Shinsengumi: Falling Blossoms

[Silver]

Rui made her way to the training hall - deserted since everyone else was at dinner. She found a training dummy and carved 'kumo' on it with a katana before switching to wooden practice swords... and unleashing Tastumaki after Tatsumaki on the poor thing. "Ano baka... calling a warzone a 'nice environment'... as if he's the only person that's ever been in a tight spot before...!" It was then that Rui discovered, even when performed with wooden swords, a Sanjuuroku Paundo Hou can seriously wreck some stuff.

Honda simply looked away, as if to imply that the current situation was less than pleasant. Although perhaps it was to hide the laughter at the meer mention of Hokkaido. Either way, it was because of this that he didn't notice Eri's presence until they had already collided. And then she said something about... the street being a pain to walk on, which was kind of weird. Nothing about the rain, just about the street. It didn't seem particularly different from any other street in Kyoto, much less more painful to walk on. And based on the look on her face, Sakria didn't seem to like this person's behavior, either.

And so, Honda did what Honda does best: strike up casual conversation with crazy people. "Well, now... if I'm anywhere near as well-read as I pretend to be, I should notice that a mysterious stranger bumping into you in the middle of the night is an international sign that they're up to something. Particularly thieving."

[Neo Zanther]

It didn't take too long for Ishi to find an inn. And to her luck it wasn't too expensive. "Room for one for a week please." she said to the innkeeper.

After getting to her room she begain to unpack abit She didn't want to leave too much laying around not knowing who may try and come into her room. She decided to have afew small weapons under her but in her reach at night. Though the chances of even being attacked were slim unless she drew too much attention from the Choushuu. Though she'd have to be careful of the Shinsengumi as well, though not as much. Now she had to figure out what to do next. It isn't easy to find out who a Choushuu might be unless you caught them in action. She wasn't certion on how to determion who a Shinsengumi member was either. Though they probably had some type of dress code and once she figured it out she'd have an easyer time picking them out. But now that she's set up she figured she had better tell Zaka. But how? The rain made bugs harder to find and even travel. Then she spotted a Chricket. "Perfect" she said. She didn't have much problem catching it. She then put her message into the bug and told it to seek Zaka. She then opened the window and tossed it out. It shouldn't take long for it to reach him. She then got undressed and put some dryer clothing on. She was glad her wrapings didn't get wet. It was annoying enough having to put them on in the first place.

She decided that she would try someplace that she had heard about from eavesdroping, something she couldn't help but do. It did mean going back into the rain but she hoped maybe the innkeeper had an umbrella she could borrow.

She went downstair and to her luck he did have one she could borrow. Didn't help he seemed to have a thing for pretty women. "Men." she said to herself. She was glad that the Hanamachi district was close according to the innkeeper. She stepped outside and made her way to the Shimabara. She had her Wakizashi hidden under her clothing. It really couldn't be seen but she could still bring it out quickly if she had to. Though she didn't expect any trouble but one can never be too prepared. She shook her head at the fact that she acted like Zaka sometimes. But being paranoid does happen with the type of job she had.

[Aquanta]

Eri smiled as she looked at the other person that was with this guy. She forgot she had her sword on her side, but the rest of her weapons were out of sight.

"You think I would be theaving? Why would I do such a thing like that when I..."
She stopped what she was talking about. Shoot, don't say it at all, Eri had to say something fast. Nothing came. "I could show you around town and get you the best inn to stay in."

She smiled again, "I'm Ellen. Nice to meet you two."

Sure she was going to show them to an inn, and to their deaths if they work for the wrong people. Her right hand, habit, was always on her sword. She had to keep reminding herself to leave her hand off of it or they will find out. Besides that, she wanted to see blood and hasn't seen it for the last few weeks.

Besides that, the Emperor was always in black and in shadow, and she was wondering if that was the same Emperor or just a fake. Eri knew so little, but she guess he got kidnapped and taken away. Who to trust now was the biggest question on her mind.

[Josiah]

"I'd say she's up to a bit more than thieving." Sakria kept a close eye on the stranger. "Not that she's very good at it though. Tip for the future, if you're trying to think of a fake name, a foreign one will only make you look more suspicious. Now run along and forget about us. You may be good with that sword of yours but you don't want to pick a fight with me."

[Aquanta]

Eri drew out her Katana, and looked at it. Smart girl, but stupid. "You really want to fight and die right here. I'm what your mother told you to stay away from. If you don't believe me, back off or die. But before we go further into this, who you working for? Both of you. Or the die, you will not survive with my speed and if you realized something else, I'm not going to let you guys leave here without information that will bound you to the Emperor or the people against him. Choose your words wisely or prepare to feel your blood on the street as the rain hits your face."

Eri took a few steps back, the sword in the air. "Besides, I'm Eri, an assissan for the Emperor. You might also know me by a name in the papers of the Red Death."

