Kôsuka said:
Premier Yuumi said:
Kotori stepped out of the limousine, flipping the furred hood of her black mantle up as she surveyed where she had been dropped off.
It was her first time at the Imperial Palace, heart of the Senate and workplace for those that ran the government of the Yamatai Star Empire. The building was a less sprawling affair than the Empress' palace, one who's function was to run the Empire rather than to serve as the heart and residence of the Ketsurui clan as the Empress' Palace was used.
It was where Yuumi was.
Her breaths misted out as she beheld the structure and she then shut the limousine's door closed, cue for the driver to make his departure. As the vehicle's resumed motion, struggling through dirty slush to head back toward the ground's main gate, Kotori began ascending the shallow, long marble stairs to the Palace Square.
Kotori took note of the amount of transparent material used in the building's edifice. She could see people walking along the hallways, into and out of offices, some rushing with messages, others chatting while staring back out the windows, another pacing the hall with a communicator to his ear. It made obvious the mixture of traditional and modern architecture, the marble columns in the front along with the expansive square before it. In the center, before turning left or right into the domed entryway, there was a statue — just a small one, maybe three meters tall — of Yui. She looked upward and out, just above the tops of some of the buildings across the square. It was a hopeful gaze, as if Yui were looking to a brighter future in the stars. The brass of the statue was polished to perfection, even the centimeters-high pedestal Yui "floated" above. She looked like a superhero, in a way, ready to take off.
The irony of having the Mistress of the Star Army as the statue of the seat of the civilian government ...
Ahead, samurai flanked both entryways, armed with blade and pistols. Kotori's amber eyes — sharply standing out against the softer black fur surrounding her face — seemed to study them intensely until she was only a few meters away. Kotori knew it was standard practice for the Samurai to open the doors, as Palace employees and government officials had their own entrances on the building's sides.
"The Premier, Ketsurui Yuumi, is expecting me. Open the way."
The two Samurai — both Eihei, Kotori reasoned — looked at each other. One gave Kotori a wary glare, but she reached for her door, and the other did the same.
Inside was a lot more transparency. The ceiling was all glass, without a square centimeter of it covered by snow. It brought in a lot of light, combined with the transparent facades, and it brought to life the glassy, spiralling central stairway that slung railing-kept walkways from itself out to whatever floor was being reached. The staircase, with steps several meters wide, was topped with an observation platform for anyone to peek out above the palace roof and out toward the city in any direction. The platform was opaque, as were the stairs, though the railings and other glassy portions of the staircase somehow seemed to shoot light along their lengths. The light looked natural, as if sunlight could be refracted along a cylindrical tube of material.
It was the biggest thing to look at, as officials in suits and kimonos and military outfits went to and fro, but the floor and walls were ...
Boring. Kotori was disappointed. In a way, it looked like any other office building, with flat beige walls, some wooden trim here and there. The marble of the bottom floor was nice, but above it turned into the transparent material. She peered at someone walking a few floors above her and saw that a disc-shaped light followed the person's steps, stretching and shrinking with their feet. A reverse shadow of sorts. ... That protected a person's dignity if they were wearing a skirt, for instance.
A Neko in a sharp grey business suit and white blouse approached Kotori, wearing an ID badge on her breast and with a narrow expression intent on handling an important duty — escorting the Princess.
"My lady," she said in Nepleslian, itself a common-enough occurance within the confines of the Palace. "This way."
The Neko led her to an elevator. As she walked, Kotori lowered her furred hood and paid attention to her surroundings, though the intent was much less admiring them so much as capturing important details in case she needed to make a swift getaway. She wryly figured Nyton would be proud her: she was now nearly as paranoid as he was.
Maybe it was the building's unique take on transparency. To her, it was like entering a seemingly incomplete structure; one where she was exposed to view from above and below. If I wanted to escape, I'd be tempted to burst out a window... but for all I know this could be transparent zesuaium.
