[Closed] Just an Illness...

[Willoria]

Karagata Asami had spent half of her morning dealing with medics, and the other half of it at home on the couch. It was extremely rare for the shinobi to be sick, and even more rare for her to skip out on her training even if she was sick. Yet today was one of those rare days. Over the last couple of weeks she had gotten strange news, figured out who her sponsor was to the academy when she was a kid, who happened to be her real mother. The revelation had led to her diving head first into her training and at first she thought maybe she had just overdone it. But instead she had gotten some very different news when she'd checked in with the medics at the hospital. Now she sat on her couch wrapped in a blanket, wearing nothing but a long t-shirt that came down to her mid-thighs, though the blanket more than made up for her lack of clothing.

Tora was in her kitchen, working on making her tea and some simple soup made of mostly broth, with a couple of mushrooms and onions tossed in, one of Asami's favorites. The boy had gotten pretty handy in the kitchen with a variety of teas and soups so far, and was slowly getting better with a few other things. By time he finished cooking and brought a tray with the bowl of broth and cup of hot tea to the coffee table he could see Asami was going over her letters and other documents again that had led her to her real mother and the boy sighed. "Sensei, that's not rest." he said hesitantly. He was slowly getting confident enough to learn when was and wasn't appropriate to question the woman as well. "The medics insisted on rest, including from reading. This is going to bring the migraine back to your eyes..."

Asami sighed heavily. "Tora... it is literally impossible for me to do nothing at all..." the woman grumbled, reaching for the cup of tea and making a face. It wasn't that it tasted bad, she simply preferred sake or whiskey. It was another rarity for the woman, she hated tea, but in her current state it was about all she could drink other than water.

[Izanagi]

It had been a rather eventful last month and a half. First the competition in Aroma country then an attack on the village followed shortly by the Steam country festival. From there Shinjiro had gone directly to Iwa for a weeklong visit. He had managed to get some training in while he was visiting, fighting various monsters in the catacombs and finding an opportunity to dive deeper into his powers of creating life. For so long he had relied entirely on himself, slowly growing to work together better with certain individuals like Asami and Maido. But now he could spawn any creature he could imagine at his whims. He was almost excited to show off his new talent to Asami.

Routinely he had checked in on the headquarters of the seven swordsmen first, tending to a few duties and getting in a light workout. But he had noticed a few irregularities, it was mid-morning and Asami wasn’t in any of the training rooms. Typically, the swordsmen each trained from dawn to nearly midday most days. They had rest days too of course but mid-week as it was it was highly irregular to take off of training. Though he had noticed a few of his things were missing from his office, a particular tanto that had been on display as well as a small jade Dragon carving, both items he had recovered from Tea country alongside Asami. It wasn’t the first time the woman had taken his things to get a rise out of him, and he suspected that she had learned of his return to the village and wanted some of his attention.

Naturally, he craved her as well, but he also hated playing into her hand and letting her manipulate him. As he entered her apartment (having his own set of keys), he pushed back his hood and pulled down his mask, instinctively neutralizing the poisons throughout his body as was routine. It was one of the few locations where he allowed himself to truly relax and feel vulnerable, but even then, there was always an initial wariness as his keen instincts assessed for threats and irregularities. He sniffed at the air, making an unpleased face. He hated mushroom and onion soup, much preferring seafood and rich meaty broths. His lips curled into a scowl as he laid eyes on Tora, “Beat it, brat” he growled as he removed his cloak, jacket and shoes, as well as his holster for his Katana sheaths, hanging them each up as he slid his shoes next to the door. He would wait until the kid was gone before he would properly address Asami.

[Willoria]

Tora finished setting up Asami's tea and soup for her before he heard Shinjiro enter, doing his best to ignore the man. Shinjiro's very presence still terrified him most days, but in that moment he was hoping he could just ignore him and keep helping Asami in her sickness. But of course as soon as the man saw him, he told him to leave. In truth, simply telling him was probably the nicest way he'd ever done it, but regardless, Tora couldn't help a frown. The boy straightened up and crossed his arms, and for the first time since he had come into Asami's life, he didn't comply. "No." he said simply. "I'm not leaving Asami-Sensei sick like this, she needs-!" He stopped when Asami's hand was suddenly on his forearm, reaching across the table to grab him and stop him.