[Josiah]

"You may be overly arrogant but I'm sure you're good at killing humans." Sakria replied calmly. "Thing is, there are beings in this country far more powerful than you can imagine...and I'm the one who kills them." she flashed a deadly smile. "Besides, I couldn't care less about whatever political conflict is going on here. If you want to play empirial assassin go do it somewhere else."

[Isaac]

Kaoru smiled and nodded, before looking on down the hallway. It seemed that Bael had already gone on ahead of them. Not that he minded. Then another small thought popped into his head. He looked to Isumi-chan and offered her the white paper bag that had been resting in his arm the entire time. "Here you go, Isumi-chan. You and your brother can share these after you've eaten." The Taichou then escorted both children to the main dining hall.

Immediately upon entering, his purple orbs fell upon Bael, who had already reserved four cushions and trays complete with meals, one for himself and the remaining three for Kaoru and the siblings. Kaoru brought his hand up to cover his mouth and giggled softly. 'Must've read my mind. I honestly wouldn't doubt it...', he thought silently before making his way over to his Koibito. "My, how thoughtful. Thank you, Itoshii." With that, he sat down beside him.

Bael opened his eyes and looked up at Kaoru as the young man sat down. Once Kaoru had situated himself and gotten comfortable, he reach over and wrapped an arm around him. Then he turned his gaze to the young ones. "Come on and eat with us, while the food it still warm.", he said, knowing that his Taichou would scold him if he treated them harshly again.

~~~~~

Kusa's adept hearing captured the sound of Shimabara's front door opening. A woman walked in and folded down a wet umbrella, placing it against the nearest wall. Upon first glance, she didn't appear to be acting like a Choushuu ronin from the country side. But that didn't rule out the possibility. Nevertheless, she had come in as a customer or so he assumed. He put on his most feminine smile and adjusted his voice to that of a female before going to greet her. "Good evening, Ojo-sama. How may I help you tonight?"

~~~~~

The rain was still pouring outside, and he had already been warned once that night to remain out of sight. Gil sighed deeply, bowing his head in defeat. There was practically nothing fun for him to do inside of the network of caves and tunnels. But he'd never been the sort of cat to disobey his master. He moved himself down onto the stone floor and rested his head against Zaka's thigh, purring softly in mild content. Then his part-feline mind began to wander. "Hmm... Wonder where Ishi-san is... Must be out again."

[Neo Zanther]

It didn't take long after Ishi entered to be asked what she wanted. Though something seemed different with the waitresses voice Ishi didn't think much of it. Might have a cold of some sort. "Yes, I'll take some ocha with honey please. It is abit cool outside with the rain."

She then sat down at one of the tables near the center. Abit easyer to listen to people this way.


ocha = green tea
~~~~~~~


It didn't take long before Zaka felt something lay on his leg. It was Gil's head. He was defently bored. Zaka did feel bad for him but with the way things were now it was important that he not venture off. Cat Demons are loyal and ferce fighters and he was lucking to have befriended one. Zaka yawned. It wasn't too late but he was tired from traveling and setting up the illusions and spell around the area. It did drain him some. He bagain to scratch Gil's head. "Don't worry Gil. You will just have to be bored for awhile. Once we get things set up and info comming to us you'll have things to do."

[Shans]

"I'm probably going to sound stupid asking this, but don't blame me cause i'm a little tired, "What is the white paper bag for?")

"Hai!" Isumi replied, taking her seat.

Yuji did the same, sitting down beside his sister.

The two siblings began to eat, Isumi eating like.... well, a normal person, but Yuji on the other hand began forking the food into his mouth really fast, as if he hadn't eaten for weeks, not that this wasn't true. After a minute or so of silent eating Yuji lifted his head and looked at Kaoru, "So, what exactly is this place?" he asked, his mouth still full of food.

"Yeah, that's a good question... But what I'd like to know is how Bae-san was able to grab Yuji so easily." Isumi said, "My brother and I are very familiar with fighting, since we've been doing it for a long time. You'd have to be very skilled to be able to attack Nii-san so easily." the young girl paused at this point and looked at the two, examining them very closely, "Are you..... Assasins?" she asked tilting her head to the side.

[Isaac]

Kusa nodded his head gently as the lady walked away to sit at a table in the center of the room. He left the room and went to prepare some fresh warm green tea. When it was finished, he added a small teaspoon full of fresh clover honey into it. 'This is a refined request... I'm still assuming that she isn't part of the Choushuu clan.', he thought as he carried the tea back to the woman. "Here you go, Ojo-sama. Would you like anything else?"

