[D5 LA] Thank the Fortunes It's Raining

[Kitsu Murato]

"I appreciate it," he says accepting, and taking a bite. Apparently it didn't put him off his appetite, and the difficult mud gripping at their feet probably did more to get increase it.

"So, a village a days ride from the castle sent for help. They were worried about one of the futons, umm," he thinks for a few seconds, "...boroboroton. It had apparently been a relatively accepted part of the village, with other item spirits. They just did their thing and threw their parties. Then some idiot built a protection shrine... Didn't consult anyone. Upset, the futon killed the one that built the shrine. He didn't make it by the time we got there. I spent a day, removing the shrine while a cousin purified the area. That night the damn thing came at me too."

He stopped and turned his back, pulling his kimono dow from the back of his neck. There was a scar that looked like rope burn but didn't make it all the way around.

"I sleep face down so it got me by the back. That hurt," he said looking out in the air. "And Taiko-san didn't wake me... no, don't give me that. You wake me for training all the time."

He shook his head before bringing the kimono back into place, looking at her with a smirk.

"Sorry, Taiko-san can be a jerk at times with his comments."

[Kuni Yasu]

Yasu hisses in empathy at the sight of the scar, shaking her head as she munches her own onigiri. "Lucky to just have a scar, neh? Who doesn't do their divinations and surveying before building a shrine?"

She grins and shrugs a bit. "Anyway, don't need to apologize for Taiko-san when I can't hear him. He can cuss me out with impunity."

"Shrines though," she lifts the half-eaten onigiri in a finger pointing sort of gesture. "Placing them in the Wastes is really important. The land's spiritually dead, which'd be pretty unhealthy for people long term, yeah? But you can enshrine spirits and set them up carefully and those spirits kind of attract others that are curious or whathaveyou. So we pretty much chain those all across the Wastes so some kind of kami can travel from shrine to shrine throughout the wastes."

She pauses beneath a cedar, nearly as large as the ones enshrined back at the castle, looking up into the branches. "So you can imagine we take a lot of care to place them just right."

[Kitsu Murato]

"Villagers that don't know any better and cause the dancing spirits to begin with," he said. "It's a problem from time to time. Probably less so in the wastes without farms around."

The Kitsu takes a few more bites, finishing off the food. He then pauses near a hanging branch that has rain streaming off it to drink a few sips of rain water.

"See, now that's something that is probably very unique to the Kuni situation that I'd love to learn more about. The shrines, I am guessing they are in some specific overall pattern? Or are they trails that lead from location to location?"

He then steps out of the way of the natural plumbing to let her drink if she wishes.

"It's all very interesting. I... would love to see that with you. Get the personalized tour. I can't speak to how romantic a series of shrines in the wastes would be, but just you being there would be enough to keep my interests."

He looks at her, probably feeling like into her. His eyes still showing what must be an excited shimmer.

[Kuni Yasu]

She looks over the tree with a somewhat analytical eye, wanting to be sure it wasn't poisonous or harboring disease that would make drinking from the leaves an issue. "Mostly trails, but since they're laid to take advantage of natural terrain and conditions that would normally create spiritual shifts, it does make something of a pattern. There's definitely study to see if there might be something we can discover about that pattern that would strengthen it, maybe help fill in between the paths in some fashion. Nothing has made much difference there yet, but it's always a busy topic at the solstice gatherings."


Eventually deciding that she'd heard a distinct lack of rumors or warnings about any such thing, so it was probably fine. Moving the umbrella aside, she tips her face to the rain, and the thin stream of water chasing down the tree. Knowing that this was hardly a tidy method of getting water, she wasn't surprised as it ran across her chin, down her throat, and beneath her collar before she caught it on her tongue. It leaves a pale streak down her throat where some of the white oshiroi runs with it, and drops catch in braids and eyelashes as she finishes, looking to Murato once more.

Her eyes though are troubled. There's a hesitancy as she speaks. "I'd like to show them to you, Murato-san. Whether or not they set us together, you'll be welcome to visit. I hope..." That sense of holding back grows as she fidgets, placing both hands around the handle of her umbrella, sandals slide-shifting to balance on a tree root that's felt underfoot more than seen.

"I need to apologize, for...being so forward when I had no right to be." It was that impulsive kiss that set things off that she should have known she wasn't free to follow up on. So...start there.