"What I need..." she started, pausing to catch her breath and swallow hard. "Is for you to leave a bucket next to me before you get to your other chores, Tora." she told him simply. "You're going to have to cover some of mine too until I'm feeling better." she added as she looked up at him.

Tora glanced at Asami and sighed, dropping his arms down to his sides, his new bravado gone as quickly as it had come as he quickly took a small bucket he'd left by the wall and moved it next to where Asami was sitting. Without another word, and a wary glance at Shinjiro, he quickly made himself scarce, heading down a hallway towards his room and Asami's to work on some cleaning that had been put off.

As the boy had gone, Asami had simply thanked him by touching him on the arm gently before retreating back into the blanket she had wrapped around her with a quiet groan. "I don't think I remember the last time I was sick... given your abilities, I wonder, do you even get sick?" she asked aloud before trying to sip her tea again and making a face. She didn't try to force herself to turn and look at Shinjiro or greet him, but clearly she knew he was there and had directed her question at him once Tora was out of the room.

[Izanagi]

Shinjiro cocked his head, he could have sworn he just heard Tora defy him, but that couldn’t be right. He was sure the boy had decided he wanted to live. His hand tensed and slowly two-inch-long claws emerged from his fingertips, sharper and more deadly than any knife. Though his attention shifted as the boy mentioned Asami was sick. Another sniff at the air, he could smell it now. It wasn’t just the distasteful soup but Asami’s nauseous state that tainted the air. The man grumbled, narrowing his eyes in confusion. Had she taken his things because she wanted him here…to take care of her? That was certainly less fun than the physical release and punishment he had in mind. He had shown the woman moments of kindness before of course, he did care for her in his own way. But it wasn’t as if they were something as formal as an official couple, though he did occasionally stay at her home for a few nights at a time and she was one of the handful of people he trusted and shared an intimate connection with.

Tora began to walk toward his room and Shinjiro’s predatory gaze followed him, slow and menacing and the moment Tora turned away from him, the sound of a low whistle would fill the room. Most that heard such a sound emerging from Shiniro’s lips would be quickly met with death. His legendary arrow Malevolence streaked through the air, spinning violently as it chased after Tora, forcing him to run and grazing his hair as he barely managed to slam the door shut and escape. Of course, this was simply a game to Shinji and if he wanted him dead or paralyzed the boy would hardly have had time to hear the whistle before he was run through. Smirking, the arrow zipped through the air returning to land between his fingers as he held out his hand and slid it back into its secure holster at his hip.

Once Tora was gone, Shinjiro would approach the couch, looking the woman over with an expression that was equal parts concern and disappointment. He couldn’t smell any poison on her, though he would place a hand on her forehead anyway. If there was any kind of toxin in her system, he could draw it out. His unique body modifications were rather useful for such things. Inside, he felt Vorashu stir in a peculiar way and suddenly his protective instincts intensified. His eyes narrowed as he attempted to make sense of this instinctual feeling.

Slowly Shinjiro unhooked his weapon holsters and placed them on the coffee table so that he was only wearing a deep green T-shirt and a pair of grey pants. “No, I don’t. Not since I was a kid” he huffed in a warped sense of amusement as he thought back to those days. “But I was sick enough back then to make up for several lifetimes. By the time I was Tora’s age I had suffered through every nonlethal poison we have on record, as well as Malaria and Tuberculosis in the same year. From the age of 6 until 10 not a day went by that I wasn’t battling some kind of disease, infection or virus.” He smiled sadly and sat next to Asami, placing a hand on her thigh. “You’ll be just fine, you’ve suffered far worse than this in our training” he said, thinking of his nausea causing poisonous gas. “You took my things again, where are they?” he said suddenly, giving her a disapproving look.

