[Closed] Where were you?

[Willoria]

[Plotboard] Friends, Allies...More? Kazuki Amaya made her way home after her time spent with Karagata Shinjiro, and needless to say she felt more than a little conflicted about the time spent. She was quiet the entire walk home, only stopping by a restaurant to pick up some food for her and her brother, including some of his favorites. Once home she pushed the front door open and pulled off her shoes, walking carefully across the floor to find her brother, but discovering his room was empty. Rolling her eyes, she yelled out, "Kouta! You were supposed to watch him!" She set the bag of food on her brother's desk, frowning at the mess that was his bed and floor, before turning and making a beeline through the house to a training area in the back.

"He wasn't exactly willing to stay in bed when I asked." Came Kouta's response as Amaya rounded a corner. The rather burly slave had his arms crossed and was leaning against a wall as he watched Ryu practice several moves with his weapon.

"I get you can order him around because he's a slave, but can you at least realize I asked him to keep you in bed? You need to rest, you shit." Amaya told her brother, stepping into view and crossing her arms to glare at him. Her clothes weren't dripping from her fall in the lake anymore, though still damp, but currently covered by the brown cloak she had gotten from Shinjiro. In truth, she'd forgotten about the cloak momentarily, and her wet clothes.

[TyDie]

While it was true that his sister had practically commanded him to stay in bed and rest ever since getting from that mission, truth be told, Ryu felt great. While in his mind he was still absolutely mortified by the presence of Hisan, ever since merging with the creature he found that physically speaking, he felt better than he had in ages. The creature's presence really was doing wonders for his body's health, at the expense of consuming enough meat for 3 men his age. When Amaya walked in to see him training, he had just finished completing a series of very difficult Iaido maneuvers and hadn't even broken a sweat after almost a half hour of practice.

"I know what you told him." He spoke defensively, as if she had accused him of some crime. With a deep breath he resheathed his blade, eyes closed for a moment as the blade slid into place. "I got stir crazy. I've told you already, as weird as it is I've felt great the past few days." Finally he turned to face his sister, a rather neutral expression on his face as he approached the small back porch where both Amaya and Kouta stood. "I smell food... Great, I'm starving." was all the young boy said as he passed his sister, entering the home of their grandparents. "Jiji and Baba said they'll be back later, which is why I got up and started training. We have the house to ourselves for a few hours."

As he rounded the corner into the house proper, he took a look at the bag on his desk and noted that it was from one of their favorite restaurants. With an eager look in his eyes he opened the back to discover a meal of rice and steak, grilled to perfection... But as he noticed it was cooked to a style of 'medium', his stomach turned, and with a slight look of disappointment he set the plate back down on the table, a small sigh betraying his sorrow. Seriously? I can't even have my favorite food anymore? You call that food? It's ruined! Only the freshest, rawest meat will do. Ryu rolled his eyes at the creature's protest before turning and taking a seat on the couch in the open living room, setting his sword down beside him on the floor. He hadn't even noticed the cloak around Amaya's shoulders yet, or the fact that her clothes were still damp.

[Willoria]

Amaya naturally rolled her eyes as she found a step to sit on, watching her brother dig through the bag in excitement, only to see his shoulders slump. It took her a minute to realize what was wrong as it dawned on her what his new appetites were with this creature in him. "Shit. I'm sorry, Ryu, I wasn't thinking." she said, standing up and shifting around Shinji's cloak, which she still wore, to get to her coin purse on her hip. She walked over to Kouta and took one of his hands to hold it out in front of them. She counted out several coins into it. "You know what to get him down at the market so honestly I can't have anyone else do this." she mentioned, nodding to him that he was free to go on his own to buy the meat.

The man hesitated a moment, but not because of what he was being asked to do or the trust he was being shown despite being a slave. "You alright, Amaya? Your clothes are soaked." he asked, giving her a concerned look briefly.

"I'm fine, my clothes will dry eventually. I'll probably go change in a little bit." she said, sighing to herself as she waved Kouta off and the man gave a quick bow before leaving to get the meat. She turned to her brother and walked over to him, pausing beside the couch as she thought better of sitting on it with wet clothing. "Kouta is getting you something... I'm sorry I forgot for a minute I guess..."

[TyDie]

Ryu stared out the glass door into the back yard where he had just been training, his stomach growling again as his desire for food grew. He hadn't heard the exchange between Kouta and Amaya really, as his mind was more focused on his hunger and anger in regards to Hisan's dietary choices that now affected his own tastes. We're gonna need to work something out in that regard, i'll be damned if you're going to keep me away from good food forever. Tch, there's nothing to agree on. It's garbage. You aren't eating that anymore. This was my body first damnit! Don't forget that you're the bastard who hopped in here with me, you're not going to get your way on everything!

