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damalurbackupTITLE: The Execution of All Things, Pt. 2
CHARACTERS: Kurogane/Fai
NOTES: See part the first.
SUMMARY: Fai is dead. A world is ending. Kurogane copes about as well as you'd expect.
Act 2.
2.1 | the voice in the back of his mind
...WIZARD never return to where i'm from MY TYPE must be the one you hate the most really kuro-sama you notice all the unnecessary things -
i'm not going to RUN AWAY i'm not kind i'm just weak this is PAYBACK -
i'm the one to talk let's have this night KUROGANE I -
2.2 | a letter from Hououji Fuu to Ryuuzaki Umi
Dear Umi,
I'm sure by now you've heard about the recent burning of the castle here in Himeji. While both Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu were in residence, neither were harmed in the fires. The castle itself is in much worse condition; the Salt Tower and much of the grounds are damaged beyond repair.
The official word handed down from the Empress is that the attack was intended not as a threat on her own life but as a protest, either by Japanese refugees seeking an increase in the immigration limit or by one of our own nationalist groups, angered because Amaterasu is allowing the refugees to come to Nihon. I'm saddened that either movement would feel it necessary to not only endanger the lives of our rulers but also to ravage one of our richest historical and political symbols. You'll laugh at me, I'm sure, but the present complex of buildings was built over two centuries ago, and some form of keep stood on the site for many years before that.
So many of the refugee camps are located in Hyougo Prefecture, and the main center for processing Japanese and preparing them for life in Nihon is located nearby in Kobe. Perhaps because of the proximity of both the refugees and the Empress, Himeji is in a veritable uproar. Every man on the street has an opinion and is willing to fight his neighbor over it, if his neighbor is so foolish as to disagree. There have been several lesser incidences besides the castle's destruction - a brawl in one of the taverns, a dissident newspaper's offices bombed, that sort of thing. Even worse, the Committee for the People of Nihon is beginning to militarize under the pretense that the Japanese are planning to revolt and overthrow the Empress! The royal family's guards are scouring the city to find the arsonists, while at the same time a regiment of soldiers is on constant patrol to suppress the violence.
Just yesterday I was at the closest market, shopping for gifts, when three armed men accused one of the shopkeepers of smuggling refugees into the country. They started to shout at him and then hit him, when one of Princess Tomoyo's personal guardsmen - you'll remember the one I'm talking about, the large man with the dragon-sword you so liked - emerged from the crowd and pulled the shopkeeper to safety. The agitators switched their attention to the guard, and for a moment I thought they were going to actually overcome him; he faltered and went down on one knee, but in the end he knocked all three out with the butt of his sword and called for soldiers to carry them to prison.
As you can imagine, between the refugees and the surge of violence, I have hardly been able to find the time to write. Dr. Kudo says I am learning, though, and that within the next year I should be ready to return home and open my own practice. Until then, I hope that you and your family are well. Look for me to visit in the summer.
Please give Hikaru my love,
Fuu
2.3 | on grief
Let's talk about grief.
Grief is a reaction to loss. Grief is sadness, grief is sorrow, grief is anger. Grief is many things to many people; grief is many things to one person.
Let's look at a hypothetical scenario. Let's pretend that there are two men - remember, please, that this is a purely imaginary scenario, wherein we might examine the effects of grief. Let's pretend that there are two men, and they are in love. They are in love, but neither mentions it to the other, until the night before a final battle. Let's say that even then neither speaks, but there is confession all the same. Please remember that this is a completely hypothetical situation.
Let's say one of the men - we'll call him K, for the sake of clarity, but his name might just as easily have been A or J or Y - let's say that the man called K is proud and stoic and honest. Let's call the other man F, and let's pretend that F is subtle and healing and clever. Let's pretend that K and F are in love -
That F dies -
And that K doesn't.
(Please remember that none of this is real.)
What would happen, for instance, if K believed he killed F?