[Willoria]

Asami frowned as Shinjiro explained the sicknesses he had suffered through as a kid. She knew of course that he'd been tortured as a child, but sometimes she learned new details that somehow just made it worse, even though every time she thought it couldn't get any worse. He put a hand on her thigh and she carefully put a hand over his, intertwining their fingers briefly. "Yeah... I just hate being sick like this... and it's going to last a while." she said with a heavy sigh before picking up her tea cup again and taking a careful sip. She made a face again and shook her head slowly. "Not being able to have alcohol for awhile might be worse though." she added with a bit of a wry laugh. Somewhere in her head she was trying to work up to telling him why she was 'sick', but before she could he asked about his missing things and in a rare moment the woman actually blushed.

She looked at him almost hesitantly before clearing her throat and setting down her teacup. "Gone." she told him at first as she took her hand from his, knowing he wouldn't react well. "That Konoha shinobi that visited recently? Yoru? I made a deal with him to teach me some jutsu but I had nothing to trade that wouldn't be a betrayal... so I gave him what we took from Tea during the invasion, the trophies we both took." She motioned to her display case across the room from them where her own swords were displayed. There were several empty places in the case where her own trophies from Tea had been that she had given to Yoru. "There was one piece I couldn't bring myself to include though that was yours, it's on the table." she motioned to the stack of papers and letters on the coffee table. On top of the letters from her benefactor, who she had recently discovered was her real mother, was the Jade figure that Shijiro was missing.

The woman let the blanket fall from her shoulders for a moment however as she brought her hands together in a few hand seals. "This is what he taught me in return." she explained, her left hand glowing with maroon chakra a moment later as she simply held it out between them and looked at Shinjiro. "If you touch my hand now... I could hear and communicate with Vorashu too..."

Jutsu UsedShow

*Shizumeru • [Voice of Spirits]
C-rank Tenkujutsu (Nin)
After performing the needed hand seals and focusing chakra into their hand, the user places their hand on the head of a Spirit host, or on the object containing a spirit. This allows them to speak directly to the spirit in a telepathic link.

[Izanagi]

There weren’t many people Shinjiro had ever been able to talk to about his trauma, perhaps only Yuuto, Chisaki, and Asami. Though none he had ever been able to go into great detail with, there was simply far too much, and nobody ever truly knew what to say to such extensive suffering. It was not the type of thing one could understand unless they went through it themselves and he certainly wasn’t looking for sympathy, but it did help to be able to give voice some of his past every now and then. He relaxed, sinking back into the couch as her fingers intertwined with his. There was a time he would have recoiled at such affection, but he had come to appreciate the closeness. His brow quirked as she seemed sure her sickness would last a while. And yet he didn’t detect any trace of fear from her, surely it wasn’t any kind of lethal prognosis, right? To lose a trusted comrade and lover to something like a disease would be quite the insult. Life was not particularly kind to the man, but at the very least he expected his loved ones to carry the pride of falling in battle.

He allowed the thoughts to be shelved for the moment as he shifted the conversation to inquiring where his belongings were. Though some part of him was beginning to suspect the truth, especially with the comment about alcohol. Even her scent was different, though scents changed with sickness as well so it was difficult to say for certain. His eyes narrowed, those primal green orbs glaring at the woman. His jawline tightened. “I thought I warned you to stay away from him, that he’s dangerous” he growled, retracting his hand as he shifted to face her and put a little more distance between them. His eyes narrowed further and he propped an elbow against the back of the couch, leaning his head against his outstretched hand. “What jutsu…Tenku” he answered his own question. The obvious answer reaching him almost immediately. He should have suspected. She had mentioned wanting to learn the arts after he spoke to her of the battle with the Bannin of the Leaf. Though he didn’t think she would disregard his warning and learn from him directly. Truthfully, he was still wary about the extent of what she wished to learn, some knowledge could be beneficial. Too much could actually make her dangerous to him.