His mind returned to reality as Amaya addressed him, apologizing for the food. "Don't worry about it... I'm not used to seeing you so apologetic. It's weird, stop it." He chuckled at her with a small grin, but his eyebrow suddenly raised up as he noticed her damp clothing and the brown cloak around her. "Uh, what's with the getup? If I didn't know you I might mistake you for an undesirable with that shabby brown cloak and damp clothes." It was strange to be sure, the cloak was far outside of her fashion sense... what could've happened?

[Willoria]

Amaya chuckled a bit as her brother teased her, rolling her eyes. "Okay fine. Fuck-face." she retorted, rolling her eyes again true to her own self as always. It was true the pair were rarely serious with one another, and almost never apologized to each other. It was simply how the pair functioned but today was different. Yesterday she had feared her brother was dead and today she had shared a moment not only with someone unexpected, but a moment she had always told herself would never come if she had anything to say about it. She wrinkled up her nose at the thought of it. "Well Kouta is heading to the market to get you something better. We may want to consider a place with its own pond though in the future, so we don't have to spend quite so much on fresh. You two can catch it yourselves." she refused to refer to Hisan as a part of her brother and had already told herself she would say 'you two' if referring to it. In her mind the pair were very much different, and the situation was not going to be permanent.

Her brother asked about the cloak and it was as if the girl herself suddenly remembered it, a blush making its way to her cheeks. "Uh... I went for a walk by the docks and... kinda fell into the lake." she admitted, trying to omit that someone had startled her. The last thing she wanted was for her brother to think she was jumpy, though as she said it she realized saying she was clumsy was just as bad. "The cloak was lent to me by... uh... well. By Karagata Shinjiro. He was at the docks and saw me fall in." The blush grew worse. She knew her brother would know of Shinji, and worse yet would probably feel she had embarrassed herself and him by being so clumbsy in front of him. After all, he was a member of the Seven Swordsmen just as their father had been, and a legend in his own right for being host of the body genma.

[TyDie]

Ryu laughed quietly, more of a throaty chuckle, as Amaya returned to her old ways with a particularly harsh insult. "That's better." Was all he offered in verbal response as he leaned back against the couch, his hands crossed behind his head like a makeshift pillow. It seemed Kouta would be grabbing him his dinner, which was comforting as the boy's stomach was already starting to ache... He felt like he was eating for more than just himself and the creature within, like some third entity existed within him too. Hey, you came alone right? The creature laughed a little before responding. "Hehehe, yeah it's just you and me in here. I'm not one for friends." Somehow that didn't surprise Ryu...

His mouth dropped a little as his sister mentioned the situation that lead to her getting the cloak, and who's cloak it was. "Wait... that Karagata Shinjiro? LIke, the seven swordsman, host to Vorashu, one of the best assassins in the Karagata family?" He didn't wait for an answer before he shook his head in laughter. "One of the most well known shinobi of our time... and you embarrassed yourself by falling off the docks!" He started laughing almost hysterically, deep full laughs that echoed through the empty house. By the time he was done, tears were welling in his eyes. "Oh man, I wish I had been there to harp on you for that one! I can only imagine! Hahaha!"

[Willoria]

Amaya's blush deepened and the girl huffed a bit as her brother began giving her a hard time. She crossed her arms and started out pouting at him. "It's not my fault!" she said, getting flustered and scrambling to explain. "There was a wolf on the docks and I stopped to pet it but it was him and he was laying on me when he suddenly transformed and it scared the shit out of me! So yeah I fell off the dock! You would have too! Thank the gods I didn't try to scratch his belly or something!" she exclaimed, her blush deepening as she realized that in her flustered state she had just said everything she hadn't meant to, and then a devilish grin crossed her lips as an idea came to her mind.

"Besides, it wasn't all bad. He gave me his cloak to stay warm and kissed me. Said I didn't have to give it back because he could find me later." she said, her eyes sparkling mischievously as she smirked and watched her brother for a reaction. 'Okay so I kissed Shinji actually, not like he knows that... though as a wolf he did lick my face and that's pretty much the same thing...' She knew how protective her brother really was of her, and how angry he might get if he thought she was about to date someone he had no hope of protecting her from.

