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crimsonbloomHeisei XX (20XX)
You find him in the park, lying on the grass as if he hadn’t just been given an earful and a fist by your brother.
When you arrive, you are wearing a kimono and flower-patterned hakama, with a smart pair of heeled boots; something that wouldn’t be out of place in Taisho. The man on the grass has his hands behind his head, his face bruised, looking up at the spring sky. If your brother kind of looks like a delinquent, this one looks a little like a punk himself. You lean over him and cast your shadow across his view.
“Ah? If you’re here to lecture me, your brother’s already done it,” he says, far more relaxed than one would expect from someone who just got punched and scolded. Then again, he’s always been like this as far as you remember. Roaming, freewheeling, coming and going like a spring storm.
“He sure did~” you say. “But I’m not here for that.”
“So what are you here for? You definitely aren’t here for my handsome face~”
“Answers. Since you didn’t give nii-chan any.” You know Yakusa could be a cagey bastard, but this was one time you weren’t going to let it slide.
“Haha, what makes you think I’m going to give you answers when I wouldn’t give Kaga any --”
With a bright smile on your face, you reach into your kimono sleeve and pull out a katana. In an instant, you have the blade at Yakusa’s neck, ever-so-close to his skin; not enough to cut it, but close enough to suggest that you only need to move your wrist a little to change that.
“...Anyone ever told you it’s rude to point a blade at someone?” For someone who’s being threatened, he manages to sound only mildly worried about the possibility of losing his head.
Your expression does not change. You even speak in a ‘refreshing’ tone. “Rude people get rude treatment~! ☆ Besides, I really ought to cut you down for what you did, you know?”
“Come on, I thought you’d be hap…” Yakusa’s voice trails off, before he sighs. “Well, not you. You probably wouldn’t have cared too much either way. Kaga always seemed like the type to prefer a young life to keep burning, though.”
“You’re not wrong.” It’s an answer that doesn’t indicate which part you are responding to. Unfortunately, your brother’s soft-heartedness was such that he cared a little too much about what happens in this town and all its little tragedies, goodness…It’s good that he’s still attached after all these years, but too much attachment clouds one’s judgment. “But of course he’d be mad that you basically went behind our backs~♪ This isn’t your ‘turf’, after all. We’re the ones who have to deal with whatever mess that comes of your actions, so I say we have a right to know the reason why you bla~tantly~ disregarded our ‘authority’.”
“It was just a whim, you see?” He waves his hand like he’s trying to dismiss it as something trivial, and you gently nudge the blade a little closer to his neck. The edge draws a small, thin line of blood on his skin; the blood that seeps out and stains your blade crackles, like it’s charged with electricity. Hm, troublesome. “Ouch! Man, you really are serious this time, ◯◯-chan.”
“And that’s why my brother got mad and punched you~!☆” In contrast to your words, you maintain a cheery air about you, though it would strike some people as the kind you do when it actually means you’re angry. Which would be true, in this case. “Don’t lie to me, Yakusa-san. You’re an incorrigible festival maniac, but we both know you aren’t so generous as to grant a ‘miracle’ for nothing. Especially for something that didn’t even need one.”
He stares up at you for a long moment, the expression on his face unreadable — the man likes to give an easygoing impression (and for most of the part it was true) but when the chips are down he can be as inscrutable as any other ☓☓. “Geez…could you put away the katana for a moment? Kinda hard to talk when it feels like I’m gonna lose my head any second now.”
“That’s your fault,” you say, but you relent and slowly pull the blade away. Rudely, you wipe the blood off on the sleeve of his shirt (“Come on!”) before returning it to its sheath, which is white and decorated with paintings of camellias. He sits up and touches where the wound on his neck is to examine the bleeding. It seems like he’s only bothered by the blood because it’s going to be a pain to wash it out, less so the fact that he’s bleeding from his neck and his blood is apparently electrical. You move to sit next to him on the grass, pulling your knees up to your chest.
“I get the feeling you don’t like me, haha~” Though he says this so casually you don’t think he’s actually offended, merely stating a fact. “Anyway, I thought it’d be a waste to let that child become a vegetable. That’s the gist of it, really. 50-50 odds of waking up or staying in a coma didn’t look so hot to me, so I just gave her a little boost.”
“50 to 100 is a lot for ‘a little’.”
“It’s go big or go home with me, obviously! 0 or 100, all or nothing!” He laughs, then has to stop because laughing just made more blood spurt out for a moment there with a loud crackle. “Did you really expect me to half-ass it?”
“I expected you to behave yourself ☆” You’re still smiling. “For one, that child’s fate is not for you to decide. Now her life is going to be undeniably weird.” Such is what happens to people who receive a ☓☓’s miracle. Once that door is opened, there’s always the chance of something coming through it into their lives…for better or worse. It would be better if that door is never opened to begin with.
For the first time this whole conversation, Yakusa doesn’t sound laidback. “You saw what happened. She was never going to have a ‘normal’ life, with or without my meddling.” …He’s not wrong. Unfortunately. “All I did was was prune a little and direct it towards a certain way.”