The elevator was clear as well, and when Kotori's fingers brushed the wall of it, she felt it was cool to the touch. Zesuaium did not conduct heat, so the elevator was not Zesuaium. Transparent durandium, then? The elevator car went higher, up toward the top story, Kotori thought, looking out the doors of the temporary cell.
Kyoto rarely was seen from a higher angle that had so much open space around it. Samurai House's property was full of open spaces, but it also had trees and spread-out, sloping roofs. Before Kotori was the Square, with people walking to and fro through it, trudging against the white. The twin trees that were at either side of the Square were giant bonsais genetically enhanced to withstand Kyoto's inhospitable climate. They stood just five meters tall, but reached around them with spindly branches and big bushes green nettles.
Kotori looked out of the elevator, out at the scenery, and then at her own faint reflection in the transparent wall. She stamped down the urge to fuss at her hair. Her eyes also fixated at the reflection of her attendant, but she averted them even from the reflection, also burying a question about what the transparent materials were really made from.
Her silence was part-pride, part-self-conscious. She did not want to look like a tourist, and the cool and aloof princess persona had served her well so far, and she wanted to retain the image. She did not know if she would come here more in the future, or if she would have to deal with that yet-unnamed person again; so she close to keep her cards close.
The elevator stopped on the floor below the top — sixth instead of seventh. The clear doors opened up, and Kotori's "minder" stepped out first, turned and bowed to Kotori.
"This way please," the minder said, then started to walk toward the end of the clear walkway. Kotori followed, though inwardly finding the glassy structure increasingly more unnerving. Durandium, she decided — really more for her peace of mind — and kept her pace steady... though she was using her inertial control to significantly reduce her weight.
A steady, dull light tracked along with Kotori even as she practically floated along the glassy matte surface, though the shadow of the minder was much stronger and moved with her. They walked about two thirds of the hall, having turned right from the elevators, and came to a simple office door — not fancy wood, no elaborate decor, no large badges or plaques. A nameplate on the door read "Ketsurui Yuumi" in Yamataian, and below that was "Imperial Premier."
Above both of those was a room number and a floor moniker: 10 Imperial Street.
"Here we are, my lady." The minder opened the door. It opened to an office that was like any typical Star Army office, except for its larger size. Yuumi was no where inside, but there was a glass door at the back. Inside the room itself were four desks, facing each other in two columns of two apiece, people hammering away at inputs for volumetric terminals. One was yammering loudly at someone over a headset.
The floor was solid, a boring beige carpet.
The minder led Kotori through. The workers didn't skip a beat looking at her, focusing instead on their work.
Through the door — which the minder only opened and then left Kotori alone — was a large enough back office with the back wall being transparent, and the side walls being solid. One was lined with paper files; the other was a huge series of volumetric panels and projections.
In the center was an old oak desk with a pair of comfy chairs in front of it. A similar chair was behind the desk, and it was empty.
In the space between the desk and the volumetric panels, and there was plenty of space, were two lazy chairs and a coffee table. Tea cups waited for Kotori. In one seat, facing the door, was Yuumi. She wore a conservative, plain-looking business suit.
"Hime-sama," Yuumi said, nodding her head in the form of a bow without getting up. "Or just Kotori?"
A lot went on in Kotori's head as she stepped into the room. The 'real' floor should have reassured her, but that was balanced with how it could be still transparent material covered with carpet. Besides, even if it was a real floor, how would it be supported? By all that glassy stuff? I am being silly, unnerved by a glass building when I never had pause standing next to my bedroom window that looked out into space! She inwardly seethed, annoyed with herself.
Yuumi's words brought her priorities straight. The grace under pressure mantra came back to mind and Kotori turned to face the Premier, joining her sleeved arms before her before dipping into a respectful bow.
"My name is Kotori, Former-Empress." That last title was not one Kotori expected Yuumi to take well to, but it would indicate the deference she was willing to give Yuumi and set aside the whole 'Hime-sama' nonsense for her. Being called -sama was fine for a retainer like Nyton, but not so for Yuumi.
