let's do the time warp again [semi-open?]

[nayotake]

WHO: Kaguya, Yukimura, and anyone Yukimura recruits to drag back on a trip to the past with him?
WHAT: Going back to Ueda Castle to fix a screw-up.
WHERE: Main camp, to start, then back in time to Ueda.
WARNING(S): nothing yet!



[The main camp is starting to get more full, although there were still plenty of faces missing - but every new arrival is good for morale, even the ones nobody likes, really, because they at least represent a unity of cause that can bring even the most bitter of enemies together, and - maybe Kaguya is just being sentimental, but she at least finds the idea of Shu and Wei, Eastern and Western armies, Dong Zhuo and anybody being able to find common cause to be somewhat inspiring.

Every new arrival also means leads to a few more, as everyone wants to know what they can do to find missing comrades or save dead ones, and so she's been busy - but there's no time to rest, and with everyone else doing everything they can, it's not as though she can do any less.

She's been back from her last trip for a little while now, though, and she's savoring the few moments of downtime before the next inevitable mission.]

Comments

[ex_onslaught851]

Please, you needn't apologise. It doesn't trouble me. I do not think that I could rest knowing that I had not given you a proper explanation.

[That was the least that Saitou deserved, in his mind. Yukimura felt bad that he couldn't properly explain the time travel aspect, but to be honest, he wasn't too sure how it worked himself.]

[iaijutsu]

Now that you have, however, I would not want you to overdo it on my account.

[Which sounds kind of lame as soon as he says it. Yukimura's already overdone it on his account.

...and it's still kind of confusing how warm that makes him feel, even through that nagging sense of guilt.]

[ex_onslaught851]

[That makes him laugh sheepishly.]

It is too late to be worrying about that, I think. But please, do not concern yourself. I will be fine.

[iaijutsu]

[Too late, indeed.

And somehow everything he thinks to say feels inadequate.]

...thank you.

[Again.]

[ex_onslaught851]

[And yet, somehow that still manages to fluster Yukimura.]

... I would gladly do it again, if I had to.

[iaijutsu]

[Saitou's turn to be flustered.]

Yukimura-dono...

[ex_onslaught851]

The fact that I was unable to save you in the first place... It bothered me. More than I could bring myself to admit.

But I hope that... I can protect you better, if the same circumstances arise again.

[iaijutsu]

I am truly grateful.

[And that's accompanied, finally, by a smile - one that might be almost distressingly familiar to Yukimura.]

...although I hope not to put you in such a situation again that it becomes necessary.

[ex_onslaught851]

[This time, he can look at that smile and not feel a crushing sense of dread.

... he could get used to this, he thinks.]

I do not think that you will. After all, I believe that we'll make an unstoppable team, if we stick together.

[iaijutsu]

I would be honored to stand at your side, Yukimura-dono.

[ex_onslaught851]

[This time, Yukimura can't stop himself from blushing.]

It means a lot to me that you think so, Hajime-dono. I would be glad to have you.

[iaijutsu]

I can assure you that it means no less to me.

[At the very least. If not more.

Granted, maybe that's presumptuous too, when he can't say how much it means to Yukimura - but Saitou can't imagine any situation, any condition in which it could possibly mean any more to him than it already does.]

[ex_onslaught851]

I believe you, Hajime-dono.

[He can't help but smile a little at his reaction.]

It seems that it doesn't matter how many years separate us - we are still rather alike, aren't we?

[iaijutsu]

[Well, that'll definitely fluster him a bit more. Being compared to -

oh my god senpai is noticing me???]

I - that...that may be so.

[ex_onslaught851]

Ah... you don't mind the comparison, do you?

[He laughs a little, embarrassed. Though Saitou's reaction is too endearing for words.]

[iaijutsu]

No, not at all. It is...flattering, if I may be blunt.

[ex_onslaught851]

Flattering...? In what way?

[He's confused, but surprisingly delighted to hear it.]

[iaijutsu]

It is...difficult to truly express the strength of your reputation in my time, Yukimura-dono...

But it is perhaps easier to express the lack of regard with which I have been looked at for most of my life.

[ex_onslaught851]

My reputation? If people remember me even in your time, then I must have made quite the impression indeed.

[And it can't have been particularly negative, if Saitou was talking about him this way. Yukimura is pleased to know that he'd succeeded in that much.]

I do not wish to press you for details if you do not want to share them, but...

If it is all right, I would like to hear it.

[iaijutsu]

It begins with the way I hold my sword.

[ex_onslaught851]

You're left-handed.

[An observation, but also a slight prodding to continue.]

[iaijutsu]

Yes. There are few who are willing to accept that - until I came to Shieikan and met the other future members of the Shinsengumi, none ever had, and none would acknowledge my skill. They considered it a heresy, and I have been thrown out of more dojos than I care to count, told that I had no talent or that I was cheating.

[He shakes his head.]

It is not only in technique that samurai are assumed to be right-handed. The etiquette of how to carry one's sword, where to place it when sitting in someone's home...all of that has formed around the assumption that a sword is wielded in such a manner. When I attempt to follow the same reasoning, everything looks backwards, and I am assumed to be rude and ill-mannered, even if setting my sword at my right rather than my left would be infinitely ruder.

[Because unlike everyone else, he can pick it up and draw quickly with his good hand, if he puts it on the right.]

Shieikan was the only place where I was accepted without reservation, and where my talent was recognized for what it was.

[ex_onslaught851]

[Yukimura listens to every word intently, though at first all he can manage is a small, sad smile.]

To think that, even after all this time, men such as yourselves have such trouble finding a place in the world… It is disappointing to hear of such things. I would have thought that, with Tokugawa Ieyasu claiming power, perhaps such quarrels would be put to rest.

I cannot even imagine how difficult it must have been. And yet you persisted despite that, and did not give in to pressure to change. That is rather admirable of you, Hajime-dono. I am glad that you found people who could accept you as you were, as well.

[iaijutsu]

[Sanada Yukimura has just said his behavior is admirable. His heart feels like it's going to burst out of his chest.

...breathe.]

Thank you, Yukimura-dono.

[Though that's only half of the story.]

The Shinsengumi has since been the one place I know I am accepted without reservation, but as an organization, we have not been well-liked in Kyoto, even by many of those on our own side. Many do not come from samurai families, our leaders included, and the first leader of the organization engaged in somewhat...questionable practices, before his death and Kondou-san's rise to sole command. There are few who consider us to be anything more than common thugs who simply had the fortune to have our actions sanctioned by the shogunate.

So, to be compared to someone like you, whose reputation for honor and admirable conduct has never been questioned...

[It's almost too much.]

[ex_onslaught851]

After hearing your story, I think that the comparison is even more fitting than before.

[And he can't help but admire Saitou even more after listening to everything he had to say.]