5tar said:
The platinum haired Neko moved briskly through the Miharu, again knowing exactly where he wanted to be and got there quite fast. In the recreation bay he approached VR chamber nestled in the back and had the MEGAMI notify the people within that the Juni had arrived as per Kôsuka's request. He waited, straightening out his robes and adjusting his weapons.
What Sumaru was greeted with was the same scene Yukari had been greeted with before — the three samurai, sitting lotus-style in the middle of a tiny, grassy valley, a gentle wind blowing beneath a clear blue sky and a heatless sun. Their eyes were closed, and tiny colored dots, no bigger than volumetric pixels, hung suspended inside of the triangle they made. Were Sumaru to join them, the triangle would become a square. "Join us, Sumaru-san."
The blond samurai paused for a long moment, breathing in the serene moment. His bangs drifted slightly in the passing breeze and his frost blue eyes cast skyward. It was peaceful; he could feel the scene calming his mind already. He nodded, even though no one was looking and silently joined them by sitting in the same lotus position where the triangle would make the most even square. His eyes drifted shut, and he didn't try to decipher anything-- he just waited peacefully, for anything really. He wasn't concerned for being called here anymore; he just allowed things to unfold for once.
The trio of Nekovalkyrja women connected with his mind once his eyes shut. He saw what they were piecing together — data about Eve, culled from databases across the Empire, as well as the soul transfer-recorded memories of its populace. It was not, perhaps, the most legal thing to do, but Kosuka seemed not to fear the pursuit. The dots floating before their closed eyes represented confirmed data. In his mind, Sumaru could see the visualization hanging in the middle of the now-standing samurai in a field of black. "You see our dilemma," Kosuka said, hands hidden in her sleeves.
He looked upon the situation with a curiously raised eyebrow; he had an idea of what they were doing. The legality of the empire's head family's guardians searching for valuable data did not cross him in the least as something wrong, so he did not speak of that. Instead he was mostly trying to piece together what exactly we're they drawing up in their results. "Are you saying that Eve still lives?" he asked, maybe it wasn't what they were doing --- but it was how he felt since he had finished her unceremoniously. His warrior soul was still unsure that this was the true enemy, thus is why that was his first question.
"My daughter sees ambiguity wherever her gaze falls. We Samurai do not." Kosuka brought her hands out, as if to contain the pixels. "Eve is a soul blackened by unspeakable horrors, and she thrives in them. She is a demon, and must be slaughtered by more than only one Samurai, no matter how strong he is." The other two followed suit. "Besides, as a strategic matter, it hardly behooves Eve to die now. She is smarter than that."
The young samurai nodded, the much wiser and well-spoken Kosuka confirmed his worries. Not in the sense that the creature was not dead, but that he was not wrong in his senses. "I agree with you wholeheartedly," he said as his own arms folded into his wide sleeves. He glanced at the pixels for a moment longer, "so many have been affected as well," he said offhandedly in subdued despair for all those affected by the demon. He then glanced up and over at each of Kosuka's students, and then finally back at the elder samurai. "Then is this your true reason for being here, and you plan to teach these two to aid you in the battle you face?" he asked in a attempt to gain clarity on the situation.
"No." Kosuka frowned. "This is a matter of honor. We three were shamed by our performance on the surface, being disabled in battle so quickly. This ... this bitch, she has sullied my pride, and the pride of my students. I cannot return home so utterly shamed."
"I understand," that was all he could say right then, because he did understand. But he didn't know how to really address this at first. "You said you needed my help," he asked now almost already anticipating her request, "how can I be of service to you Kosuka-san?" His eyes drifted up and were no on the wise samurai, searching her answer.
Kosuka replied by nodding to the thin cloud of pixels. "Relay to us your battle on the surface. Even if it was not Eve you fought, she was likely a youngling, or a clone. The data will hold."
"Very well," he said as he stepped forward. His mind extended to connect to the program they were utilizing and with his eyes closing shut colors and sounds burst from his being and filled the darkness around them. He concentrated on the memory, from start to end. The battle played out before them, they were spectators to the duel as the already damaged Sumaru valiantly went into head-to-head comb at with what he believed at the time to be Eve. But as the fight progressed swiftly and came to the anticlimactic end, it was easy to see that if Eve was the beast she was said to be--- this was not her. The memory ended, and his frost blue eyes opened back up as the image faded away in a digital breeze.
The samurai had watched with an envious intensity in their eyes, especially Yuri, before the show ended and they were left in the darkness again, with only the pixels glowing. But there were far more of them now, and they formed at least an outline of Eve's horned visage. "You fought quite well, Sumaru-san," Kosuka said, a small smile on her lips.
Sumaru shook his head dejectedly. "Though I thank you humbly for the complement, but if I sustained that much damage from a mere fragment of this demon then I don't believe personally that my skills are worthy at this point for your praise." The youthful samurai was obviously still carrying a damaged pride from this fight, he faced a supposed weak foe and walked away damaged, and finished her off only when his allies had put her in an attackable position. The help also stung his honor, the fact that she was defeated by the help of the others lingered even more now because he knew that this wasn't the real Eve at all.