"Kotori," Yuumi repeated, her smile not false as much as it was a mask. "Please, sit. Have a sip before we get down to business. From what your mother has told me, you don't like to waste time with chit-chat. A Neko after my own heart."
Looking at the office, hearing Yuumi's words, puzzle pieces clicked into place. Her mother had spoken about Yuumi, going so far as to compare their looks and demeanor, and Kotori suddenly understood what her mother had meant by Yuumi downplaying what she had to directly attend to her goals.
Whereas despite Kotori's relative humility about her comeliness, Kotori did cultivate her appearance due to how she felt it tied in with her own sense of feminity. Kotori's long raven black hair, creamy white skin, large almond eyes and tall, slender figure favored her in ways Yuumi nearly deadened.
"Thank you, Premier," she said, and walked from the door to the empty lazy chair facing Yuumi. She felt awkward at not thanking the minder for guiding her to the office, but diverting her attention from Yuumi felt even more inappropriate.
Kotori adjusted her swordbelt so she could sit comfortably and then settled down into the easy chair. Despite how she had boasted that she could play by Yuumi's rules to her mother, Kotori had a sense that in some way, she had stepped on a very different battlefield. One Yuumi was far better equipped to face than she was.
Still...
Kotori extended her hands to pick up the proferred tea cup. She had come to earn a place here. Yuumi had means Kotori did not have, and ultimately, Kotori needed to make those means hers if she wanted to give Yamatai's dead any justice she felt she owed them. It was fine that Yuumi felt daunting to her in that sense; that alone was indication that what she had set out to do was worthwhile.
She took a polite sip of the tea, and then lowered the cup to turn her full attention to the Premier. "Thank you for receiving me, Yuumi-dono."
"When my chief guard tells me I should see her daughter, honor demands I see her." Yuumi's Yamataian was different from the other speakers Kotori was used to hearing. Her mother spoke with the authoritative, but kindly tones of a teacher; Yukari was precise, but had a poetry to her word choice. Hinoto's was soft and inviting, except when it wasn't.
Yuumi talked like a person. Someone who didn't carry airs about her, but spoke to people as they were, as she was. Unassuming, but with a smartness to her tone.
"Besides, it's not like the royalty ever comes to me looking for something. I'm usually the clean-up crew when it comes to Yamataian politics."
Kotori felt there was something off in Yuumi's words. Starting with the deference shown when she had initially addressed her as a princess, to then speaking as if she was not quite part of royalty, almost an outsider whom tasked herself with cleaning up messes.
Before she died, and was brought back to life by Eve to abuse of her PANTHEON administrative priviledges, she had been Kitsurugi Yuumi, Kotori realized. Uesu is gone, her sister a distant NH-23 and most of the present members of the Ketsurui are either Yui's own progeny, or adopted into the clan like Hanako and I. There is little for Yuumi to find familiar aside from a history of escalating conflicts for her Empire.
Yuumi had been freed by YE 30, and present to witness some of the very bad decisions made in that year which had brimmed the image of the Empire to others such as the Freespacer massacre and the near-civil war the UOC split almost caused. Could Yuumi be in the office and serve as Premier for reasons similar to what had brought Kotori to her?
Or she's buttering me up and saying things I will be sympathetic to, Kotori reflected, remembering her mother's words. The prior evening, to learn more about Yuumi, she had watched a recording of the award ceremony made for her crew. Yuumi had been most perceptive about each and everyone of them in the few words she spoke. It stood to reason she might have pieced together Kotori as well, especially her conspicuous absence.Kôsuka said:
But that kind of thinking was still speculative. Kotori refused to flounder in overthinking the issue like Nyton was so prone to and decided to give the direct approach Yuumi seemed to desire: she attacked.
"For someone whom speaks as if she was apart from royalty, you certainly share the Ketsurui clan's predilection of reinventing history to suit your liking," Kotori began, and offered Yuumi a smile, her large almond eyes narrowing to amused amber slits. "Tell me, what made you think I would take kindly to you spinning lies about my whereabouts?"