Shinjiro’s attention was directed to the stack of papers and the jade figure buried under some of them. He retrieved the necklace, fingering the carving gently, it was a rather serpentine depiction of a Dragon, or maybe it actually was intended to be a snake. It was somewhat difficult to tell, but regardless it was something he felt a strange connection to and he was relieved to find she hadn’t given it away. Slipping it over his neck he let it hang atop his shirt at his chest. “I think I’ll keep this with me for a while” he commented with a bit of bite to his words. The 21-year-old Bannin and Overseer of the Seven Swordsmen let out an exasperated sigh as the woman manifested maroon chakra around her hands. He leveled a wary look at her. He trusted the woman, but he still found himself reluctant. It seemed almost as if she was more interested in Vorashu than himself and he needed to know why. “That’s what this is about. Talking to Vorashu. Why is that so important to you?” he questioned. The truth was he knew all to well what she could do with that chakra, tame the beast to her will, seal him off from it, or even attempt to draw it forth forcibly as Maido and Yoru had each done. It was all the more concerning that Vorashu had been keeping silent on the matter, but he could feel him within his mind, a caged beast pacing and waiting to see what would happen.

[Willoria]

She knew he wouldn't be happy that she'd met with Yoru, especially privately for training. It was a dangerous and stupid thing to do, she had trusted an enemy shinobi. If she admitted to Shinjiro that he had known her connection to him, he'd only get angrier. When he mentioned he had told her to stay away from Yoru, the woman nodded. "I ran into him by chance in the Bloodriver." she admitted. "Think he got an eyeful of how Kiri works when the bouncer gave Tora a hard time for trying to get a message to me..." She glanced back towards the hallway Tora had disappeared to. "Kid followed orders, told him to take flesh for the insult and he cut off the bouncer's fingers." She sighed though, simply looking at Shinjiro as he guessed right what jutsu she had wanted to learn from Yoru.

He had technically had given her permission to learn it, in the hopes of helping him if he ever faced another host when they were together. But she knew she shouldn't have been surprised that he seemed uncomfortable. She heard his sigh and noticed the way he looked at her when she used the technique however, and almost immediately dismissed it and retracted her hand. The maroon chakra quickly fading as she leaned back against the couch again and pulled the blanket back around her. "We've trusted each other a long time, Shinjiro, I like to think I know you better than most of the people around you." she started, after he'd asked about her interest in talking to Vorashu. "But I've kept very clear lines between you and Vorashu... at some point I can't keep doing that. He isn't you, I still believe that same as I did the first time we trained. But he is a part of you." Asami shrugged. "I guess I thought at some point I should get to know him too... and I learned this for nothing."

Asami fell quiet for a moment as she thought things over, reaching for the coffee table to pick up the small bowl of soup broth she had been letting cool. She took a couple small sips of it before a funny thought crossed her mind. '...this might be the first time he's made me feel genuinely guilty.' she thought to herself, shaking her head before setting down the bowl.

"Shinjiro, I'm pregnant."

[Izanagi]

The young man glowered as Asami talked about her run in with Yoru. He wasn’t used to others disobeying him. Though he was born poor he had been raised as a noble since just shy of his third birthday and when he was chosen as a Jinchuuriki at the age of 13 he had been elevated to the status of celebrity, reclusive but famous. Servants tended to him, and common citizens talked in hushed whispers with a mixture of excitement and fear when they saw him. But Asami had quickly been able to cut through the myth of him, even as he became a Bannin at only 16, just a few months after taking her on as his Dagger. She had seen the man in him and the beast and how they intertwined and yet contrasted against his rigid upbringing and ruthless training as an assassin, to be thought of only as a weapon without feelings. His mind was a mess of contradictions and he had learned to simply trust his instincts to quiet the constant mantras that had been drilled into his head. She had helped to change him, to give him a reason to want to live beyond his duty and to find comfort and enjoyment in his life. Things that as a young teenager he would have never thought possible.

