[D7 LE Outside] The end of a journey

[Bayushi Kaidan]

Leaving the open sky where the Fortunes could watch these two, Kaidan stood up with a bit of trouble. Ninya followed the two but didn't made walking any easier as she wove around his legs showing some concern. As the two samurai walked to Kaidan's room, he placed his arm around the Akodo's shoulder for suport. This gesture gave him comfort. Is this weird? Am I to be comforted like this? Why I feel so much better doing this? Where did these emotions come from? Is this regret? Is this love? Is this how betrayal feels? Is this anger... not anger, I have felt anger and frustration before. This is new...

"Thank you..." He whispered in the Akodo's ear. "I'll make some tea... Akodo san."

[Akodo Kichiro]

Kichiro wraps his arm around Kaidan to better support him as they reenter the laughing carp. A slow march forward with any comfort brought by their half embrace forcibly blocked out of his mind. A conflict of thoughts and feelings between them. An unspoken connection. Hard to ignore but Kichiro was simply carrying a friend home. Couldn't be anymore than that... Couldn't be.

Soon they arrive back at Kaidan's quarters. A chill in the air felt as Kichiro remembers the abhorrent horrors fought last time he was here. A gentle whisper of Kaidan's thanks only further makes him uneasy. Unsure why taht is. He takes his seat and takes note of the darkness outside the window. "Just enough time for one cup Kaidan-san. Any longer, I will ask for them to excuse you and have them send a healer while you get some rest. It's important that we see the other's gempukku's completed... but only if your feeling well enough." He says with a concerned voice. Both for Kaidan and the passage of time. He remembers that crystal blade he wielded last time he was here protecting Kaidan. Felt right in that moment. Like destiny's call. Will his katana, his soul, feel the same? A sense of complete purpose? No... There was a world of separation between protecting a friend and the horrors of war.

[Bayushi Kaidan]

"I don't think I will need a healer. Whatever poison I may have taken I think I can manage." Said the Bayushi with a low stamina. "You know I am good with making antidotes." He said in a soft voice as he heated the water for the tea. "Akodo san... now that we are in private we can talk." He laid down his hair and shook his head. He looked a little like that woman, the one with the ronin. "I saw how you looked at me when I was that Bayushi woman." Why did that come to mind? My heart aches... must be the poison... the edamame must have been poisoned...

The young Bayushi poured the hot water over some flowers and leaves.

//Just for the lulz D7 LE Tea Ceremony TN 15: 4d10o10k3 10 No void!

[Akodo Kichiro]

Shattered. Full alert. The melancholy ridden Kichiro immediately vanishes and is replaced by a blushing fool. "What?!" He shouts and coughs in surprise into his arm. "I mean nooooooo no no not at all wait no YES I mean yes!" He facepalms hard with an audible slap. What was the protocol for this again? You'd think with all the lessons on warfare there would be time for this. Surely this tea will calm his nerves NOPE TOO HOT set that down immediately!

"Listen..." Kichiro says out loud less for Kaidan and more just to clear his own panicked mind. "I apologize Bayushi-san. Disguise or no disguise... You have become a welcomed sight every day during this tournament. Dare I say some events I had thought doing well would impress you. It's wrong I know... Our clans greatly disapprove of this. I... I like pretty people. I think your a very pretty man." Kichiro says slowly with his eyes closed. Speaking from whatever sense he can make of it all while not having the courage to look at Kaidan as he says it. "I'm sorry I don't mean to complicate our friendship. It was inappropriate especially while we were on the hunt for criminal scum. It won't happen again." Kichiro answers the problem in as much of a honorable gentleman way as possible. Eyes closed and a sigh of relief he thinks he has corrected his sin while remaining true to bushido's honesty.

[Bayushi Kaidan]

"I have? You saw that I am not that honorable. I stick to the shadows and deceive people. I follow a path that you wouldn't." He looked to his tea. His eyes watered. "I had my first mission for months now... i don't know how to start it. I have tried... I feel like a failure to myself and my clan. Couldn't even face the traitor... and there was more here at stake than just our names." He cleared his eyes. "I feel connected to you some how... but I do not know why. Perhaps it is the mask we both wear... perhaps something else."

[Akodo Kichiro]

Sick of his own self righteous act Kichiro kicks himself into action. Those tears too much for him to stand idly by. Reaching across the small table he grabs Kaidan's hand. "Honor dishonor what does it matter? I never asked for this life. I only hope to live up to those expectations set upon me to prove I deserve this chance. That I deserve Akodo's name. Your clan makes it's own sacrifices... Too easy to mark your lot off as monsters but I acknowledge your purpose. The darkness you take upon yourselves." Kichiro shakes his head defiantly. Tired of the boxes this society casts people into.

"Perhaps I am envious of your freedom. That I wish I could just glimpse a fraction of the life you lead beyond the barriers of my own. That I grow so... so very exhausted with these masks. Light of the lion... dark of the scorpion... I just want to be me. I just want to know you. The rest of the world be damned I deserve to be selfish but for one moment in my life."

[Bayushi Kaidan]

He touched me, I feel strange. It started again... that feeling. He placed his other hand on top of Kichiro's. "My freedom is just an illusion..." He looked outside through his window. It was getting late. He didn't want this young man to miss his moment. This even broke him a bit more. "You should go... don't miss the ceremony on my behalf." Those words hurt him more than he thought. He would find solace in this hand touch even if the young man needed a hug.

[Akodo Kichiro]

Pulling Kaidan's hand inward, Kichiro pulls him into a warm embrace. A long moment is spent with his arms wrapped around Kaidan holding him close. "Your not a failure Kaidan-san. You are so much more than you think you are. If I could change the way that you see yourself... show you how much you mean to those around you." He holds him tightly in that moment. Knowing as soon as he lets go he must march on to embrace destiny and accept his daisho. A moment he wanted to last for a little longer.

[Bayushi Kaidan]

Kaidan first hesitated but his arms wrapped around the Akodo. "Kichiro san... thank you again." It was the first time he called the Akodo by his given name. It rolled softly from his tongue. The last day the Akodo will be known by that name. He hesitantly let go. "Go before... the moon rises higher and you will be late." He looked at the tea cup. "Besides your cup is empty."

[Akodo Kichiro]

With a graceful touch Kichiro parts Kaidan's long hair from shrouding his face. A gaze into Kaidan's eyes much like before but instead ignited with life. Gone was the pain and the storm of internal conflict. Instead Kichiro saw with perfect clarity. Slowly he leans forward, feeling an unnatural pull that tugs on the very fiber of his being. A supernatural force not unlike before at the shrine, the regret of his early cowardice compelling him further. If he was to march to war and die for his clan, he deserved to live for this one moment.

Kichiro leans closer still and plants a gentle kiss onto Kaidan's lips. Leaning back away, he loving smiles as he caresses the side of Kaidan's face. "Goodbye Kaidan-san." He accepts this is likely the last time he'll ever see him and mentally readies himself to leave this moment, complete his gempukku, and march to war.

[Bayushi Kaidan]

As the Akodo moved the hair, Kaidan blushed. What is this sensation in my cheeks? Why is he looking at me like that? Kaidan's eyes soften when the two kissed. It melted away the mask. It was the first time he kissed someone like this. The gentle touch of Kichiro's hand made him blush again.

"Write back... and stay alive... until we meet again."

[Akodo Kichiro]

Only a silent nod is replied. The young lion releases Kaidan and begins walking out of the room. A single glance over his shoulder back at Kaidan at the door frame, to final smile flashed outward joyfully, then he vanished around the corner. Off to the gempukku ceremony and immediately out to answer duty's call.

/exit