Does it matter? Wouldn't the effects be the same anyway? A stoic man like K - he's honest, yes, but first stoic - he'd hide his grief away, wouldn't he? Maybe he wouldn't deny it, but he'd tamp it down, secret it away, keep it private and hidden. A man like K would mourn quietly, and maybe he'd eventually be able to let his grief go, but maybe, if he loved F enough, that grief would stay in his heart -
Grief is a funny thing. It doesn't affect just a person's heart. No. Grief can affect thoughts, philosophy, behavior -
Fighting ability -
And dreams.
2.4 | who is Blue John?
The Empress believes that Blue John is an underground movement linked to the new citizens from Japan, possibly a reaction to the nativists; however, let me emphasize first that Blue John is not responsible for the recent attack on Shirasagi Castle, and second that most Japanese have no knowledge of or connection to Blue John.
- Imonoyama Nokoru, senior advisor to Amaterasu
I don't believe this propaganda they're feeding us about Blue John being an anti-nativist movement. Blue John is plainly the head of an underground terrorist network. It's bad enough that these Japanese invaders are being allowed to live on our land and use up our resources, but now one of their own is threatening our people's very lives.
- Daidouji Sonomi, head of the Committee for the People of Nihon
My understanding is that Blue John is some sort of symbol that the Japanese are using to protest the immigration restrictions put in place by Amaterasu. I am sympathetic to the Japanese cause, but at the same time I'm concerned about the new diseases that have been introduced to our population and the strains placed on our food and medical supplies.
- Kudo Shuichiro, doctor from Ichinogo-cho
Blue John is a hero.
- Segawa Keiichi, Japanese refugee
2.5 | a conversation
"Princess - "
"Yes, Kurogane?"
"That curse you placed on me - so I wouldn't kill. I need you to take it off."
"...why is that?"
"I killed someone very strong. Very...very important. It's made me weak."
"You are still the strongest warrior in Nihon."
"Hmph. No, I'm weaker than I used to be. There were three men in the marketplace, today, thugs, and they had me. Just for a second, but it was a second too long. Take the curse away."
"Kurogane, you aren't weakened because of the seal. You're weakened because you've hardly slept in days, because you battled a dimension-sorcerer just a fortnight ago, and because you're still grieving. No one will fault you for that."
"Take the curse away!"
"I removed the seal the last time you were in Nihon, while you slept."
"..."
"Go rest, Kurogane."
"I have a duty to find your attackers - "
"Kurogane, I'm safe for now. Please, go rest."
2.6 | hunting
He doesn't go rest, of course. Instead he checks in with Souma, gets briefed on the latest information, and sets out into the city. The city: that great gleaming cesspool, where secrets lurk and ideas clash and people lie dead in the street for no particular reason. The city.
It's dark, and he creeps along the rooftops and slinks through the shadows just because he can. It's no small feat for a man as large as he to move quietly and unseen, but he can and he does. He keeps an eye on the soldiers making their rounds, notes the recruiting flyer posted by the Committee for the People of Nihon, and when he finally reaches the correct address, drops to land in a crouch outside the Yamazaki family's door.
He knocks, and a man with flour-stained hands and smiling eyes opens the door. The man sobers immediately when he takes in Kurogane's armor and sword, and with a huff Kurogane pulls one of Tomoyo's writs from his belt and shoves it at the man. "I'm Tsukuyomi's guard," he says. "I want to talk to you and your wife."
"Of course," the man says, and moves aside. Kurogane steps over the threshold and stands just inside, not bothering to remove his shoes.
"I'm Yamazaki Takashi," says the man, "and this is my wife, Chiharu."
"Kurogane. I want to talk to you about the refugees you've been hiding."
Takashi's eyes widen, but Chiharu's face remains guarded, careful. "I'm sure we don't know - " she begins.
Kurogane cuts her off. "I don't really care if you're smuggling people through dimensions or not. I'm not going to arrest you for that, although it is illegal. I need information."
Yamazaki Chiharu glares at him, but there's something about the husband's earnestness that reminds Kurogane of Syaoran, so he turns to address Takashi. "I'm trying to find the arsonists - the ones who burned the castle."
