Tsutomu:
I go back. Stupid brother. Well technically he’s not -my- brother anymore. It’s cold out so I couldn’t stay long out in the front yard and I ignore Sagawa-san who’s made himself a fixture on the engawa. Doesn’t he get it? His time is being -wasted-. Much like all of us here. That -jerk-.
I stomp my way up to my room upstairs. At least there’s enough bedrooms and I can be left alone. I close the door and open the window. There’s no going up the roof here, it’s full of snow. So instead I pull out the futon and plop myself down there. It won’t be too long and the afternoon will end. I wonder how long we’ll have to stay here. If it’s anything like before… We’ll be here for – months-.
I close my eyes but I can’t sleep.
(Midori)
I come up with my bag, it wasn’t hard to hear Tsutomu-kun come back. Earlier than I thought, considering the walk through the snow to his mother’s and back…
I knock before letting myself in. “Hello. Ai-chan is napping, as is Makoto-chan. I think she used up her energy pestering Sagawa-san about letting her play in the snow. Yagi-san is working on dinner.” I go and close the window most of the way, leaving just a crack open for air. “I know those of us with young blood don’t mind the cold, but I heard the other woman – Akane-san – say to Yagi-san that Ueda-san has a hard time keeping his house warm.” I like the cold, it feels like home, after all, but without the sea-borne wind.
I sit down and pull out my sewing. “How was your mother?”
I lift my head slightly as the door opens and watch Midori go to the window and close it.
“Well I’m not surprised. I mean look at this dump.” I say somewhat shrugging and falling back to the futon.
“Poor Sagawa-san though. He should just go home there’s no real threat here. Why that man is taking his word so seriously is beyond me.”
I glance at her sewing. I guess that’s one way to pass the time.
“As for mother, she complained that Yoshi wasn’t visiting her each week so I went immediately to the Namuzawa’s.”
Tsutomu-kun stirs a bit. “It’s a fine house, after all, he agreed to shelter us.” He’s being a bit rude.
Why that man is taking his word so seriously is beyond me.
“His wife said they were old comrades,” I say. He speaks well of Fujita-san. Even living in his house I didn’t know him well. Makoto-chan adores him, but I don’t think he likes me. I sigh a bit, I guess -neither- parent cares for me. But other that that time Tsuyoshi-kun came to my room at Futaba, he’s not been, hmmm… approachable. “Samurai men take that seriously don’t they?” It’s in all of the stories after all.
I start to make a line of stitches as he speaks of his mother and brother. “Oh, and what did he say about that?” He was so sweet that day! Trying to make his brother make friends. I think he’s rather perceptive.
It’s a fine house, after all, he agreed to shelter us.”
I avert my eyes. She has a point. After all mother didn’t like us coming here from the beginning. He would visit here but rarely took us. Well Yoshi would insist coming, that -baby-.
She talks about Sagawa-san. “Sagawa-san was higher ranked than -him-. Sagawa-san doesn’t have to do this. It doesn’t make sense even as a shizoku.” I shrug but see her sigh.
“You shouldn’t concern yourself with a man who has caused us much trouble. If anything he should’ve used that uniform of his to get that man to stop harassing you.” I give her a passing look, “How is that going? Has that wretch been staying away?”
She asks about Yoshi but I just shrug it off and mutter, “Yoshi has a damn father complex”
Tsutomu-kun looks away when I remind him of the hospitality we’ve received. Certainly he understands – if he wanted different treatment, perhaps a warmer house, shouldn’t he be with his mother?
I rest one needle, take out a second one and thread it with a lighter shade of green. “As a shizoku? Or as a friend?” I look at him from over my fabric. “I suppose I don’t know much about samurai, but especially in battle, I would think comradery would be made despite rank?” It doesn’t matter on my father’s boats. The captain is the captain, and his word is law, but he’s not -above- them as a person. They all face death on the open ocean, no matter their rank.
How is that going? Has that wretch been staying away?
I nod as I follow the line of the darker color with a lighter one. “I do walk to school with you and Makoto-chan, so that shows I’m under the protection of a family. And otherwise, I’ve not gone looking for him.” I look up again seeking out his eyes with mine. “Thank you, again, for protecting me when I needed it.” I should have thanked him earlier. But it’s hard to owe someone, and what can I do? Buy cakes?
Yoshi has a damn father complex
I put down my work and look at him, one eyebrow raised. “Tsuyoshi-kun has a father complex? You’re the one who talks about him a lot,” I say. He adores one parent and scorns the other. I guess mine are more… normal? They’re very different, but I love them both.