The eldest samurai shook her head. "I have reviewed the fight many times. You should not feel lesser because you took damage. Your tenacity distracted the Eve clone, who could have easily killed the others without your presence." She put her hands back into her sleeves, and her smile was almost cold. "Never forget, your job is to protect those who are lesser, when you are on a mission."
Sumaru glanced off into the empty void; he contemplated her words for a long few moments. "You are right; the blows against me are inevitable in combat. But to have my battle completed by needing to rely on my allies to trap my opponent for me just feels dishonorable, and cowardly. I guess that is the truth behind my uneasiness, so I apologize." He bowed his head to Kosuka and glanced back up at her. "Now that I have relayed the battle to you," he turned to look at her students and then back up to her, "what do you plan on doing to regain your honor?"
"My students have little honor to lose, and they will return to Yamatai." Kosuka ignored the annoying looks of Yuri and Kei. "Myself ... I am bound to this mission now. Eve might not die by my hand, but I must directly assist. She must die for her crimes." Kosuka's dull gold eyes narrowed at Sumaru. "What is your plan to regain your supposed lost honor?"
As her eyes pierced straight through to his soul, she had asked the question he had not wanted to hear. "I have not yet found my way to regain my honor," he said distantly. He knew what she was trying to invoke in him, her movements were precise but he could see through her technique. She wanted him to join her, he could see it as plain as a downwards slash. But he wasn't quite ready to fight this battle. "My first honorable duty is to guard Sora-sama, after that I can worry about my personal honor. If she ends up staying, then maybe I can do more for my honor. If not, then I will have to seek a way to restore it where ever I may end up." His guard was up, and his evasion step moved him away from the direct question, but her experienced gaze made him worry that he may have not done enough.
Kosuka shook her head. "I think you misinterpret my question. I wasn't clear." Her eyes looked to Yuri and Kei. "Leave us now. Prepare for your departure. Understand that I will debrief you before you leave." The two bowed, then disappeared from the simulation. Eve's image was rolled up like a scroll, and hung between Sumaru and Kosuka. Her eyes remained narrow and on his face, the fur of her ears disappearing in the black.
"Your honor has not been defiled in any way, Sumaru-dono." The honorific put them on equal footing. "What I saw, in review, was not dishonorable conduct. You killed the enemy. The circumstances were those of a battlefield." One of her hands rested on her sword, while the other was stuck into her robe. "Battle is rarely honorable. It is the war that must matter most — our pursuit of victory must be pure of vengeance and greed. It must be justice. Hold onto that, and getting the assist from your crewmates is no sweat." Her thin-lipped smile remained frosty.
His mind had been too clouded by his first chance to prove himself as a samurai, and he knew what the older samurai was saying was correct. It had not been the first time he had been shown his selfishness, and he felt the crippling mood return to him as it did then, the cold chill which shocked his mind into a realization that he was getting carried off in his own endeavours, not considering the other variables outside of his own situation. He felt ashamed, and it was obvious in his lowering gaze. "You are very right," he said with a knowing nod. "I sometimes forget in my youth that my pursuits are strongly tempered by my desire to prove my worth, and to earn my place. I have become blinded by this before, and I have regretted it then, and I do now as well."
His gaze drifted back up to catch on to hers, he bowed deeply before the much more experienced samurai. "You are very wise Kosuka-dono, I have still much to learn, I thank you for your insight."
The samurai winked at him. "We are all young, Sumaru-dono. We're only Nekovalkyrja, after all." She bowed slightly to him. "If you are amiable, I would like to join you in protecting the Hime-sama. Not to the same degree, but it justified my presence on the ship beyond our mission. I also believe we could be ... more effective, together." Her smile was now a toothy grin, and she twirled a stray strand of her hair in a finger before tucking it behind her ear.
"Yes of course," he said in response, almost immediately. "I wonder though, do you have to gain Sora-hime's permission. Or rather, a higher seated member of the household before the assignment?" he asked in genuine curiosity. Just so he could figure out how she was going to have this settled. But something else troubled him more, though it did not show. What of her daughter, why couldn't she have gone through the methods to attach herself to the Taisa. He was not privy to any information of the conversations between them, or their issues, so he found it odd. But said nothing of it for now, that would come later.
"My regular assignment is to Yui-sama," Kosuka said, looking away. "But we have already determined she is not present on Yamatai right now. Protecting the Hime-sama is the best possible assignment that will keep me on the ship." She paused. "No one else quite requires the protection of two Samurai."
"Then so it shall be," he said with a affirmative nod. "Now we must hope that our Sora-hime does not decide that this is the end of her time here, or else you will have another endeavor on your hands," Sumaru offered a slight laugh and lightened up with a smile. "I assume you did not need me for anything else?" he asked, almost hoping that she had something more to distract him with. He could feel his previous dilemma returning to his thoughts, and he wasn't quite ready to face that inner demon quite yet.
"No," Kosuka said, her smile returning. "I have said too much as it is. I'll burn my word quota for the day if I say much more." She laughed a little too. "Enjoy your rest, Sumaru-dono. I will finish here."
END
