Kyuden Shika

Water should dot it. Fiery, steaming water. That stench he got after going… touched. It wasn’t going away. Both the Moth and then the monk. As much as the latter helped to renew a sensation of being clean. He got defiled. Touched by mortal hands.

Yuzu nearly breaks it as his butt touched the water. He almost cracks on tears.

But no. His brainwashing training as Miharu allows him to surpass emotional distress and treat it as simple, shameful failures he had to overcome.

He stars to scratch his skin with a hard spounge. Trying to remove the taint. So much, both his arm, and then his cheeks and forehead get slightly reddened by the brushing.

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OOC: Yuzu might get really grumpy and violent at some point due to strife.

It was a nice afternoon to take a bath...after all, Otters need to be hydrated frequently, lest they dry out. Not to mention a nice soak would relieve sore muscles from a day of skipping miai activities for some exercise. Can't be too excited at getting married or look too eager. Deer would probably think it was something auspicious or some other nonsense.

And so after disrobing and getting the first steps of the cleansing out of the way, Tadasu walked into the bath area and slipped into a steaming pool, sliding down carefully and slipping a hand behind his head to relax against the edge. He didn't even notice that there was another samurai present, but when he heard the sounds of scrubbing, he looked over and raised an eyebrow. Some Deer kid, probably...

"Keep scrubbing like that and you're going to look like a member of the Crab after they've been in a hotpot."

Another mortal sharing the same waters?

How INSULTING!

Yuzu narrows his eyes and asks. Right away, “The Crab are honorable defenders of this realm. Hida-kami himself one of my Ancestors. What is your problem with them?”

He effing throws the spounge into the hot springs, making it splash water all over, and, looking like a rabid dog towards the Otter samurai, narrows his gaze.

An intensive, challenging gaze.

A raised eyebrow comes now from the Otter, giving the kid a second look...hm, doesn't seem terribly familiar. Way he's worked up though, maybe he is a Crab. Wonder what his issue is...

"Humor, my russet skinned bathing companion. Turn of phrase, pun...whatever you'd like to call it. Doesn't seem like you're much in the mood though. Don't seem like much of a Crab though...you don't have the dead look in the eyes, the gruff voice, and your hands don't look like they've gripped much other than a calligraphy brush given the lack of callouses. Crab hands look like they could crush the life out of you."

He met the gaze of the furious one and simply waited for a reaction.

“Present yourself like a true samurai. If you’re indeed one.” He commands, so far, in a calm tone of voice.

A command? In a bath? Pfft.

"I'm afraid that if I bow, I might drown and to rob my lord of my life without his permission would be most uncouth of me...but perhaps you'd like to introduce yourself first, so that I might be able to appropriately show my deference, samurai-san. After all, we are but two men in a bath and unless you have a tattoo somewhere that openly declares your identity, I haven't the faintest idea of who you are."

"My identity is given by birth. Such as yours. Dressed or undressed, I am samurai, as you claim to be yourself. Now, circumvent this display of dishonor and give me your name and rank." The tone of voice intensifies, and his Otosan Uchi Imperial accent gets doubly reinforced.

"Now! Before I take offense."

He also raises up.

Ah, there it was. The hoighty toighty attitude made sense now. Tadasu hadn't picked up on the accent right away, mostly due to trying to relax in the bath. Kid's got a chip on his shoulder the size of the Kaiu Wall...ah well.

Remaining seated in the water and leaned back in his relaxed posture, he simply met the gaze of the risen Seppun. "For one speaking of dishonor, I have not yet brushed aside the tenets of Compassion and Courtesy as you have so brazenly done, samurai-sama," he offers, stressing the honorific...but either in jest or in seriousness it is hard to tell, given his deadpan delivery.

"But truly, perhaps you are the honorable one, giving me the opportunity to introduce myself first so that you might temper your expectations. I am known as Susaki Tadasu. Would you do me the illustrious honor of your name, samurai-sama?"

“I am Seppun Yuzu. Governor of Chisei. I also hope Inari-kami has been kind to you, since I won’t be if you do not retract your accusations of dishonor towards me right now.”

He sneers, adding something he should have kept to himself, “Or should I both lecture in etiquette first and then draw your blood next so decorum gets ingrained in your flesh.”

"Hm. Never heard of you."

As the Imperial berates and then threatens him, Tadasu fixes his gaze a bit more intensely on the arrogant fellow, considering. Pretty sure I could take him, especially in a bath...but then other complications. Let's try the diplomatic approach first. Switching up his tone to something a bit less aloof, the Otter sits up a bit.

"Inari has been kind enough to grant me their blessing this day, though it seems her wrathful aspect may be catching up to me through you, Seppun-sama. As for the drawing of blood, I do not believe that it would serve either of us to spill each others. Both to keep the blade of your ancestors clean from my lesser blood and to not cause my lord any undue frustration that might come with my blade tasting yours."

Taking up a nearby warm rock, he wraps it in a towel and places it behind his right shoulder, leaning back on it and enjoying the heat. Try deflecting a bit.

"Is trying to scrub your skin from your bones a usual practice for you, Seppun-sama, or has it earned your ire for some other reason this day?"