"Who's spinning?" Yuumi leaned back in the seat and relaxed, leaving the tea on the table. "Your XO wouldn't give me details on what you were doing, at least at first. It took some convincing, so you can pat her on the back for loyalty. I thought my words — 'the NMX fleet and its associates' — weren't incorrect. Just unclear. Vague. That's part and parcel of diplomacy."
She pushed some of her teal hair behind one of her furless ears, then shook her head a bit to resettle the hair almost where it was before. "SAINT wanted you, so part of my deal with your XO was not giving SAINT any information. That was fine with me; SAINT helps me less often than it hinders, and I reasoned that SAINT would find you eventually. That was you who killed their fireteams, right? My deputies assured me it was after they reviewed SAINT's data.
"To your point, though. I made the decision to say what was said because it would divert SAINT while raising your public profile with that of your crew."
Kotori nodded her acknowledgment of Yuumi's words, her well-reasoned justification no surprise to her. She had gone on the offensive more to gain momentum in the discussion than to really blame Yuumi of foul play.
Kotori set the cup of tea back on the coffee table as well — it was plain it being offered was a polite formality, and that the both of them were uninterested in it — and then straightened. To her, Yuumi's relaxed poise betrayed confidence and the lack of need to be on the defensive.
"Eee~eeh, it had escaped me that you had involved yourself to this degree," Kotori returned, and decided to humor Yuumi with her side of the story with those SAINT fireteams. "It is a shame that SAINT decided to meddle with my people to this degree. It was knowledge they had not been supposed to know and that made them people whom were not supposed to be there as well."
The amber-eyed princess joined her sleeves together. "You see, the people I came upon in these snowy mountains, given had not been privy to that information, were far more likely to have been double-agents serving Kikyo, the former-SAINT director turned assassin. Given how she's responsible of sororicide and matricide on top of regicide; I found myself uninclined to make friends with any of her lackeys."
The smile returned on Kotori's face, but her eyes betrayed a smidge of malice. "SAINT prides itself on knowing; That is their organization's motto. But in this case, ignorance was bliss. They never should have meddled in my affairs, which I clearly implied when I left that I would be on top of."
She gave a shrug, the sinister gleam in her eyes dispelled, though the smile remained. "It may sound haughty, but when they decided to go contrary to my wishes, they forfeited those agents. It is a shame, but they should have known better. Their people are my people, though, so I entertain the hope that they will use them more wisely in the future."
"Not likely," Yuumi replied. The malice and smile didn't seem to foster any ill will with the Neko, who draped a tired arm over one of the chair's sides. "I'm sure they reconstituted those poor souls and promptly demoted them for failing in their mission. SAINTs are unforgiving sorts.
"But you're not here about them," Yuumi said. Her red eyes honed on Kotori; it was an expression that had hints of Yui ... or was it Eve? The two expressions were alike, Kotori thought. "I could end this right now," it said. For Yuumi, though, it was the way to engage in the start of a discussion instead of the end.
"You need something. That you want it from me puts us on even ground, if you believe that. Like I said, not many in the royalty look to me for help, though Himiko seeks counsel from time to time. So what can I do for you, Kotori? Besides congratulate you on completing your revenge and fostering quite a crew of heroes for Yamatai."
"Ah. Well, first..." Kotori revealed the white underside of her wrist as she tilted it to point at one upper corner of Yuumi's office. "Kindly ask the Eihei-no-insen to vacate the room."
Yuumi looked to the corner and nodded. No sound or movement came from the corner, and the floor didn't creak or thump with someone landing on it.
The door to Yuumi's office opened, then shut, without anyone touching it or being near it.
"She's a journeywoman, actually. One of your mother's new trainees for Eihei-no-insen duty. A little wet behind the ears, but she knows how to follow orders. What's next?"
Kotori's expression turned wily. "I would hardly believe your chief bodyguard would leave the honored Imperial Premier to the Throne with only an unsupervised trainee to guard her."