I watch as she keeps on with her needlework. She’s good at it. I’ll give her that.
“I suppose I don’t know much about samurai, but especially in battle, I would think comradery would be made despite rank?”
“For Sagawa-san it seems so. But it would -never- be the other way around. He’d -never-.” Because that man is as selfish as selfish can be. He proves it time and time again.
And otherwise, I’ve not gone looking for him.” “Thank you, again, for protecting me when I needed it.”
“Oh good.” I nod “Well at least you won’t have that wretch to worry about now that we’re here.” I do wonder, how would she do in the schools here in Aizu. Girls can get educated here, just not in the best school, Nisshi-kan. But especially now that the school has lost it’s former glory having been almost destroyed after the war and it’s 1,000 students now just over a hundred… Would they accept a girl?
“Tsuyoshi-kun has a father complex? You’re the one who talks about him a lot,”
She raises an eyebrow at me and I sit up. “-I- do NOT talk about THAT man a lot.” I insist, “It just so happens he causes us much trouble and much -shame-.” I frown realizing I’ve just raised my voice. I let out a harsh breath and close my eyes. Standing up I go to the door and bow. “Sumana. Please have the room to yourself so you can finish your sewing.”
None of us matter anymore. She should at least be allowed to sew in peace.
(OOC: Tsutomu will leave unless something else happens. He will go downstairs likely to Sagawa’s vicinity.)
For Sagawa-san it seems so. But it would -never- be the other way around. He’d -never-.
I nod. His father didn’t seem stuck up about the distinctions between the old classes, but I don’t really know him. “Sagawa-san and his wife showed us great kindness and hospitality, even though Makoto-chan is very protective of Ai-chan and didn’t quite trust them at first.” I shouldn’t compare the Sagawa household to his mother’s, but the easy hospitality and openness… it felt more like a home.
He seems relieved that that odious guard is leaving me alone, and then seems lost in thought. Is he – no, he couldn’t be regretting bringing me into his house. It isn’t entirely proper, but it happened so suddenly.
-I- do NOT talk about THAT man a lot. It just so happens he causes us much trouble and much -shame-.
Ah, there. It’s still raw, so raw, isn’t it? In his eyes I see hurt, and then in his fight to regain composure. He cares so much, and for a moment I see the boys in the rain, jumping up and calling for their father when they spotted him.
“Sumana. Please have the room to yourself so you can finish your sewing
I look up at him. “The light in here isn’t the best, but I came upstairs to be with you. Sewing, well, it’s a way to be company. Your mother told me so.” What she actually said that the image of a women contentedly sewing was soothing and a way to show off one’s elegant hands and bearing. I don’t know about that, but she said she was clever about such things. “So I came here to sit with you.” I grin up at him a bit as I stand. “Makoto-chan is going to be all over you to go play in the snow. It’s been a while,” I say, carefully putting my things back in the bag, “I still think Makoto-chan and I could get you in a snowball fight, if you’re up to it.” I join in him a the door. “But if you’re not up to it…” I shrug.
I miss hearing him laugh, and sometimes only his sisters seem to bring it out of him.
(OOC – depending on what he says, you can close and move to another thread or just close)
Tsutomu:
“Sagawa-san and his wife showed us great kindness and hospitality, even though Makoto-chan is very protective of Ai-chan and didn’t quite trust them at first.
“I’m glad to hear that. The people of Aizu -are- kind and hospitable.” I sigh a little at how Makoto acted, “I wish Makoto would show more deference especially here in Aizu. There are people here like Uncle Morinosuke and Kurosawa-sama that respect must be given first not “earned”.” Because they’ve already earned it before any of us was born!
I was just about to leave when Midori stands up. . “So I came here to sit with you.”
I blink. What? Sit with me? I thought she just wanted some time away from my “rambunctious” little sister. I look to the side suddenly unable to meet her eyes and I can feel something warm in my neck and face.
“I still think Makoto-chan and I could get you in a snowball fight, if you’re up to it.” I join in him a the door. “But if you’re not up to it…
“I’m not up for it.” I say as we go down the stairs, “But I can watch or we can do something less -taxing- like making a snow man.” I am -tired-. Like everything has been hard. First that stranger Naito, then Mother, then brother… all because of him. And he’s not even brave enough to be -here-. I -hate- him.
(OOC: This thread can stay here. Assume that he helps somewhat half-heartedly in making a snow man or just watches them play in the snow. There might be another thread that someone else will start while everyone is in the front yard – they may choose to see it or not – when i get around to posting it.)