[TyDie]

As his sister continued to go on and on about all of the embarrassing things that had transpired, what with Shinjiro being in the form of a wolf and her mortifying blunders, his laughter grew and grew with each addition. "Oh my god, Amaya stop, I can't breath!" He began to hold his sides as pain shot through them, the continuous convulsions of his muscles causing him discomfort but the story was just too damn funny to stop laughing. Hisan didn't quite understand humor like this yet, and so instead it simply remained silent while all of this transpired.

However, as she ended her story, the final things she spoke of caused him to cease laughter and raise an eyebrow. He had fallen on to the couch in his laughing fit, sprawling out as he did so, but now he shifted back to an upright position. "Wait... what was that? He kissed you?" The boy's tone changed quite quickly, a slow flame building in his stomach as he eyed her up and down. "And... how did you respond?"

[Willoria]

As upset as Amaya was with her brother's near incessant laughter, his sudden stop and interest in what else she said gave her more than a little sense of satisfaction. She shrugged at his question, pulling the cloak purposely over her further as if to huddle herself in it and smirked at him. "Well let's see... I was on the docks, shivering, he gave me his cloak to stay warm. Then he did a jutsu that I guess raised his temperature to help warm me up." she couldn't help a bit of a sly smirk as she looked at her brother that just didn't seem to go away the entire time she was talking. She knew damn well it wasn't going to make him happy if she suddenly started spending more time around Shinji. "He mentioned he'll find me later to get his cloak back, so I imagine you'll get to meet him before long." she finally said, shrugging a bit.

"I should probably get changed actually, wet clothes kinda suck." she mentioned. "Kouta should be back with your food soon." she added as she practically skipped out of the room towards her bedroom to change clothes.

[TyDie]

The more his sister revealed to him what really happened on those docks, the more his stomach churned as the flame of anger grew hotter and hotter. By the time she was done the ember had become more of a bonfire, though not quite an inferno. The idea of meeting the young swordsman who had been recruited to the seven was of course something he had wanted at one point, but after hearing how 'close' he had gotten to his sister he was finding it harder to enjoy such an idea. "Tch, this is Kiri you know, and he's a Karagata. Don't forget their motto, 'don't cross a Karagata'. One wrong step might be too much for him to suffer... Plus who knows what that genma has done to his mind."

It was clear the boy was bitter about the whole exchange, though not enough to outright insult or ridicule the Karagata assassin. After all, Shinjiro's reputation was well known, as was his genma counterpart Tsukino, Nishiki. Practically every shinobi knew them by name, and their skills were legendary. To talk ill of one of them could result in a very severe beating, or worse, if the host were to find out... and while it saddened him to say, Ryu was no where near that level of power. Tch... pussy.

By the time Hisan spoke up, Amaya was already in her room changing, though Ryu was quick to huff at the creature within him. Excuse the fuck out of me? You heard me, heh. Afraid that boy is gonna beat your ass and steal your sister? Maybe you're right... I bet you don't have the balls to face him. You're heading the right way for an ass kicking yourself! Ha, go ahead dumbass. You're only hurting yourself. But hey, I wasn't finished yet. You might not be a match for this 'shinjiro' alone... but you aren't alone, are you? The boy's eyes flared for a moment, he could feel the creature inside him writhing as it attempted to come out to play.

He didn't give in though, not in the house where his grandparents might return at any moment. They knew of course, but they had yet to see the creature themselves, and for now Ryu preferred to keep it that way. Still, he had to acknowledge that maybe Hisan was right... he could become a lot of things if the creature truly did know how to fight, how to work alongside him. Yeah... Not such a bad thought now, is it? before he could think up a reply, Amaya would return to the room and once more catch his attention.

[Willoria]

Amaya was laughingly at Ryu’s statements as she made her way back to her room. It wouldn’t take her long to change, tossing her clothes aside and taking the extra moment to dry her skin with a towel before getting dressed again. She pulled on a simple pair of black sweatpants that while fitting up around her thighs and backside, was loose past her knees. She also put on a simple black sports bra and brushed her hair. As she walked back out to her brother, her hands were back behind her head, tying her still wet hair into a braid. ”If there was ever something I didn’t want to inherit from dad, it would have been this goddamn mane. The color? Sure. But why couldn’t I have mom’s hair?” she was talking to herself as she entered, sighing as she saw her brother.

”I’m not worried about crossing him. Even if I managed to offend him, Uncle Shiv wouldn’t let it go too far.” she finally said, taking a seat on the couch beside her brother and returning to their conversation at hand. ”All jokes aside I’m pretty sure he’s never been kissed in his life. He was like a deer caught in a hunter’s gaze. I had to explain that a kiss isn’t a proposal.” she couldn’t help a chuckle as she explained though she knew another subject she needed to discuss with her brother was probably going to piss him off.