The fact that she could disobey him, that she challenged him and received relatively light punishment was a testament to his respect for her and the importance she held. He was worried about her, what would happen if someone used her to get to him. Though he huffed in amusement at the mention of Tora, glancing toward his room as the corners of his lips curled ever so slightly into a smile. Perhaps there was some hope for him yet. He had a lot of catching up to do, but they did share a father. He had Karagata blood in him. Under Asami’s guidance, he could become strong. But it was rare to have the luxury of time. In Kirigakure there was no room for excuses or weakness. You had to grow up fast and always be ready and able to survive, no matter the odds. Shinjiro’s entire life had been a struggle, clinging with everything he had to stay alive and become stronger. Facing near death almost daily and even now he felt the weight of needing to continue to hone himself and be better than he was yesterday.

It was entirely likely Tora would find himself dead long before his potential was realized. And Shinjiro had no patience or tolerance for those who would remain passive and simply wait for death to take them, and if they weren’t constantly improving then in his mind that was exactly what they were doing. A small sigh escaped the Jinchuuriki’s tense lips as the maroon chakra dissipated from his lover’s hands. She was right of course. ‘Let me speak with her, boy. She bears a gift, something belonging to us both’ Vorashu said at last, his haunting voice creeping into Shinjiro’s mind. It felt like a chill, a whisper on the back of his neck. His eyes pulsed, the vibrant green seeming to surge with a new wave of color, a similar shade to the wispy green chakra of Vorashu. The muscular young host rubbed the back of his neck with his blackened hand, finding comfort in his own claws scraping against his flesh. “You didn’t learn it for nothing” Shinjiro said at last, his voice cold and even. He wasn’t much of one to feel guilty or be manipulated but he could see that she was genuine in her desire to connect with him, all of him. That was enough. “Do it” he permitted, speaking the words somewhat softer than his usual tone. He was prepared for her to manifest the chakra again, to reach into his mind. But he wasn’t prepared for what she said. “What?” he said dumbly, his instincts had steered him in the right direction, and he knew the moment she said it that it was true. But he still found himself at a loss for how to respond. He had never wanted children, always been afraid of the kind of father he would be, or worse that his own father would attempt to take his child and train them himself. But if Asami was telling him, then it meant she had already made up her mind to keep it. And Shinjiro wasn’t sure how to process that.

[Willoria]

Asami gave Shinjiro an odd look for a moment when he gave her permission to use the jutsu, some part of her wasn't sure if he was actually okay with it. She thought she'd seen something about his eyes change and wasn't sure what to make of it. But after that moment passed she formed the hand seals again so that the maroon chakra formed over one of her hands once more. Reaching for Shinjiro gently, almost as if trying to push his hair out of his face more than anything, she touched gentle fingers across the side of his head to make the initial contact. As Shinjiro reacted to the news she gave him, the young woman swallowed hard and looked into his eyes for a moment. She had a feeling this was going to be far less than any kind of good news for him, perhaps even bad news. They hadn't exactly discussed past the fact he didn't want kids, and what she did know of his family history she doubted an accidental was just going to make him sweat. It might make him straight up angry.

She swallowed hard. "That's not all." she said quietly, taking a deep breath as she channeled regular chakra into her free hand. "I'm pretty sure you left more than just your own influence..." she added almost hesitantly. She wasn't sure the best way to approach or phrase it, and so almost as punctuation she took her free hand with the chakra she channeled and moved it near her stomach. As a result the chakra for a brief moment turned a yellow-gold, but the moment she moved her hand away from it, the color was gone again.

'This is from you too, isn't it?'