“You don’t get to decide how to handle things in our town,” you say.
“Maybe not, but…” He looks up to the sky again. “Hey, do you really think you three can keep protecting this town by yourselves?”
“You’re not answering me, Yakusa-san.”
“It’s related, it’s related, I swear. I’ve already heard about the ‘cracks’ that have been showing up, and that seal you put up isn’t working the way it used to. It’s only a matter of time before those things make their way through again, yeah?”
Your hands already tightened at the mention of ‘those things’, though you are careful to not let it show on your face. “…Where are you going with this?” You can already guess and you don’t like it at all.
“You don’t gotta play dumb, ◯◯-chan. One day shit’s gonna start at the worst possible time, and you all might not even be here to keep it under control. Finagle’s law and all that.”
“Who’s ‘Finagle’?”
He gives you a dumbfounded look, like he just remembered the type of person you are and realised that the reference is lost on you. Then, he shakes his head. “Nevermind that. In any case, I figured you should start finding people with potential before it actually gets to that point. Better to have some ‘pieces’ prepared than none at all~” Words without a shred of remorse, perhaps only the mild regret that this was a problem that came up at all.
Ah, you hate this. “☓☓☓☓ didn’t put you up to this, did they?”
Now that gets more of a reaction from him; for a moment his eyes flicker to something like anger, and you think you see his blood charge up further, sparks of electricity and lightning threatening to zap everything around him…but he takes a deep breath as if to remind himself to calm down. Then he plasters that carefree mask back on. “I get why you’d think that, but no. I’m not about to let them steal the credit for what I do, you know~?”
…
You hate that he isn’t wrong, that there is some merit to what he says, that it still feels like there are strings being pulled in your little town, that this is how your brother’s idiot friend is trying to help. Honestly, in all the years you’ve known him he’s never stopped the bad habit of sweeping everything up in whatever he does, whether they want it or not.
You really should have just cut him down. But he’s still your brother’s friend, considering he’d been let off with just a punch.
“Yakusa-san?”
“Yeah?”
With a pleasant smile on your face that loops back around to being deeply unpleasant: “Get out.”
He sighs, in the resigned way of someone who expected your reaction. He pushes himself up to stand with a little grunt, stretching his arms and legs. The blood from his neck has started to soak his shirt a little. “Well, you got your answers. I’ll leave it up to you to decide what to do with ‘em.” He starts to walk away, waving a hand over his shoulder. “Catch you later, lil’ sis.”
You watch him go. Then, you lean back to lie down on the grass to stare at the spring sky.
You find him in the park, lying on the grass as if he hadn’t just been given an earful and a fist by your brother.
When you arrive, you are wearing a kimono and flower-patterned hakama, with a smart pair of heeled boots; something that wouldn’t be out of place in Taisho. The man on the grass has his hands behind his head, his face bruised, looking up at the spring sky. If your brother kind of looks like a delinquent, this one looks a little like a punk himself. You lean over him and cast your shadow across his view.
“Ah? If you’re here to lecture me, your brother’s already done it,” he says, far more relaxed than one would expect from someone who just got punched and scolded. Then again, he’s always been like this as far as you remember. Roaming, freewheeling, coming and going like a spring storm.
“He sure did~” you say. “But I’m not here for that.”
“So what are you here for? You definitely aren’t here for my handsome face~”
“Answers. Since you didn’t give nii-chan any.” You know Yakusa could be a cagey bastard, but this was one time you weren’t going to let it slide.
“Haha, what makes you think I’m going to give you answers when I wouldn’t give Kaga any --”
With a bright smile on your face, you reach into your kimono sleeve and pull out a katana. In an instant, you have the blade at Yakusa’s neck, ever-so-close to his skin; not enough to cut it, but close enough to suggest that you only need to move your wrist a little to change that.
“...Anyone ever told you it’s rude to point a blade at someone?” For someone who’s being threatened, he manages to sound only mildly worried about the possibility of losing his head.
Your expression does not change. You even speak in a ‘refreshing’ tone. “Rude people get rude treatment~! ☆ Besides, I really ought to cut you down for what you did, you know?”
“Come on, I thought you’d be hap…” Yakusa’s voice trails off, before he sighs. “Well, not you. You probably wouldn’t have cared too much either way. Kaga always seemed like the type to prefer a young life to keep burning, though.”
“You’re not wrong.” It’s an answer that doesn’t indicate which part you are responding to. Unfortunately, your brother’s soft-heartedness was such that he cared a little too much about what happens in this town and all its little tragedies, goodness…It’s good that he’s still attached after all these years, but too much attachment clouds one’s judgment. “But of course he’d be mad that you basically went behind our backs~♪ This isn’t your ‘turf’, after all. We’re the ones who have to deal with whatever mess that comes of your actions, so I say we have a right to know the reason why you bla~tantly~ disregarded our ‘authority’.”
