[D14, MM] No More Tears (Expecting, Open)

[Asahina Soyokaze]

He couldn't go to his newly betrothed looking like a mess even if he felt like one. His skin nearly bled by the time he finished scrubbing, making the hot water of the pool sting even more.

"Everyone looks so happy."

[Kitsu Murato]

Murato entered the baths, and stepped into the pool after a good scrub. He looks to Soyokaze and pauses a moment before sitting in the water. His expression is neutral, not really knowing what to say. He imagined that the Crane didn't know who she had ended up with. She had been with him all morning after all.

So in the subtlest way he could think to at the moment, he confirmed for Soyokaze, while trying to change the subject immediately. "Who... did the Deer match you with?" It was not 'did they match you with Bai?'. Because he knew the answer to that, and by not asking it, he had told Soyo who she had been matched with.

[Asahina Soyokaze]

He didn't need to be told, he knew it in his heart the moment he read his letter but the unspoken truth will still a small comfort; she would still be happy. "I am to be wed to Moto Mitsuki." He had to swallow hard after he got the words out.

...



....



"Congratulations."

[Kitsu Murato]

With the water settled and steam not swirling anymore, the scars on Murato's upper body become clearly visible. He couldn't see the Crane's back, but it was just one more thing that the two had in common.

He nodded in appreciate to the Crane, "Thank you, Soyokaze-san." There was a sense of sorrow in his tone when he said thank you. He knew that it would be difficult for Bai as well. He had already experienced heartbreak once during this miai so he was acutely aware of the pain. And had he not suffered that heartbreak then it's possible that Soyokaze wouldn't be feeling his right now either.

"Mitsuki-san is a wonderful woman," he says with a nod. "Apples. Arvel enjoys them. He'll likely be skittish around you for a while. But not too many apples. Just an occasional treat."

He just said it. He didn't think how it might make Soyokaze feel his rival over Oubaihime likely already knew more about his betrothed as well. The though just didn't come to his mind in that moment. And after he said it, it finally hit him that he probably should not have done so and he looked away embarrassed.

[Asahina Soyokaze]

Unfortunately the Crane took the comment just how Murato had predicted. "I see, thank you for that is there anything else you would share with me?" He couldn't keep the Kitsu's gaze any longer and began swirling the water around him with his arms.

[Kitsu Murato]

"I... that was rather, odd for me to have said. I'm sorry. Just to clarify, I never courted Mitsuki-san. She traveled with me when she passed by Shiro sano Ken Hayai, the castle that controls the Unicorn and Lion border. So I got to know here a bit there. She... never showed any interest in me even with such a long trip." It felt awkward that he wanted to explain that.

"But if I could offer any other advice it would be to say that you are a wonderfully talented and kind man and you should be that man. I won't offer anything more than that because you won't need it."

[Asahina Soyokaze]

"No explanation is needed Kitsu-san, I have lived a sheltered life and yours were more worldly, hers much more so. It seems reasonable that you would have met before if not here." he sank down a bit more in the water. "I would offer you some advice but I am terrible at it and you haven't seemed to need any." he paused a moment to grapple with something inside himself. "Kitsu or Kaito?"

[Kitsu Murato]

"Kaito," he said hoping that would provide a bit more reassurance. He hadn't dropped hints to the Deer based on what Soyokaze asked of him, but for completely different reasons. But the Crane didn't need to know that. If he could feel a little bit like he had helped Bai be safe Mura wasn't going to steal that from him.

"And feel free to offer advice. After all. You have before and it helped me."

[Asahina Soyokaze]

He was relieved, very relieved and it showed but did little to brighten his mood, he was cold but his words were honest. "I am glad to hear that, neither of you deserve the strife of war, I hope the Phoenix can stay out of it. I have no advice to give though, I have nothing right now. I will tell you something and I hope you don't think me mad for it. I think I did something, something in a previous life that has angered the Kami. I can think of other reason why I have had to suffer so but I will spend the rest of my life trying to make amends for it. I was not worthy of her, not in this life but I will be in the next. I hope when that life comes we do not find ourselves intertwined in this way, I would rather be your brother than your rival."

[Kitsu Murato]

"Why do you think you weren't worthy of her? Did she ever say that? I do know what it feels like to be told that you are not good enough for someone you've fallen for. That some other man holds so much sway over her heart that you become a footnote or an afterthought. That is not what happened here. She loves us both, but the deer made a decision. But don't let that stop you from searching for happiness with Mitsuki-san. It is possible to hold love for multiple people in your heart and Bai proves that. Try to be like her in this," he suggest.