryo’s touch!? She turned to smile at him in response to his words, her eyes glinting with the promise of a tease. “I don’t know what you mean.” She responded knowingly. “I seem to recall that the last time we met, you were the one who was in trouble.” For, the only time ‘Kitsune’ and ‘Kasumi’ had met was when she had been patching him up. She suspected Ryo was thinking about when they met in the marketplace and the incident with the cart, but didn’t comment on the fact, for obvious reasons. Or, perhaps he was merely commenting on the events of this evening... “So… how do you do it?” She asked again, taking a step towards the pond, her smile growing as she recognised the movement of the water was due to a large body of koi fish, swimming placidly without a care. Her eyes on the fish, she settled down to her knees, breaking the water’s surface with the fingertips of her uninjured hand, lightly stroking the scaly body of a koi that swam languidly past.
Of course, his teleportation was something which would be of great use to Karyuudo should she be able to utilise it. But, she was mainly driven to ask from personal curiosity.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 7, 2019 17:24:51 GMT
Kitsune laughed a little at her tease, but kept it restrained. Of course he was thinking about her being asked to watch over him after Karyuudo had apparently saved him, and of course he was thinking of the cart that almost bumped into her. Not for the first time, all of his interactions with Kasumi ran through his head, but this time he was glad for the mask to hide his awkward smile at the memories.
He paused at her question, needing a moment to think of what “it” she was referring to as he watched her by the pond’s edge, in a surreal sort of dreamy scenario. It was remembering her earlier prompt, before hearing the groaning guard, that answered his question. “I… just do,” he replied uncertainly about his teleporting, and unknowingly far more honest than she was likely to believe. But he had the mask to think of, so with an ease that clearly came from having a scripted line, he added, “One of the benefits of being yokai.”
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 7, 2019 20:40:58 GMT
“Yokai… is that what you are, then?” She looked up at him as she spoke; her mind flitting back to Ryo’s tattoo. “My old master’s favorite yokai.”, he had said. But he couldn’t be, could he? That was just the Kitsune persona, surely. Underneath, unmasked, he was just a man. Just like underneath, she was just a woman. Fate had twisted their roles, and she knew that fantastical things were possible when you know the right words and the right processes, so it made sense to her to believe that teleportation was something that could be learnt… and taught.
Either way, she was unlikely to find out now, speaking to him as Kasumi. She would have to be patient.
Pulling herself back up, standing before him and clasping her hands before her loosly, she smiled softly as she asked, “You said it would be safe to talk, here. Was there something you wanted to say?”
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 7, 2019 22:35:23 GMT
Her question actually fit perfectly within the framework he wanted to build. It was much easier to work as a mercenary when no one believed you were real… or human. To answer her question, he simply tilted his helmet with a somewhat knowing nod, neither confirming the label or denying it. He had called himself yokai, and using the name of Kitsune… well, it had been to keep distance between public attention and himself, in all honesty. The fact it was his master’s favorite yokai, his favorite myth, was enough to convince him. He knew nothing of the legacy he followed.
Kitsune hesitated at Kasumi’s second question, shrugging a little, going from persona to awkward in a few heartbeats. “Let’s just say… having a polite conversation isn’t something I’d want to mix Imperial guards with,” he replied, suddenly very aware of how it might seem, taking her to such a place. A safe place in his mind was somewhere he had felt safe; this little park was one of Masahiro’s favorite spots for impromptu picnics, and without thinking he had picked it to take Kasumi.
Then again, very little of what he did with Kasumi ever seemed to ease his awkward tension around her…
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 7, 2019 22:54:53 GMT
She looked momentarily confused; his answer was not what she had expected, with all of the things he could have possibly said in that moment. She had expected him to want to ask about Karyuudo, but instead he had shown that he had no actual plan for this impromptu meeting.
“So… what you’re saying is, you brought me here... just for a chat?” She looked amused, and she had easily noted the return of a sense of awkwardness to his form, characteristic of Ryo rather than the Kitsune persona. She approached a nearby tree, running her hand softly over its trunk as she spoke, her back to him at the moment. It might have given him chance to re-compose himself, but if it had, her next words would probably throw him off all over again. “So technically, you could say I’ve been kidnapped.” She turned to look back at him over her shoulder, her mouth yet again quirking into a teasing smile. “You picked a nice place to take me to, though.”
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 7, 2019 23:39:50 GMT
Kasumi’s predictions about Kitsune’s reactions was more spot on than he’d ever want to know, let alone admit. Had he gone to find her, to ask her about Karyuudo? No, he hadn’t even known she was going to be there.
But the amused little smile she offered made him pause, glad his face was covered as his cheeks grew a bit red. What on earth had she been expecting? As he grasped for an answer, having only intended to get her away from the guards that seemed on the verge of coming to, she instead offered quite a different response than he had expected.
Visibly, he jumped a little at the word “kidnapped,” hands rising as if in self defense. “What I didn’t-!” he started before he saw her smile, shaking his head with a slightly frustrated sigh that came from having been gotten so easily by her joke. Hands falling to his side before crossing his arms, not so much defensively as it was to simply do something with his hands, he looked about as he considered her words. For perhaps a few moments longer than intended, finally looking up at the slowly brightening sky.