The Premier smirked, and looked behind her chair to the window, up near the top-center of it. "Guess I shouldn't have opened my big mouth."
Silence was the reply. Then a thump. Kotori heard footsteps that ended in front of her, to the side of her chair. The Neko who revealed herself was one she recognized — tall, white hair and more muscular.
Kei looked at Kotori with wary eyes.
"It's OK," Yuumi said. "I'll tell Kôsuka what she needs to know at dinner. Go home."
Kei looked to the Premier, nodded her head, then looked back at Kotori. Kneeling as she was, her eyes were level with the Princess'.
"Hime-sama," Kei said, dipping her head — then vanished. The door opened and closed again.
"Better?" Yuumi said.
"Yes. Thank you." Kotori's head turned from the door and back to Yuumi. With both samurai out of the way she was ready to question Yuumi on something more sensitive. Her amber stare turned fierce. The kanji for her name might have meant 'Little Bird', but there Kotori looked far more like a bird-of-prey.
"I want to know what you think about how Yui commanded her forces during the Battle of Yamatai," Kotori said.
The Premier stared deadpan at the Princess. She came forward in the chair, resting her elbows on her knees with her feet on the floor.
"I don't make a habit out of questioning the military, Kotori. Especially my sister. Family, you know?" She let that sink in, then let out a small sigh. "Sometimes, Yui puts her brain where her gun barrel is. Maybe that happened with the battle. I'm not privy to all the military tactics, and I prefer to keep it that way. Maintains a sisterly bond while maintaining sisterly space.
"I know what your XO stated in her official report: Yui's Gamble made Yamatai bait when it didn't have to. Yui could have used the old defense fleet as a screen between Yamatai and the NMX, with Yui's fleet attacking the flank and your fleet attacking their backs. The NMX might have suffered fewer losses, but so would Yamatai.
"I think your XO thinks differently than my sister, which is typical. Yui doesn't think like the rest of us."
No, she doesn't, Kotori silently agreed. Aloud, she returned: "I see."
The princess quelled the ire she wanted to air over what she felt was a betrayal. There was also how Yuumi was Yui's sibling and how that seemed in large part the source of her lenience towards Yui. Considering that, it felt wiser for Kotori to not reveal the full-scope of her resentment.
Instead, she leaned back on the easy chair. Her left hand reached up to seize some of her black hair, idly winding the dark locks around her fingers, and the heat faded from her eyes as she stared away from Yuumi and toward the cityscape shown out of the office's expansive windows.
Kyoto. Her city. Her planet. Her people.
Focus on other things. Hating Yui saves no one. This posturing with Yuumi has grown useless as well. Focus on the things that matter.
Focus on making what was through the looking-glass true.
"I would like to think that when I was adopted into the Ketsurui clan, it was not done out of pity, or generosity, and rather because of how I could potentially be an asset to the Imperial clan," she told Yuumi, the skyline reflecting in her amber eyes. "I believe my actions have risen to that promise, and that I proved I was a competent warrior and commanding officer."
Kotori brought the fingers wound-up with her dark hair thoughtfully to her lips a moment, and then looked back to Yuumi. Softly, she added: "But there were things that as a starship captain I could not do during the Battle of Yamatai. Ways that as a princess I could not serve my people; that I failed in saving my people."
"You are right: you do have something I want." Kotori's fingers slid down the hair and let go, letting the dark strands drift down to her shoulder, and she turned to look back at Yuumi. Her expression was melancholic, her faint smile both brave and sad at the same time. The eyes were the more startling though: they were bright, as if the sun still lingered in them.
"You have what I need to master in order to become a princess that can respond to the hopes of her people, and help improve her nation into a nobler, wiser ideal."
What shone in Kotori's eyes was not light. It was pain, and love, and conviction. It was the trust of those whom had followed her but could no longer follow, such as Miharu and her fallen sprites. It was the trampled dreams of those she could not save, like the Sylvesters. It was the faith of those whom believed in her, such as Nyton, Kôsuka, Yukari, Tom and Sonoda-san.