~~~~~

Gil's golden eyes fell closed as his master began to scratch the top of his head gently. He shifted just a little bit, so that the scratching was near his ears. More purring sounded from deep within his throat. One of his ears twitched as Zaka began to speak to him. "All right... I'll be good till then.", the Neko said, nuzzling Zaka's hand gently.

~~~~~

Kaoru held his chopsticks delicately between his fingers, eating the pieces of his broiled fish in a sophisticated manner. It was obvious that he'd been raised in a wealthy or respectable household as a child. If he even noticed Yuji-kun's eating habits then he was polite enough not to mention it. But then both children began asking questions and he turned his eyes up from his tray.

"This is the Yagi Residence.", he answered, carefully choosing his next set of words. "Well... Yes, we are Hitokiri. All of those living here were officially sanctioned by Kyoto's Government to handle those of an unruly nature. We were given the name, Shinsengumi. But... we aren't as harsh as most people have grown to assume. We're only doing what must be done to keep the peace...", Kaoru finished with a gentle smile.

Bael looked up from eating his rice and stared at Yuji. "Well, boy, when you're barking your head off like an baka, then you tend to lose focus on those around you. Pushing you aside in the hallway was as simple as swatting a fly. Can't say you didn't diserve it though. Insulting those you've only just met." With that, he sat down the bowl of rice and pulled Kaoru closer to him. He'd have to remember to have a talk with Hijikata later on, for chewing out his Itoshii.

~~~~~

(The white paper bag has cookies inside of it. Kaoru recieved them in his first post, and I never bothered to name which flavor the cookies were, so feel free to make them the siblings' favorite.)

[Aquanta]

"Hmm, your so selfish aren't you? I would love to kill you right now if I had a chance, but I'm confused and not able to think straight. How long have you been in town mind me asking you that?" Eri was a little fed up with all this and she just wanted to see if the person will say something and not make her mad. She drew out a slow breath to releave some pressure from her stomach.

She looked down for a second, yet still keeping an eye on the two people. "Now I wish I wasn't having a child," Eri said under her breath.

[Neo Zanther]

"This will be all for now. If I think of anything else I'll let you know.", said Ishi. The tea itself was good. She slowly sipped on the tea. "This is good.", she thought to herself. "Might as well enjoy myself abit. There won't be many more times I get to do this for awhile once I start my job here. Though doing this often might prove useful. I hope I could make a habbit of this." she thought to herself. She still kept her ears open for anyone talking about what was going on. This was one of the abilites taught to her. She was trained to pick up even faint noise up to 100 yards away. The challange was to figure out where it was comming from and even trying to tell what was being said. The futher away the harder. The longer distance was more useful in detecting movements then words. 40 yards was her max really when comming to human speach and being able to even understand some of what was being said. For now she enjoyed her tea and listened.

[Shans]

"Ah, I see..." Isumi said in reply to Kaoru's explaination.

What Bael had said to him slightly annoyed him, but he was smart enough to not anger those who are showing him hospitatlity. He raised his head slightly to look at Kaoru, swallowed what was in his mouth then asked "So, how does someone join this 'Shinseigumi' thing?" That boy was obviously interested and saw it as a possible way to... well.... stop them from having to travel everywhere looking for a place to stay.

Isumi looked at her brother wide eyed, "Could it be, that your thinking of joining?" she questioned, worried about getting involved in such a profession. She didn't like violence, or the idea of getting involved in war, although it had been part of her life for a long time she still didn't like the idea of using her ability to cause pain to others. "I thought that, we weren't going to kill anymore..." Isumi finished quietly.

"I was asking, as in, looking at it as a possibility. Just because we can, doesn't mean we have to" he said, looking at his sister, "And besides, if it means we won't have a problem with food and shelter, maybe it's worth it." he turned to Kaoru again "Now I'll ask again, how to we become part of 'Shinsengumi'?"

[Josiah]

"I just got here, not that it's any business of yours." Sakria countered. "Now, if you're done threatening us, or even if you're not, we'll be going." she started off again, dragging Honda with her.

[Silver]

It's moments like these that cause people to rethink their lives. Honda has just sort-of befriended a girl that sits in trees during rain storms for no adequately explained reason and then bumped into a psychotic assassin with a thing for non-sequiters. The two of them then proceeded to come deathly close to a catfight.

This is why your parents tell you not to talk to strangers, especially when they're this strange.

This was not to suggest that he was too busy thinking about his poor life choices to pay attention to their comversation. The psychotic assassin confessed to being a Choshuuu loyalist, which didn't seem like a good idea - the confession, at least. Knowing her alignment, they could have easily lied about theirs to avoid a fight. More than that, though, Sakria had said something about killing 'beings more powerful than you can imagine', which certainly didn't seem like empty talk. He'd have to ask about that later, assuming he survived. But for the time being, Honda answered Eri's question, just for the heck of it, before Sakria's involuntary dragging became more than voluntary. "Can't say I've been keeping track of the time spent in Kyoto, but I think this whole war is silly anyway and would prefer to be left out of it, thank you!"