[Izanagi]

The Jinchuuriki’s body felt tense, his mind racing as he attempted to suppress the fear within. The thought of having a child, what his family would do in their efforts to replicate another shinobi as powerful as him. It was almost too much to bear, he had made his father promise not to train any more children, so long as he lived and stood as the pinnacle of what a Karagata could be. The ultimate representation of the strength of their family. But if anything happened to him, any child of his would be expected to replace him. Having seen so many of his siblings tortured and rejected or even killed by Chiasa’s methods. Even for someone as cold as him, he had limits and those screams and faces of despair and suffering had haunted him for many years. One sister more than the others. “Why would you want to bring a child into this world?” he said after several long moments of contemplation. Despite the tension in his body, the natural hostility and violence he was trained to respond with when defied, his voice was pained and his eyes glistened.

Her hand touched his face and Vorashu was linked with her mind. Immediately a looming feeling would enshroud her, and the image of the shaman would enter her minds eye. Twice as tall as the average human the ancient phantom wore a tattered cloak, similar to the one Shinjiro wore, his hands and forearms were black as charcoal and long braids flowed down his head and neck, though his face was that of a skeletal bird. ‘Yes. My seed takes root within you. Accept this blessing from the god of all creatures and raise your young proudly. Rejoice, for you have the privilege to give birth to a superior breed of human. The Dread Wolf shall have this honor’ The Genma’s pride and contempt for humanity seemed to leak through with every word, Asami was chosen, yes. But she and all humans were far beneath him. Only her touch of the Dread Wolf made her worthy.

[Willoria]

She wasn't sure exactly what she had expected to see of Vorashu, how he might appear, but he was only partially what she had anticipated. Through Shinjiro's transformations she had felt she had hints of what he might be, and yet still she held her breath as he spoke to her. Hearing what the Genma had to say to her surprised her, even if he did hold contempt for her species as a whole. His reference to what had become both her moniker and felt like a spirit of its own attached to her in some sense left her with an oddly whimsical smile on her face. It took her several moments to catch up and realize what Shinjiro had said.

Her hand dropped from his head immediately, breaking the jutsu as she looked at him in surprise. She had thought he might be angry, but what she saw seemed to be sorrow. "I..." her voice faltered as she tried to come up with an answer as she looked at him. She turned towards him more and scooted forward, moving a leg between him and the couch so that she could keep him between her knees and sit as close as possible to the man as she looked at him. She reached up a hand to touch the underside of his chin, the maroon chakra was gone as she looked at him. "It-it's not that simple." she said quietly. "I never wanted children, Shinjiro... I mean, I never considered them but..." she sighed as she carefully tried to take one of his hands to set it over her abdomen. Though she wasn't far enough long to show as of yet the gesture still felt symbolic to her. "This... this is us." she said quietly. "If I abandoned this, killed this... I'd feel like I'm killing part of you and..."

She felt that blush creeping in again as she suddenly dropped her eyes to her hand over his again. She had to force herself to close her eyes again. "I don't think I could do that... I told you once that I loved you, and I meant it." Some part of her expected anger, and as she spoke she felt her entire body brace for it.

[Izanagi]

Shinjiro leveled his gaze, staring listlessly into Asami’s clear blue eyes. He wanted to hope, to believe they could produce something good in this cruel world. But it was what he feared the world would do to their child that he couldn’t bring himself to allow. He leaned into her touch, nuzzling against her hand. And when his hand was guided to her stomach, he felt an instinctual pull. This life being created was his, made from him and Asami, their passion, lust, the bond they shared. His claws were still extended, it would be so easy to end the life right there, a twitch of his hand and it would be done and there was nothing Asami could do to stop him. He was a killer, an assassin. One of the deadliest in Kirigakure, and his training had come at a tremendous cost to his mental state. His eyes felt heavy, his body brimming with power as he looked to her stomach. “You don’t know. What I’ve seen and heard. What my family would do” he warned. “This is about more than just us” he insisted, meeting her eyes again. But his claws slowly retracted back into his skin. He didn’t want to kill their baby, but he couldn’t bring a child into a world only to suffer. It would be mercy to not have to live such a life at all.