"We don't have any connection to - "
"And I'm not suggesting you do. But you have to have a contact - someone higher up in the underground, someone like Blue John."
"He wouldn't set the fires!" Chiharu cries, and Kurogane rubs a hand across his face to conceal both his fatigue and his smirk. Hit; Blue John was a definitely a single man, then.
"I don't believe that your network is responsible for the attack, or else you'd be on the ground bleeding from the neck. I am certain that the fires were in some way connected to the nationalist-refugee conflict; if nothing else all the brawling supports that, and Blue John is the only person with any sort of authority that we've been able to pinpoint."
"What about the Committee for the People of Nihon?"
"Daidouji Sonomi is a perfectly legitimate businesswoman, and we don't know who's working behind the scenes." Not entirely true - Souma has a twenty-four-hour tail on Daidouji and the other leaders of CPN. No reason to reveal more information than he has to, though.
Takashi tilts his head. "I suppose I could arrange a meeting..."
This time Kurogane doesn't bother hiding his flash of satisfaction.
2.7 | a photograph carried by Kurogane
2.8 | some advantages of being in the bottle
Even later,
when they say they don't need him,
not right now, you've done enough, go rest,
he doesn't bother trying to sleep.
He goes to his room
Takes off his sword, sets out
a cup
a bottle
another bottle
and sits on the ground.
(He can still reach his sword, it's at his right hand.
The dominant hand.
The real hand.)
He picks up the cup in his right hand,
The first bottle in his sinister one,
Puts one to the other,
and drinks.
And drinks.
And drinks.
Some advantages of being drunk:
His shoulder doesn't hurt
where wires are lashed to tendons.
He doesn't want to go out and kill things.
It's more restful than sleeping.
He can't think.
He can't remember.
And there's no voice
whispering endlessly
the words that someone else spoke.
The hangover's a bitch, though.
<< | >>
CHARACTERS: Kurogane/Fai
NOTES: See part the first.
SUMMARY: Fai is dead. A world is ending. Kurogane copes about as well as you'd expect.
Act 2.
2.1 | the voice in the back of his mind
...WIZARD never return to where i'm from MY TYPE must be the one you hate the most really kuro-sama you notice all the unnecessary things -
i'm not going to RUN AWAY i'm not kind i'm just weak this is PAYBACK -
i'm the one to talk let's have this night KUROGANE I -
2.2 | a letter from Hououji Fuu to Ryuuzaki Umi
Dear Umi,
I'm sure by now you've heard about the recent burning of the castle here in Himeji. While both Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu were in residence, neither were harmed in the fires. The castle itself is in much worse condition; the Salt Tower and much of the grounds are damaged beyond repair.
The official word handed down from the Empress is that the attack was intended not as a threat on her own life but as a protest, either by Japanese refugees seeking an increase in the immigration limit or by one of our own nationalist groups, angered because Amaterasu is allowing the refugees to come to Nihon. I'm saddened that either movement would feel it necessary to not only endanger the lives of our rulers but also to ravage one of our richest historical and political symbols. You'll laugh at me, I'm sure, but the present complex of buildings was built over two centuries ago, and some form of keep stood on the site for many years before that.
So many of the refugee camps are located in Hyougo Prefecture, and the main center for processing Japanese and preparing them for life in Nihon is located nearby in Kobe. Perhaps because of the proximity of both the refugees and the Empress, Himeji is in a veritable uproar. Every man on the street has an opinion and is willing to fight his neighbor over it, if his neighbor is so foolish as to disagree. There have been several lesser incidences besides the castle's destruction - a brawl in one of the taverns, a dissident newspaper's offices bombed, that sort of thing. Even worse, the Committee for the People of Nihon is beginning to militarize under the pretense that the Japanese are planning to revolt and overthrow the Empress! The royal family's guards are scouring the city to find the arsonists, while at the same time a regiment of soldiers is on constant patrol to suppress the violence.