[TyDie]

Ryu chuckled at the girl's remark about their father's hair, which of course he too had inherited from the famed Overseer. However, as he thought for a moment about their father's physical influences on them, he let out a small sigh as he looked to his left at a small mirror on the wall of the house, looking at his newly changed eyes. "You should take a little more pride in it Amaya. Never know when you might lose it." It was a little harder on Ryu than he expected it to be, Ren had always commented on how much of a 'heartbreaker' he was going to be when he got older, with those crystal blue eyes he had gotten from his dad... Now what would people think of him, seeing those strange red and black eyes? They'd think him a freak...

Moving to the topic of the Karagata once again, he gave a small nod and shook the thoughts of his eyes from his head. "Heh, shiv... Haven't spoken to him in a long time. Not even sure he's active any more, I haven't heard any stories through the grape vine regarding his missions... But knowing him, that's on purpose. He was never really one to brag as far as I know. Regardless his name does still carry weight..." His thoughts on shiv were interrupted by the admittedly hilarious explanation of the kiss Amaya had had with Shinjiro, the kid must've been utterly innocent in the ways of carnal pleasure.

"What the hell, he could have whatever woman he wanted and he doesn't even care to? Maaaan, I'd be rolling in the harems if I had his luck..."

[Willoria]

Amaya gave her brother an odd look, frowning as he spoke and she knew exactly why he said it. He had lost the blue eyes he'd inherited from their father, and though it seemed like such a trivial thing, for a pair who had lost their parents so young nothing was so trivial. "Well at least your eyes match your hair now. Gives you a creepier vibe. You could probably make that Muramasa we met at the mines piss himself with a glance now." she quipped, silently refusing to let her brother get too down on himself over his eyes.

The girl stretched on the couch, chuckling as her brother spoke of their unofficial 'uncle'. "Actually he is still active." she mentioned. "I checked on my way home, he's still in charge of the Head Hunters Division and apparently spends most of his days bored... or drunk... or some combination thereof. I've heard some rumors about how he acts at the bars too, though that's just kinda funny." she admitted. She knew her uncles actions were probably abhorrent to some, but in Kiri he had certainly earned his right to behave how he wished, and if anything Amaya envied that. "I'm going to see him tomorrow for lunch actually. I found out when he usually leaves and I want to talk to him about something..." Her voice trailed off, knowing she had to approach the one subject she really didn't want to.

"...I want to change my contract to the Karagata. Officially."

[TyDie]

Ryu couldn't help but chuckle at the idea of intimidating that shithead Takeda even more than they already had. Truly that man was scum, even a slave deserved better treatment than what he was doing. "Heh, yeah I guess it does doesn't it? He deserved more than a scare truth be told..." Heh... You thinking what i'm thinking? Ryu chuckled again, realizing that Hisan had the same thought on it's mind that it always did... Let me guess... 'food'? A deep, ominous chuckle resounded through his mind as Ryu guessed correctly... and the thought made Ryu slightly nauseous, realizing that Hisan would actually love to eat the fat bastard.

Ryu shrugged and raised an eyebrow as he realized that shiv was indeed still an active shinobi, still running the Head Hunter Division and still up to his old drunken antics. Some things never changed, he surmised... although apparently that assumption would be proven wrong immediately after the thought crossed his mind as Amaya mentioned what she wanted to do, the reason she wanted to speak to shiv... She wanted to leave the Muramasa. Ryu's disposition immediately changed as that subject turned his stomach, another fire of anger rising in his belly.

"Tch, why don't you just toss away everything our father left us Amaya. Go dye your hair or chop it all off while your at it, because you may as well be throwing away your heritage if that's how you want to go about it!" His voice rose high towards the end, but he suddenly started to feel faint, a still persistent side effect of Hisan's recent symbiosis. He had to steady himself against the couch, placing a hand on the cushion next to him to keep himself upright. If Amaya moved to help him, he'd bark at her in response. "I'm fine!" He would refuse any help, deep breath emanating from him as he powered through the dizziness... This weakness was becoming incredibly annoying.

[Willoria]

She knew he wouldn't react well, though she had to admit she didn't like the way he was getting worked up over it or the accusations he immediately leveled at her. As he wavered she of course got up and moved to help him, flinching as he yelled at her again and the girl crossed her arms over her chest, staring down at him. "I'm not throwing anything away, Ryu." she told him, a strange sort of angry calm coming over her voice, a tone that he likely hadn't heard from her ever before. "I'm trying to reclaim what our mother lost us, can't you see that?" Her voice didn't wave, raise, or waver, and she stepped away a moment to pace. If anything her tone was almost a monotone as she fought to keep her own anger under control. Her brother had just gone through hell and his remarks were reflecting what he felt like he was losing.

