- RP Date
- YE 41
- RP Location
- Jiyuu
Hidden In The Sunflowers
This is a Companion Story to: Resolutions of The Ghost: Episode 1 - I stand, Again
Index
Part 1: Hospitality
Part 2: A message of Importance
Part 3: The Boy
Part 4: Bad Tourists
Part 5: The Weakest Link
Part 1: Hospitality
Old Tokyo. Jiyuu
Former Capital of the UOC
Mrs. Tanaka had the same routine every day when she closed her cafe, the blinds were drawn, the security gate locked in place over the front door, a potted sunflower that usually stayed on the front counter was moved to a wooden crate just outside the back door which was kept ajar, the elder woman left it there as a sign to her nightly guests that it was safe to come in, rest and have something to eat. The cafe was far from a palace, but such grandeur had long since passed from those who visited her humble cafe.
The two Blackcoats minded their own business and sat a the diner-style bar that stretched along the east wall of the cafe. They drank coffee, shoveled oversized slices of pie onto their plates and gorged themselves with food offered by Mrs.Tanaka. For the most part, their days were long, exposed to the elements in the fields of sunflowers where their boss conducted meetings and private audiences with those who still believed in his defunct royalty. This position they were in, the three of them had managed on the courtesy of women like the owner of the cafe since they had unwillingly returned to Jiyuu after being set adrift in an escape pod by Motoyoshi Kiyoko.
Prince Motoyoshi Tio had always been a man of few words, when he spoke it was direct and to the point and inbetween points he was always silent. The silence after their return to Jiyuu was almost disturbing in its nature. Those late nights in the cafe, he sat next to the fireplace, he ate enough to be fed and didn't keep any company at all. Life had changed since the fall of the colonies, with Yamatai back in control he was nothing but an exile and a name mentioned on lists obviously filtered around by SAINT, he knew they were looking for him, and he had already determined they would likely find him. When that time came, he wanted to be sure it was on his terms and not theirs. His reunion with his mothers would be the subject of his thoughts, the matters of his own anxiety and speculations.
News flowed one way, nearly as much as it did the other. Tio knew that his betrayal had done anything but set Katsuko back if anything she now held more influence than she ever did, an influence that craved to restore her honor through bringing both him and Kiyoko to justice. Her version of justice anyway. Tio had never been entrenched in the treachery committed by Kiyoko, and that was part of the problem, what lead to him being ditched on this world that was being rebuilt so far from the image he had hoped for it.
When Mrs. Tanaka filled his teacup for the third time, he bowed his head in thanks and finally spoke up, "Eisuke, come here..." he called for one of the two Blackcoats to join him in his isolated corner of the cafe. The Blackcoat approached and sat down in front of the Prince, and nodded in affirmation and respect. "Yes, sir?" he said, curious as to what finally broke the Prince's silence.
"Eisuke, my stepmother Misato is coming to meet with me in a few weeks. This may be the end of us, it is important to me that you find happiness in your life, that you take advantage of the pardon and return to something that resembles a life, when this is all over," he said, then pulled a small folded piece of paper out of his pocket and put it into Eisuke's hands. "Tomorrow, we will leave here and head into the fields again, I will take Hiroji with me, you slip into the city and deliver this note to a friend of mine. The address is written on the back of the paper," he explained their plans for the next day.
Eisuke nodded, "As you wish, My Prince. I will deliver the note. I will find a good life, but you must do the same. As I said when you stood up to Kiyoko, I stand with you, and if that means I'm executed beside you, so be it. I am glad you had the strength to tell her you didn't agree, even if it means the Tange want my head." The Blackcoat placed the note into one of the pockets in his cargo-style pants. "Is there anything else?" he asked.
Tio shook his head in reply and motioned his hand in dismissal. Eisuke returned to the counter with Hiroji to take turns on the lookout as the Prince slept. He then leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. Sleep never came easy, the fear he now lived kept him awake at night, his mind always searched for where he had gone wrong, for that moment he had become this exile instead of a Prince.