Just yesterday I was at the closest market, shopping for gifts, when three armed men accused one of the shopkeepers of smuggling refugees into the country. They started to shout at him and then hit him, when one of Princess Tomoyo's personal guardsmen - you'll remember the one I'm talking about, the large man with the dragon-sword you so liked - emerged from the crowd and pulled the shopkeeper to safety. The agitators switched their attention to the guard, and for a moment I thought they were going to actually overcome him; he faltered and went down on one knee, but in the end he knocked all three out with the butt of his sword and called for soldiers to carry them to prison.
As you can imagine, between the refugees and the surge of violence, I have hardly been able to find the time to write. Dr. Kudo says I am learning, though, and that within the next year I should be ready to return home and open my own practice. Until then, I hope that you and your family are well. Look for me to visit in the summer.
Please give Hikaru my love,
Fuu
2.3 | on grief
Let's talk about grief.
Grief is a reaction to loss. Grief is sadness, grief is sorrow, grief is anger. Grief is many things to many people; grief is many things to one person.
Let's look at a hypothetical scenario. Let's pretend that there are two men - remember, please, that this is a purely imaginary scenario, wherein we might examine the effects of grief. Let's pretend that there are two men, and they are in love. They are in love, but neither mentions it to the other, until the night before a final battle. Let's say that even then neither speaks, but there is confession all the same. Please remember that this is a completely hypothetical situation.
Let's say one of the men - we'll call him K, for the sake of clarity, but his name might just as easily have been A or J or Y - let's say that the man called K is proud and stoic and honest. Let's call the other man F, and let's pretend that F is subtle and healing and clever. Let's pretend that K and F are in love -
That F dies -
And that K doesn't.
(Please remember that none of this is real.)
What would happen, for instance, if K believed he killed F?
Does it matter? Wouldn't the effects be the same anyway? A stoic man like K - he's honest, yes, but first stoic - he'd hide his grief away, wouldn't he? Maybe he wouldn't deny it, but he'd tamp it down, secret it away, keep it private and hidden. A man like K would mourn quietly, and maybe he'd eventually be able to let his grief go, but maybe, if he loved F enough, that grief would stay in his heart -
Grief is a funny thing. It doesn't affect just a person's heart. No. Grief can affect thoughts, philosophy, behavior -
Fighting ability -
And dreams.
2.4 | who is Blue John?
The Empress believes that Blue John is an underground movement linked to the new citizens from Japan, possibly a reaction to the nativists; however, let me emphasize first that Blue John is not responsible for the recent attack on Shirasagi Castle, and second that most Japanese have no knowledge of or connection to Blue John.
- Imonoyama Nokoru, senior advisor to Amaterasu
I don't believe this propaganda they're feeding us about Blue John being an anti-nativist movement. Blue John is plainly the head of an underground terrorist network. It's bad enough that these Japanese invaders are being allowed to live on our land and use up our resources, but now one of their own is threatening our people's very lives.
- Daidouji Sonomi, head of the Committee for the People of Nihon
My understanding is that Blue John is some sort of symbol that the Japanese are using to protest the immigration restrictions put in place by Amaterasu. I am sympathetic to the Japanese cause, but at the same time I'm concerned about the new diseases that have been introduced to our population and the strains placed on our food and medical supplies.
- Kudo Shuichiro, doctor from Ichinogo-cho
Blue John is a hero.
- Segawa Keiichi, Japanese refugee
2.5 | a conversation
"Princess - "
"Yes, Kurogane?"
"That curse you placed on me - so I wouldn't kill. I need you to take it off."
"...why is that?"
"I killed someone very strong. Very...very important. It's made me weak."
"You are still the strongest warrior in Nihon."
"Hmph. No, I'm weaker than I used to be. There were three men in the marketplace, today, thugs, and they had me. Just for a second, but it was a second too long. Take the curse away."
"Kurogane, you aren't weakened because of the seal. You're weakened because you've hardly slept in days, because you battled a dimension-sorcerer just a fortnight ago, and because you're still grieving. No one will fault you for that."
"Take the curse away!"