"Please help me save my people, Yuumi-dono," Kotori appealed to the Premier, joining her hands to a point between her knees and breaking eye contact in order to lean forward into a bow. "Help me preserve their happiness. Help me make them happier."
Yuumi was stunned. Visibly. She could feel the weight of the words, the emotional force with which they were projected. Hopeful words, considerate words ... words Yuumi knew all too well. They were words her aides used often, describing what pushed them into the Ministry of State instead of something else.
There was idealism in diplomacy to match the grinding realities of the dealmaking, the backroom antics, the messiness of it all. Soldiering was mostly killing — easy by comparison, in Yuumi's mind.
Before her, she saw raw talent. An unpolished, yet pure, diamond. Someone who didn't need to be trained in how to value life, to value people. Kotori just did. It came from war, Yuumi thought. War heroes sometimes turned out that way, or they became consumate killers who had just that one function.
There was more to Kotori than that. Yuumi knew there was anger in her. The question about Yui was obvious about that. What was under that question was the thing that Yuumi wanted.
Passion. Passion to make a better nation.
"If I do, you're going to learn ropes they don't teach at Kyoto War College," Yuumi said. "You have to learn not just to put your Empire's interests first long-term, but those of other nations too — all to benefit us in the even longer term. You have to learn when to fight hard and when to back down and all the different levels in between. You'll have the people on your side, a hell of a lot more than I do now. They're going to want to believe in you."
She sat back in her chair. "This might even piss off Yui. I'd be sniping one of her best commanders for a peaceful job."
The grin on Yuumi's face was unmistakable.
"I was given a mission by the Mistress-Taisho," Kotori said, raising her head from her bow just enough to her amber eyes to see past the dark fringe of hair to look back at Yuumi. She did not share in Yuumi's mirth, but those eyes were fiercely eager. "Fight hard to save the Empire. This path I have chosen for myself, at this point in time, is one I believe will more effectively achieve that goal. I am confident her discontent, if any, with be short-lived."
"It will," Yuumi replied, taken by the gaze of the princess. It was a reminder just how hot a handle Kotori had; Yuumi had to be careful not to burn herself and others by taking up Kotori.
"There's going to be times that we lose. The International Relations Conference proposed this year probably will be one of those times. But if we lay the seeds for future wins, and minimize our losses, that's a success. Not quite a military strategy, but you kind of see the idea."
She paused, then smiled. "I'm already using group pronouns to describe things." She pushed aside some hair from her face to behind her ear. "So. Do you have a place to stay? Do you need a salary? What things can I provide to help you settle into this. I need you at your best."
* * *
Kôsuka's appartment, Samurai House compound, Kyoto
"...which was when I did as you suggested and asked Yuumi-dono if she knew of any nice men I could date," Kotori finished recounting to her mother at the table where they had shared tea the day before.
Kôsuka blanched.
Kotori let her words hang for a moment longer before she let out a giggle. "I kid, hahaue. We discussed lodging, dealing with any grievances SAINT might still hold against me, and scheduled my tutelage."
" ... Where did you get such teasing from? It must have been Chizuru-sensei, because it is not from me." Kôsuka's chastizing was painless, and partially covered behind her tea cup. "Did Yuumi agree to assist with those things? I know she does not enjoy SAINT."
"Regarding SAINT, she would put in a word for me," Kotori answered. "Considering precedents regarding Star Army Intelligence and how they often feel they know best, that's about the best I can ask from Yuumi. Finding me chambers at the Empress' palace was by comparison a more straightforward process. My training will be touch-and-go at the beginning until Yuumi can better figure out how to play my strengths and tone down my weaknesses."
"She will be fair about it, I suspect," Kôsuka said. "If she is not, she will hear from me. I want you to be well-treated as can be in this affair, Kotori. I want you to succeed, yes, but teachers always should be fair."
Kotori's answering laughter was bell-like, and filled with genuine amusement. "Hahaue, your daughter will rise to adversity. She always has, and that will not change. I welcome any training that will grant me the weapons to succeed when faced with the real thing."