This is a Companion Story to: Resolutions of The Ghost: Episode 1 - I stand, Again
Index
Part 1: Hospitality
Part 2: A message of Importance
Part 3: The Boy
Part 4: Bad Tourists
Part 5: The Weakest Link
Part 1: Hospitality
Old Tokyo. Jiyuu
Former Capital of the UOC
Mrs. Tanaka had the same routine every day when she closed her cafe, the blinds were drawn, the security gate locked in place over the front door, a potted sunflower that usually stayed on the front counter was moved to a wooden crate just outside the back door which was kept ajar, the elder woman left it there as a sign to her nightly guests that it was safe to come in, rest and have something to eat. The cafe was far from a palace, but such grandeur had long since passed from those who visited her humble cafe.
The two Blackcoats minded their own business and sat a the diner-style bar that stretched along the east wall of the cafe. They drank coffee, shoveled oversized slices of pie onto their plates and gorged themselves with food offered by Mrs.Tanaka. For the most part, their days were long, exposed to the elements in the fields of sunflowers where their boss conducted meetings and private audiences with those who still believed in his defunct royalty. This position they were in, the three of them had managed on the courtesy of women like the owner of the cafe since they had unwillingly returned to Jiyuu after being set adrift in an escape pod by Motoyoshi Kiyoko.
Prince Motoyoshi Tio had always been a man of few words, when he spoke it was direct and to the point and inbetween points he was always silent. The silence after their return to Jiyuu was almost disturbing in its nature. Those late nights in the cafe, he sat next to the fireplace, he ate enough to be fed and didn't keep any company at all. Life had changed since the fall of the colonies, with Yamatai back in control he was nothing but an exile and a name mentioned on lists obviously filtered around by SAINT, he knew they were looking for him, and he had already determined they would likely find him. When that time came, he wanted to be sure it was on his terms and not theirs. His reunion with his mothers would be the subject of his thoughts, the matters of his own anxiety and speculations.
News flowed one way, nearly as much as it did the other. Tio knew that his betrayal had done anything but set Katsuko back if anything she now held more influence than she ever did, an influence that craved to restore her honor through bringing both him and Kiyoko to justice. Her version of justice anyway. Tio had never been entrenched in the treachery committed by Kiyoko, and that was part of the problem, what lead to him being ditched on this world that was being rebuilt so far from the image he had hoped for it.
When Mrs. Tanaka filled his teacup for the third time, he bowed his head in thanks and finally spoke up, "Eisuke, come here..." he called for one of the two Blackcoats to join him in his isolated corner of the cafe. The Blackcoat approached and sat down in front of the Prince, and nodded in affirmation and respect. "Yes, sir?" he said, curious as to what finally broke the Prince's silence.
"Eisuke, my stepmother Misato is coming to meet with me in a few weeks. This may be the end of us, it is important to me that you find happiness in your life, that you take advantage of the pardon and return to something that resembles a life, when this is all over," he said, then pulled a small folded piece of paper out of his pocket and put it into Eisuke's hands. "Tomorrow, we will leave here and head into the fields again, I will take Hiroji with me, you slip into the city and deliver this note to a friend of mine. The address is written on the back of the paper," he explained their plans for the next day.
Eisuke nodded, "As you wish, My Prince. I will deliver the note. I will find a good life, but you must do the same. As I said when you stood up to Kiyoko, I stand with you, and if that means I'm executed beside you, so be it. I am glad you had the strength to tell her you didn't agree, even if it means the Tange want my head." The Blackcoat placed the note into one of the pockets in his cargo-style pants. "Is there anything else?" he asked.
Tio shook his head in reply and motioned his hand in dismissal. Eisuke returned to the counter with Hiroji to take turns on the lookout as the Prince slept. He then leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. Sleep never came easy, the fear he now lived kept him awake at night, his mind always searched for where he had gone wrong, for that moment he had become this exile instead of a Prince.
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