He reached out with his other hand, caressing the woman’s cheek, mirroring her own hand against his face. Leaning in as he pulled her closer he rested his forehead against hers, exhaling slowly. “Asami…I” he started. He was well aware that he had never said it back. Even after years, all the battles and the countless times they had been intimate with one other. “You have to understand. I don’t know what love is, not really. I never had a mother, my older sister, Chiasa tortured me every day, electrocutions, waterboarding, poisons. Everything you can possibly imagine. My father taught her how. I had so many siblings, but we were kept separate. I learned to differentiate them by the sound of their screams and how long they would last. As I got older, I was made to watch. You are one of the only good things I’ve ever had” his eyes began to redden and water, on the verge of tears in the most forthcoming and honest displays Asami would have ever seen of him. He had never opened up to anyone like this before, been so vulnerable. But she had to know. She had to understand the risk if they were to do this together. “I think I do love you, or at least I want to, but I can’t go through that again. I refuse to allow our child to suffer like that” he said, closing his eyes as he leaned into her. His normally stoic voice was strained, even cracking at a few points as the pain he had suppressed for so many years began to creep back to the surface. Slowly he took a deep breath, forcing himself to try to regain his composure. Even now, if he slipped up, if he lost control of his emotions for even a moment, Vorashu would sink its teeth in and everything he had worked so hard to protect would be lost.

[Willoria]

She hadn't missed the fact that his claws were still out, or what he could do with them if he so chose. That too had been part of the reason behind putting his hand on her. It wasn't just an attempt for him to symbolically feel the life they had accidentally created together (though perhaps not entirely an accident on Vorashu's part as she could tell from what he had said), it was also about his choice. This child was a part of her too, and as he put his claws away she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding all the while. She listened in painful silence as he told her about his past. She had picked up pieces by inference and assumption over the years, clues were left through all the time they had spent together. But this was the first time he had willingly told her of any of it, all at once. She almost had to check to make sure she wasn't accidentally using her ability again.

As his eyes began to water, Asami leaned forward. She moved both of her hands to cup his face and she gently kissed the corners of his eyes, stealing away his tears with her lips and even the gentle tip of her tongue, one at a time. When she leaned her head back to let him keep talking she'd steal tears away with a single thumb if need be, but she never let a single one fall. Some part of her felt the man was too proud for her to allow it, another part of her simply felt to do so was natural. She couldn't take away the pain he was revealing to her, but she could take away the signs of it.

He leaned into her and the woman wrapped her arms around him. "I know love is hard for you." she said quietly. "I figured that out a long time ago... and I'm okay with that. You don't have to tell me you love me, Shinjiro." she smiled briefly as she kissed him on the cheek gently, still holding the man. "I know I feel less like a lover to you, and more like a mate, and that's enough." She took a deep breath and sighed. "I know you're scared... but I have trusted you with my life all of these years, will you trust me with this? Vorashu, and perhaps you too on some level, have entrusted me with this. You both trust me to be strong enough to protect this child. Let me show you that I really am." She let him go and leaned back a little, slipping two fingers under Shinjiro's chin to try and coax him into looking at her. "We made this child together, and we'll protect her together." she said quietly, before kissing him gently.

[Izanagi]

Shinjiro’s left hand moved from Asami’s cheek to her hair as she lovingly kissed away his tears. He felt conflicted about the action, some part of him despised any sign of weakness, his own or otherwise. He had never been treated like a child, save for fleeting moments by slave caretakers or even his sister after she tortured him and tended to his wounds afterward. He had learned that every moment of tenderness came at a cost. He was allowed to be weak, to express his pain and mental anguish, but only just enough to pull himself back together again and use it to become stronger. But with Asami it was almost as if there wasn’t that expectation, that she simply was content to accept him as he was, even at his weakest points. That feeling he decided to latch onto and embrace. Exhaling slowly his tears stopped falling, and for once he didn’t feel the need to lash out with anger or violence to compensate for his vulnerability.