“You’re safe here,” he repeated from before, with one very noticeable difference in the words. He began to turn, apparently ready to leave and return to the shadows, but he paused, as if weighing his options.
“How… how do you know Karyuudo?”
At last, he asked the question he had been wanting the answer to since he first met her. So often something came up, distracting from the situation, but the way he asked sounded… near defeat. Like he was risking one more chance at hope. It was very unlikely that Kitsune would ever let such a tone go near Karyuudo. It only punctuated his need to find the cure promised to him.
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 8, 2019 1:59:58 GMT
That was more like the sort of question Kasumi had been expecting, although it had been delivered in a tone very different to the one he had been using moments ago. Even so, it took her a moment to work out what kind of approach she wanted to go. She had to answer with something convincing, otherwise he would think she was merely evading, and she could hardly tell him the truth. So… how could she possibly know Karyuudo?
“I knew Karyuudo’s family... before it happened.” Was what she came up with, in the end. It had seemed the safest bet, vague enough in that she was hardly going to give him the family name, but believable. After all, someone, somewhere had to know of the family. She did, however, regret saying the last part, and it was evident in the way that she suddenly paled as soon as the words left her mouth. The statement would raise questions, and she could hardly mention the decimation of the Yǔ family without the possibility that Ryo would connect the dots. Even without explicitly mentioning her family name, the circumstances of her families’ demise were too specific, it would not take him long to put two and two together, drawing comparisons between Kasumi’s plight and Karyuudo’s and realising that the family was one in the same. Even if he had no knowledge of it now, it was not something she could gamble on that he would not discover.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 8, 2019 3:47:43 GMT
He turned back towards her as she spoke, curious but confused at her words and expression. True, he tried to think of what event she could have been referring to, and thinking towards the past was always a bit of a struggle… but he recalled some great tragedy, a family wiped out. He couldn’t remember the name, but it was enough to sound familiar. It made him wonder why Kasumi paled, though, unsure if it was Karyuudo’s family that was impacted, or her own. But that led to another question he had about what she said, of someone who could trust her with someone as potentially dangerous as Kitsune.
“Do you know who Karyuudo is?”
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 8, 2019 15:30:37 GMT
Why was she suddenly finding it so difficult to lie? The whole survival of Karyuudo relied on her keeping the truth hidden, to make sure his origins and his true identity were forever kept under wraps. Yet, somehow, with Ryo asking, she found herself stumbling over her words, revealing more than she had intended. At his next question, she was loathe to answer, slowly regaining her composure, although clearly no longer as at ease as she had been just a few moments before.
“Perhaps,” came the reply. Now it was her turn to cross her arms, mirroring him, except her action was defensive. “Why do you ask? What good will it do you to know?”
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 8, 2019 16:21:46 GMT
She grew defensive, uncertain how to handle his questions. His question had been spoken with little emotion, not accusing but needing to know. She seemed determined to protect Karyuudo.
The Karyuudo has chosen to show mercy on you.
Kasumi’s first words to him, just after he had initially attacked the great hunter. Words he had doubted because they made no sense, to show mercy to an enemy that had a power as dangerous as his.
Why are we fighting?
You don’t want to fight me.
Kitsune stood stiffly after her question, gaze cast down as he pondered. The same questions, the same lines kept running through his mind. He knew what Naoki wanted him to say… wanted to work with Karyuudo instead of the emperor. But that was based on hope.
“Do you trust him?”
The question was odd, given that she had all but admitted she knew who Karyuudo was. But it was asked with the same strange tone as earlier, when he asked her about the great hunter. Hoping one more time. Like it was his last chance, and he couldn’t risk another dead end.
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 8, 2019 16:48:02 GMT
At his next statement, she visibly calmed. This was a question she could answer with certainty.
“Yes.”
It was only a simple word, but it was firm, and it was clear that it was her honest answer, and something she believed ardently. She was curious, though, in the way that he had asked. Like he held her opinion in high esteem. They had enjoyed each others company, they had laughed and gotten on well… but did he really put so much stock into what she thought, that it would shape his actions in terms of Karyuudo?
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 8, 2019 17:31:34 GMT
Kitsune wasn’t sure what his reaction to her answer was. It was confident, certain, unwavering. She trusted Karyuudo… so did Naoki. And Masahiro, whose opinion Naoki relied so heavily upon. Could he? It wasn’t simply a question of curing himself, just to get off the inhibitor. Those struck with Noroi didn’t tend to last very long, and he was nearing a year. But if he couldn’t find a cure, Naoki was at risk.
With a deep breath, he changed his posture again, slipping back into his Kitsune role. “Alright,” he said, knowing he’d have to offer some response to Kasumi’s words. Another look at the brightening sky, and he quickly changed subjects, increasingly aware of how much more noticeable his abilities would be with the sun up. “It’s getting late. Can I drop you off somewhere?”
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