The princess sobered up and added: "But sometimes, I lose. Coping with loss has never been a strength of mine. Yuumi will teach me how, and how to find ways to prevail even after defeat. I need this too."
Kôsuka nodded at that. "She is highly resilient. I don't know if that came from her time as a prisoner, a diplomat or Empress. Maybe all three. But she will show you the way and expect much. Of course, you will succeed! You always have been successful, daughter."
The Samurai reflected, for a split-second, how much she cherished this moment of motherhood. Something Margaret told her she someday would find, when Kotori grew into it, and the woman was right. Kôsuka felt pride, but it was more than that. It was a fulfillment of parental responsibility. She felt she had done well ... even if she hardly had been there. In that way, she felt regret. But not too much.
"Now we need only find you a mate at some point. Once you're out in the public, they'll be after you, I suspect. Perhaps I should keep Kei on Eihei-no-insen duty for a while longer."
"I don't know." Kotori shrugged. "She certainly did not seem very thrilled when I found out how the journeywoman and she were present and asked Yuumi to make them leave her office so we could be in private."
"Ohhh, that's only because she was caught." Kôsuka smiled with mischief shaping her lips. "Kei is not very talented at being hidden. It's another compelling reason why she is becoming Fukei. In that class, she is meant to be seen. As for the journeywoman, Tsumugi is young. She will learn."
"I'm just glad it wasn't you!" Kotori grinned back. "I would not wish embarassment on my dear Mother."
"You would not have found me, young one," Kôsuka replied with her nose in the air — and a wink of a smile.
"Ha!" Kotori briefly chuckled and then countered with: "I do not need to find you. I only need to make Yuumi-dono think I did!"
Kôsuka cocked her head at her daughter, then a smile bloomed wide on her face. "Kotori!" she beamed. "You really did take some things from Chizuru-sensei! At least they were good things!" She laughed.
Her daughter eyerolled. "I liked to think of it as a Kotori-original." Kotori then changed subjects and said: "The building bothered me."
"The Imperial Palace?" Kôsuka nodded and sipped her tea. "It is too modern. It discards too much that is traditional for a building meant to welcome all Yamataians. I was told by Yuumi that it is purposely that way in order to be not too inviting to anyone in particular. It also is older than the Empire."
"Too exposed from above and from below," Kotori opinionatedly replied. "And I made me have this irrational fear of putting anyweight on it. I couldn't tell for sure if it was just glass, transparent durandium or zesuaium."
Petulantly, Kotori reached for her tea. "It was unnerving. And silly. My room on Miharu had a viewport staring out into space and that never made me worried."
"It is a unique sight on Yamatai," Kôsuka said, "and if it helps, I'm unnerved every time I step into the room. I was glad Yuumi's offices were solid, mostly." She sipped the last of her tea and put the cup down. She stretched her arms, feeling stiff. She had done too much teaching and not enough actual swordwork. "Should I spread the thick blanket for you tonight, by the way, or ... ?"
"No blanket," Kotori impishly answered. "I told Yuumi that tonight I had great incestual lesbian sex to look forward to."
The reply was a deadpanned glare. "Kotori," the Samurai said. "We don't use those words in this apartment. Be respectful, please."
Kotori had to struggle not to laugh. "Which words?" she asked, fighting to keep a straight face. "Most of them are generally the norm amongst nekovalkyrja."
" 'Lesbian,' for starters. Nekovalkyrja are monogendered, even if there are a few ... oddities." Kôsuka still was unnerved by that, even if she accepted it. "Second, 'incestual.' That suggests something is unnatural with it! It is a natural thing, especially for our people."
Kotori forgot about laughing. Instead, she openly gaped.
Kôsuka remained straight-faced ... though Kotori could see the Neko's eyes twitching. She was holding back her laughter!
It took a moment longer for Kotori to recover. "You!" she uttered in mock-indignation, and promptly set the cup down to pounce over the table and start a tussle-war with her mother.
END