“It was just a whim, you see?” He waves his hand like he’s trying to dismiss it as something trivial, and you gently nudge the blade a little closer to his neck. The edge draws a small, thin line of blood on his skin; the blood that seeps out and stains your blade crackles, like it’s charged with electricity. Hm, troublesome. “Ouch! Man, you really are serious this time, ◯◯-chan.”
“And that’s why my brother got mad and punched you~!☆” In contrast to your words, you maintain a cheery air about you, though it would strike some people as the kind you do when it actually means you’re angry. Which would be true, in this case. “Don’t lie to me, Yakusa-san. You’re an incorrigible festival maniac, but we both know you aren’t so generous as to grant a ‘miracle’ for nothing. Especially for something that didn’t even need one.”
He stares up at you for a long moment, the expression on his face unreadable — the man likes to give an easygoing impression (and for most of the part it was true) but when the chips are down he can be as inscrutable as any other ☓☓. “Geez…could you put away the katana for a moment? Kinda hard to talk when it feels like I’m gonna lose my head any second now.”
“That’s your fault,” you say, but you relent and slowly pull the blade away. Rudely, you wipe the blood off on the sleeve of his shirt (“Come on!”) before returning it to its sheath, which is white and decorated with paintings of camellias. He sits up and touches where the wound on his neck is to examine the bleeding. It seems like he’s only bothered by the blood because it’s going to be a pain to wash it out, less so the fact that he’s bleeding from his neck and his blood is apparently electrical. You move to sit next to him on the grass, pulling your knees up to your chest.
“I get the feeling you don’t like me, haha~” Though he says this so casually you don’t think he’s actually offended, merely stating a fact. “Anyway, I thought it’d be a waste to let that child become a vegetable. That’s the gist of it, really. 50-50 odds of waking up or staying in a coma didn’t look so hot to me, so I just gave her a little boost.”
“50 to 100 is a lot for ‘a little’.”
“It’s go big or go home with me, obviously! 0 or 100, all or nothing!” He laughs, then has to stop because laughing just made more blood spurt out for a moment there with a loud crackle. “Did you really expect me to half-ass it?”
“I expected you to behave yourself ☆” You’re still smiling. “For one, that child’s fate is not for you to decide. Now her life is going to be undeniably weird.” Such is what happens to people who receive a ☓☓’s miracle. Once that door is opened, there’s always the chance of something coming through it into their lives…for better or worse. It would be better if that door is never opened to begin with.
For the first time this whole conversation, Yakusa doesn’t sound laidback. “You saw what happened. She was never going to have a ‘normal’ life, with or without my meddling.” …He’s not wrong. Unfortunately. “All I did was was prune a little and direct it towards a certain way.”
“You don’t get to decide how to handle things in our town,” you say.
“Maybe not, but…” He looks up to the sky again. “Hey, do you really think you three can keep protecting this town by yourselves?”
“You’re not answering me, Yakusa-san.”
“It’s related, it’s related, I swear. I’ve already heard about the ‘cracks’ that have been showing up, and that seal you put up isn’t working the way it used to. It’s only a matter of time before those things make their way through again, yeah?”
Your hands already tightened at the mention of ‘those things’, though you are careful to not let it show on your face. “…Where are you going with this?” You can already guess and you don’t like it at all.
“You don’t gotta play dumb, ◯◯-chan. One day shit’s gonna start at the worst possible time, and you all might not even be here to keep it under control. Finagle’s law and all that.”
“Who’s ‘Finagle’?”
He gives you a dumbfounded look, like he just remembered the type of person you are and realised that the reference is lost on you. Then, he shakes his head. “Nevermind that. In any case, I figured you should start finding people with potential before it actually gets to that point. Better to have some ‘pieces’ prepared than none at all~” Words without a shred of remorse, perhaps only the mild regret that this was a problem that came up at all.
Ah, you hate this. “☓☓☓☓ didn’t put you up to this, did they?”
Now that gets more of a reaction from him; for a moment his eyes flicker to something like anger, and you think you see his blood charge up further, sparks of electricity and lightning threatening to zap everything around him…but he takes a deep breath as if to remind himself to calm down. Then he plasters that carefree mask back on. “I get why you’d think that, but no. I’m not about to let them steal the credit for what I do, you know~?”
…
You hate that he isn’t wrong, that there is some merit to what he says, that it still feels like there are strings being pulled in your little town, that this is how your brother’s idiot friend is trying to help. Honestly, in all the years you’ve known him he’s never stopped the bad habit of sweeping everything up in whatever he does, whether they want it or not.
You really should have just cut him down. But he’s still your brother’s friend, considering he’d been let off with just a punch.
“Yakusa-san?”
“Yeah?”
With a pleasant smile on your face that loops back around to being deeply unpleasant: “Get out.”
He sighs, in the resigned way of someone who expected your reaction. He pushes himself up to stand with a little grunt, stretching his arms and legs. The blood from his neck has started to soak his shirt a little. “Well, you got your answers. I’ll leave it up to you to decide what to do with ‘em.” He starts to walk away, waving a hand over his shoulder. “Catch you later, lil’ sis.”
You watch him go. Then, you lean back to lie down on the grass to stare at the spring sky.