"I removed the seal the last time you were in Nihon, while you slept."
"..."
"Go rest, Kurogane."
"I have a duty to find your attackers - "
"Kurogane, I'm safe for now. Please, go rest."
2.6 | hunting
He doesn't go rest, of course. Instead he checks in with Souma, gets briefed on the latest information, and sets out into the city. The city: that great gleaming cesspool, where secrets lurk and ideas clash and people lie dead in the street for no particular reason. The city.
It's dark, and he creeps along the rooftops and slinks through the shadows just because he can. It's no small feat for a man as large as he to move quietly and unseen, but he can and he does. He keeps an eye on the soldiers making their rounds, notes the recruiting flyer posted by the Committee for the People of Nihon, and when he finally reaches the correct address, drops to land in a crouch outside the Yamazaki family's door.
He knocks, and a man with flour-stained hands and smiling eyes opens the door. The man sobers immediately when he takes in Kurogane's armor and sword, and with a huff Kurogane pulls one of Tomoyo's writs from his belt and shoves it at the man. "I'm Tsukuyomi's guard," he says. "I want to talk to you and your wife."
"Of course," the man says, and moves aside. Kurogane steps over the threshold and stands just inside, not bothering to remove his shoes.
"I'm Yamazaki Takashi," says the man, "and this is my wife, Chiharu."
"Kurogane. I want to talk to you about the refugees you've been hiding."
Takashi's eyes widen, but Chiharu's face remains guarded, careful. "I'm sure we don't know - " she begins.
Kurogane cuts her off. "I don't really care if you're smuggling people through dimensions or not. I'm not going to arrest you for that, although it is illegal. I need information."
Yamazaki Chiharu glares at him, but there's something about the husband's earnestness that reminds Kurogane of Syaoran, so he turns to address Takashi. "I'm trying to find the arsonists - the ones who burned the castle."
"We don't have any connection to - "
"And I'm not suggesting you do. But you have to have a contact - someone higher up in the underground, someone like Blue John."
"He wouldn't set the fires!" Chiharu cries, and Kurogane rubs a hand across his face to conceal both his fatigue and his smirk. Hit; Blue John was a definitely a single man, then.
"I don't believe that your network is responsible for the attack, or else you'd be on the ground bleeding from the neck. I am certain that the fires were in some way connected to the nationalist-refugee conflict; if nothing else all the brawling supports that, and Blue John is the only person with any sort of authority that we've been able to pinpoint."
"What about the Committee for the People of Nihon?"
"Daidouji Sonomi is a perfectly legitimate businesswoman, and we don't know who's working behind the scenes." Not entirely true - Souma has a twenty-four-hour tail on Daidouji and the other leaders of CPN. No reason to reveal more information than he has to, though.
Takashi tilts his head. "I suppose I could arrange a meeting..."
This time Kurogane doesn't bother hiding his flash of satisfaction.
2.7 | a photograph carried by Kurogane
2.8 | some advantages of being in the bottle
Even later,
when they say they don't need him,
not right now, you've done enough, go rest,
he doesn't bother trying to sleep.
He goes to his room
Takes off his sword, sets out
a cup
a bottle
another bottle
and sits on the ground.
(He can still reach his sword, it's at his right hand.
The dominant hand.
The real hand.)
He picks up the cup in his right hand,
The first bottle in his sinister one,
Puts one to the other,
and drinks.
And drinks.
And drinks.
Some advantages of being drunk:
His shoulder doesn't hurt
where wires are lashed to tendons.
He doesn't want to go out and kill things.
It's more restful than sleeping.
He can't think.
He can't remember.
And there's no voice
whispering endlessly
the words that someone else spoke.
The hangover's a bitch, though.
<< | >>
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-24 05:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-04 05:04 am (UTC)My favorite this time has to be 2.3 and its hypothesis. I think a lot of tragic true loves are like that, confession and touching of bodies and souls the night before the big tragedy. It's quite beautiful how you pretty much summarized their relationship.
Thank you for sharing! I'll try to read some more in the coming days.