[Kitsu Murato]

With the shift in conversation to the evening meal, he nods. "It's just a little bit of impulsiveness between candidates. Worse things have happened. Do not worry over it."

He turns to face her fully, his eyes tracing that line drawn on her neck to her mouth from the stream of water. "But for me, not many better things have. I was, taken in by you, if my note did not make it clear. As you say and as I mentioned, there's no guarantee we'll be matched. I know that. But you... make me want that... and to spend time with you and share moments like the other night. To slowly come to know each other more intimately. You are intelligent, capable, and beautiful and the fortunes are kind to have blessed me with the chance to know you."

It was like the tone of the letter he sent had been given life in his expression and his eyes, seeking hers out.

[Kuni Yasu]

She looks down between them for a long moment, biting the inside of her cheek. With a small huff of breath, she looks up, eyes shadowed by more than the umbrella and overcast. "It would be a good match. I'm more sure of that every moment. I'd welcome it. You're fearless, persistent, and a little intoxicating." A very short, single tone laugh punctuates the list of his virtues, with a nod mostly to herself. This was all true. But...

Her eyes close on a sigh, "but I'm apologizing because my heart's not free to have been...been making promises I can't keep right now. If we leave here free to make good on them?" She leaves the rest unsaid. It would be a lie to say she'd be happy in that circumstance. There'd be pain with that outcome, but also the comfort of knowing they were set to a solid foundation to grow something new. Assuming she hadn't poisoned that well for good raising false hopes.

[Kitsu Murato]

He looks at her, trying to figure out what she is saying without saying it. She was stepping around the direct wording. And he was working through it...

His mind catches up to the words. A quick inhale... And for his own sake he lowers his umbrella. The rain would help him hide what he felt. It had to.

Another, had found someone, and thus Murato was found wanting. He knew why it hurt more this time... but it was further evidence that something must be wrong with him if he is continuing to be seen as just another candidate while others were seen as worthy of love. And he had believed it possible to build such a thing. Apparently it simply just happened.

He realized he was holding his breath while trying to prevent the outward display of what he felt inside. He exhaled, the rain hiding the tears he could not stop. But his eyes literally lost their shine, becoming dull as he looked to her.

Just a memory then, no promise necessary, he thinks as he looks to the netsuke.

Finally, after what felt like an age, he replies his voice cracking only slightly for a moment. "You were explaining the shrines?"

When she finally found herself looking to him, his eyes never quite meet hers, slightly offset from direct contact. His smile was something you would see on a person that swore they were okay for appearances. And yet he continues through the motions as though nothing had ever been felt, even though the feelings were as clear as the night is dark.

[Kuni Yasu]

Yasu is silent a moment her own eyes welling up without, quite, spilling over. It's as well that he won't meet them. "I was." She says quietly, but pauses.

"It's..." she wants to apologize again, and again. Her fingers twine in the thin cord woven with his own hands. "Thank you." For the gift, for confirming the connection was real and not some courtier's game, for a lesson, and a memory.

"The shrines...they're very carefully planned..um, a lot of stone." She keeps blinking back the unshed tears. "I think, you'd really like seeing the details...' If he was willing to visit.

She takes one step, continuing their path in the forest, and stops. Abrupt. "Maybe this is why it should all be left to the matchmakers. Just..keep everyone's hearts out of it until they're paired up by the nakodo."

[Kitsu Murato]

He nods as she continues, listening. He had made two promises. One would likely go forever unfulfilled... he would not let the other go the same way. The umbrella he carried dangling at his side between them almost like a shield.

He turned to walk alongside her. The last statement was met by him shaking his head. "No. Then I never would have had the opportunity and you would not have found your chance at love."

He didn't look. He dare not look. Not in this moment. He had simply paused when she did. "But I gave my word, and I aim to keep it, Kuni-san."

Using her family name, keeping space with the umbrella, failing to look her in the eye... it was clear that he was doing his best to be as stoic and proper as he could manage.

[Kuni Yasu]

Unseen, she nods once. "Of course, you're right..Kitsu-san." There's a pause, shifting back to that more formal address took a moment of thought. She walks again, letting the umbrella define an appropriate space.

After a short time in silence, she asks, apologetic again. "Sorry again, we've...talked a bit. Which word are you referring to? The one that comes to mind was in the note with your gift." To not forget the time they had together seemed an appropriate sentiment.