(D4, LE) It's Filling Me Up!

[Kitsu Murato]

"I'm supposed to be helping with some spirits as well, though I am still waiting on details," he says with a nod. "Back home they tend to come to me. Enough know each other that they learn about me from one another. They all interact too, though it looks a bit different. Perhaps one day I'll be able to attend a spirit party."

[Kitsuki Hajime]

"A spirit...party?" That sounded strange. "That sounds interesting. Are they often reveling, our ancestors?"

[Kitsu Murato]

"Just a supposition. But past emperors have held plenty of parties. And since the empire mirrors Tengoku, it stands to reason that there are parties in heaven as well. So it would

[Kitsuki Hajime]

"I suppose so." Hajime tilted his head. "I must confess that I hadn't thought of that. Certainly spirits and their influence have always created a great number of unknowns, like this business with the paintings. Fortunately, that turned out not to have been a spirit's work, but if it had been, then the possibilities become much more difficult to narrow, for a spirit could very much be interested in anything, whereas a forger and a prankster tend to have easily identifiable concerns."

[Kitsu Murato]

"A spirit in general can be looking for anything," he agrees with a nod. "But individual spirits tend to be singular in their focus. Once you figure out what they want it tends to be easy to pick your next step."

Then his eyes light with remembrance.

"Ah! Some spirits do have parties... I forgot. Abandoned object spirits will gather and create ghostly music while dancing around, so they don't feel lonely. It's a bit tragically beautiful."

[Kitsuki Hajime]

"It sounds it," murmured Hajime, who as a misplaced object had some idea what a lost one might feel like.

"Does Kitsu-sama spend all his free time with spirits, or does he have other interests as well?"

[Kitsu Murato]

"Well, technically I do spend all my time, free or not, with one spirit who is always hanging around. But I do also enjoy other hobbies. I like performing, introspection, and as I mentioned before poetry. Though I am certainly not as accomplished as you. But I also like to maintain a fitness and readiness for battle even if I am among the most unlikely to be assigned to it. And my love of temples and shrines... I likely sound like I have close to no focus," he says with a guilty smile. "Might be easier to list the things I don't enjoy honestly. Like shogi tournaments... and cabbage... yeah, that about sums it up."

[Kitsuki Hajime]

"I feel much the same way about my swordsmanship as you do about fitness, though I confess that I am not much of an athlete. I simply feel that if I were so blessed as to be called upon to use my training instead of my talents, I ought to be ready for it."

He tilted his head. "And I appreciate a man with such varied interests. A dull life would be a great burden to bear, I think. For myself, well, I seldom run out of engaging topics of which I can learn. It's really the unknown that fascinates me most, I think. The unknown, and the unmasking of it."

[Kitsu Murato]

"It certainly is something that I enjoy. Though it's the little unknowns that have tended to bring me the most rewarding feeling. Learning about an individual, gaining understanding of a person's way of life, learning how they feel about duty or what their dreams are. Connecting. Learning how my life differs from another's. Seeing the waves rather than watching the ocean."

[Kitsuki Hajime]

Hajime nodded slowly. "And have you learned what you wished to about me, Kitsu-sama? Do you feel as though we have connected?"