"Our father may have been contracted to the Muramasa, but our mother was contracted to the Karagata. That's why we even see Shiv as an uncle, don't you remember?" she stopped her pacing a moment and turned to face him, sighing as she tilted her head a bit and looked at him. "Her death severed that tie and left us with only the Muramasa. We should have had a choice when it came time for the academy. But we didn't. That was taken from us. I want to join the Head Hunter's Division, even run it someday... maybe go further. All that would be easier and even better served under the Karagata. I want to take that back, I want our right to a choice back!" she couldn't help a chuckle and even a smirk as another thought came to mind. "Frankly I don't care whose boot I have to kiss or even who I'd have to fuck just to get the chance. I won't let her death rob us of everything we deserve."

Amaya looked up as she heard a door close and saw Kouta coming in, a sigh escaping her lips as she saw him carrying two rather large sacks that were moving. She could only guess what unfortunate creatures lie within. "You know, good thing you worked in a mine or that might look hard." she said, teasing the man as he only grinned in response.

[TyDie]

Ryu's labored breathing slowly returned to normal as he desperately worked to calm himself, and although it was still quite infuriating to hear what Amaya had to say about switching her contract, he began to see some small semblance of sense to it. Not in the idea of becoming a part of another family to expand their potential reach, he never once cared for politics or any sort of reach for power, not in that way anyways. No, he stuck with the Muramasa because, as with many things, that was what his father did, and so he did it. Amaya on the other hand seemed to be doing something incredibly uncharacteristic of herself.

"Heh... You want to reclaim something from her? From Ren? You despise our mother, Amaya. Why would you want anything to do with her path in life, even if it's a means of taking back what was lost? I figured you'd be glad we lost that tie to the Karagata, that's one less thing connecting you to Ren, and yet you want it back?" Ryu couldn't help but laugh, throwing his head back against the couch cushion behind him as he stared at the ceiling. "Just when I thought I understood you for a second you pull this shit... Women. Who the fuck can tell what's going through their minds. Oh, and if I ever hear you talk about fucking anyone to get a leg up on the competition i'll beat you myself."

He couldn't help but spit after he spoke on the idea of his sister having sex, that was a thought that he never wanted to pass through his mind ever again. As he spat on the floor he saw Kouta come back in, and the bags wiggling in his hands. "Set those in my room Kouta... I'll be back there in a moment." His stomach growled in anticipation, and he could tell Hisan's mouth was already watering...

[Willoria]

Amaya was starting to get mad now, pacing as her brother spoke and even laughed before she rounded to face him once more. "She took our honor from us, Ryu! I don't know why you can't see that!" she snapped at him, her voice finally raising. "She stole that from us, of course I'm going to take it back! I am going to take everything that bitch ever did and I am going to do it better! I will outshine her in every way and no one will ever remember her or the shit she put us through again." she shook her head, running her hands over her hair briefly as she tried to calm herself down.

She started pacing again, mildly chuckling as her brother made his comment about her having sex and she rolled her eyes. "Please, I get the chance I will climb all over Shinjiro if it gets me what I want." Of course she couldn't help horrifying her brother further as she shrugged. "Hell, maybe I'll even enjoy it... he certain seems part animal." Her blue eyes sparkled, knowing full well her brother was about to take all the rage she was putting into him, out on whatever was wriggling in those bags that Kouta was now taking back to Ryu's room.

[TyDie]

Ryu just rolled his eyes as AMaya went on her typical rant about their mother and how she was a disgrace and blah blah, Ryu had heard it a hundred times before and couldn't even bring himself to get mad about it anymore. After a few moments he simply tuned her out, those wiggling bags that Kouta brought back to his room popping up again in his mind as his hunger grew. He was just about to excuse himself from her company and shed some blood to sate his appetite when she mentioned herself... climbing all over... Shinjiro. And then a sudden gag arose from his throat as his mind went placed he didn't ever want it to go.

"Not another word dammit, Not another WORD!!" Ryu began to yell over Amaya's words as he walked away and Kouta walked passed him, the boy heading straight for his room to get away from the horrific topic of conversation. Now he needed to kill something. "Woah... What was that all about?" Kouta spoke to Amaya as her brother shut the door behind him, and a moment later some pretty disturbing sounds could be heard coming from his room...