He held her hair firmly, inhaling deeply as she spoke. Her scent calmed him, her closeness bringing him comfort. A mate? To think someone like him could even have that much. After feeling so alone, nothing more than a weapon to be used by his family and the village. He had been taught that life was meaningless, only duty mattered. Love was a pointless distraction, a vulnerability that would only get people killed. The only purpose in women was for the reward of simple pleasures and as a means of reproduction to create more soldiers for the sake of Kirigakure. But Shinjiro had found over the years he had strayed from the doctrines he had been taught. Pulled in opposite directions between Vorashu’s impulses and his father’s strict philosophies, he now found himself a mess of contradictions but somewhere in there he was anchored by the important people in his life. Asami gave him a reason to live, beyond duty, beyond pleasure and impulse. Maybe it was love, but whatever the case it was something he wanted to pursue further.

His eyes met hers as she spoke of his fears. She was winning him over, he wanted to believe they could do it. As strong as he was his father still scared him, he had controlled every aspect of his childhood, removed any opposition. Shinjiro had been forced to kill his first real friend because he was a foreign shinobi and he spoke of peace and diplomacy. If his cousin Yuuto wasn’t the son of Karagata Shiv, he was sure his father would have had Shinjiro kill him too or done it himself if he refused. But this was different, he could still be a father and the pride of the Karagata. As long as he lived, their child could be safe under his protection. But if he were to fall, Izune would find a way to get to their child, he was certain. Asami spoke of her strength, and he sighed, maybe she was right. Maybe she could become strong enough to fend off his family. Or at least important enough to the village that they wouldn’t risk crossing her. “Okay” he breathed, feeling a weight lift off of him as he accepted the choice he was making. There was still some lingering doubt but he fought to shut that feeling out.

Shinjiro’s primal green eyes shone with conviction as Asami spoke of protecting their child together. “Okay. We’ll do it then” he said with more conviction, smiling slightly as he felt his fears assuaged by hope. But suddenly he realized a word she had spoken stood out. “Her?” he questioned softly. He had initially assumed the child would be a boy. The thought of raising a daughter hadn’t even occurred to him. “A girl…” he realized, stroking the woman’s stomach gingerly. If he hadn’t been convinced before it was clear there was no turning back now. He had a soft spot for the innocence of young girls. The death of his little sister scarred his heart worse than anything else he had experienced. He tried to give other girls like her a chance where he could, going out of his way to save children that reminded him of her wherever he could.

[Willoria]

Asami breathed a sigh of relief as Shinjiro seemed to come around to the idea. Though she had told herself she could be okay with things if he had put his foot down and tried to push her away from the idea of going through with the pregnancy, she knew that wasn't entirely true. She was already firmly attached to the life growing within her and had been terrified to tell him the truth. As more of the facts hit him and he spoke of the child being a girl, a smile crossed Asami's lips. One of her hands came down to rest over his even as he stroked her abdomen. "Yeah." she said quietly. "I thought..." Asami bit her lip carefully for a moment, almost hesitating to say it. He was barely accepting the idea of having and raising this child, if she told him how far she had thought ahead on this already, how would he react? Even without that as a concern, the details of that thought could be a bit problematic as well. "I thought we could name her for your sister. Kiyome." she said quietly, looking at him as she worried how he might react to the name, knowing the significance of it. "We have plenty of time to decide though..."

Finally allowing herself to truly smile, Asami would lean forward and kiss him deeply. When she'd finally pull away from him, her forehead resting against his before she chuckled. "Now you know why I've been sick though." she remarked, sighing before she turned and picked up her tea again to try and sip at it, making a face. "...and why no alcohol." she added with a grumpy expression. She leaned back against the couch and pulled the blanket around her again as a fresh wave of nausea came on and she leaned her head back against the back of the couch as a thought occurred to her and the woman chuckled. "Think you're up for another shock... I learned something else too..." she added, motioning to the papers on the table. "I wasn't even at the hospital because of the nausea when I found out I was pregnant." It was ironic really, she had just been there to follow up on the DNA testing Karagata Mio had offered and paid for to prove her claims about Asami's true parentage.