sunshineverse | (no subject)

Who: Kirigi Yamata, Kuzuryu Ashiko, Kirigi Kouran, and Closed
Where: A small village, Land of Grass
When: Shortly after midnight, February 13th

It was late by the sensibilities of any human that lived and worked on any sort of diurnal schedule, but not so late that Yamata thought it unforgivable to wake Kouran given the circumstances. She had known of his intentions when he had left early the fortnight for the village's information sweatshop to seek out information regarding the Kuzuzyu she had come by in the market earlier that day. While he had given his sister no specific time to expect him back, before the wee hours of the morning would have been a reasonable guess, making him well within the unspoken time limit when he crossed the threshold of the inn where they were staying, and with company they had spent the better part of five years searching for.

It couldn't wait. While neither party had had any intention of taking their leave of the village immediately, he had insisted that it simply could not wait until morning. It was partially due his own excitement that the two should finally meet after all these years, to reveal to Ashiko with certainty and immediacy that he had not been the only survivor of the royal family, and partially due to a conscious desire to impress upon Ashiko that, as a Kuzuryu, she had lost far from everything near twenty years ago when the die had been cast and the snakes had converged on the royal palace. That was an especially important point if he was to see her return to her rightful place at his side, a matter he had given more than a little thought to since Kouran's revelation that Ashiko had come into a "danna-sama".

It was a specific series of careful raps presented the door that would see Kouran's blade ease if she was any degree wary of the presence on the other side of the door. Turning his eyes to Ashiko, he paused.

"Are you ready?"

The hint of a rare smile playing on his lips that suggested that he did indeed know something she didn't know.

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Ashiko's cheeks were still a bit red, as much out of shame as from the aftermath of her hysterical crying fit. It was unseemly for a Kuzuryu to act in such a manner—unspeakable for a Kuzuryu to raise a hand to their Arashi master—and she wasn't certain if the circumstances merited an exception. She had apologized, again and again, but it still didn't feel like it was good enough.

So she had not protested, when he told her there was somebody she had to meet, only smoothed down her kimono and followed obediently.

She thought it might be the young woman from the marketplace, but the sudden connection to Yamaru had her uncertain as to what the lady's significance was. Perhaps a betrothed? No, perhaps a wife, even. He was old enough, she admitted. They both were. Ashiko, for a moment, was fleetingly relieved she had yet to find a man worthy to rebuild the Kuzuryu with.

"Yes, Yamaru-dono," she said, nodding demurely.

Since Yamaru had told her he was going to be out late looking for information, Kouran hadn't been...too worried. She knew her brother could handle himself, and it wasn't likely he would get himself into much trouble to begin with. She had been asleep when she heard the knocking on the door, and after a dazed moment she realised it had to be Yamaru. No one else would knock like that, otherwise. So she lowered her blade, leaving it by her bedside before moving to open the door.

"Welcome back nii-sama --" And then she saw who was with him. "Oh!"

As expected, Kouran had dropped an address most telling, but the confirmation was what should seal it by Yamaru's reckoning. Such an address could stand on its own without a blood relation these days. It was something he'd seen and heard more commonly abroad than in Iron save amongst youngsters, something some of their allies held to when in their company, even. He moved past Kouran to lead Ashiko into their room, intent to wait until the door was closed to begin speaking at regular volume.

"Kou-chan, I believe you and Ashiko have met," he said, content to stand upon turning to face the two. He issued a gesture, however, as though to suggest the two get comfortable.

Truthfully, he expected they would be there for a while.

...nii-sama.

Ashiko froze. Certainly, it wasn't strange for close friends or even step-siblings to toss that sort of address around. Perhaps, to somebody who wasn't a Kuzuryu, it would even be logical to stick to that conclusion. But Ashiko had been having a rather emotionally trying night so far, and she now had the Lady Kaguya fresh in her memories as she looked at Kou. Looked at her and saw the signs of her mother, saw the similarities, subtle but present, to Yamaru.

The new regime in Ice had said that they had killed Yamaru. It had been a lie. They had also said that they killed Kaguya, and the baby in her belly. It...

Ashiko's legs gave out and she dropped to her knees, one hand flying to her mouth to silence the choked sob trying to wriggle out of her throat.

On the one hand Kouran had expected she'd be seeing Ashiko again, considering she was a Kuzuryuu and her brother was determined to bring her back to his side, one way or another. What did surprise her was Ashiko's reaction. She hadn't thought it would be so...emotional, at least when it came to her? Actually, Kouran hadn't even been born the last time Ashiko had seen anyone from the royal family, so...

Kouran immediately went to Ashiko's side, kneeling down in front of her. "Ashiko-san?"