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 Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 10:42 pm
Now that their pups had grown into adults, it wasn’t often that the family really got together. But tonight Gennosuke had demanded it and he sat proudly in the garden of one of the more prominent restaurants of Mazoukin; a spread of food laid out before him. It had taken him the entire day to get the humans to understand that he wanted a wonderful dinner for his family, but he’d eventually gotten the stupid creatures to figure it out.
While he was busy doing that, he had sent Sakura out to gather the children and they had all arrived as he bid, except of course for Aika, who seemed to have run off the edge of Nippon. It was a sore point for Gennosuke as he had adored his youngest and knowing she was out there amongst uncultured fools was a sore point. Still, he had his other three... Ine, the arrogant one whom always challenged his decisions; Musubi, the food loving disappointment; and Mikoto, the handsome worthy son.
Gennosuke cast an imperious gaze upon his family; giving an especially forceful look at Musubi, to make sure the young male didn’t start eating until he had been told. “I’m glad you all came.” He started, as if they’d had a choice in the matter. He shifted slightly and glanced at Sakura, as if her presence expected him to attempt some sort of fatherlyness.
“What have you all been doing? I hope nothing foolish that I would be ashamed of.”
Ine rolled her eyes but chose to answer first. She lifted her head proudly, giving a very challenging glare towards Mikoto as if just daring him to try interrupting her turn to speak. “I have been working to become the mighty Ren’s mate.” Ever since childhood she’d been intent on becoming a ‘princess’. She didn’t mention of course that her plans hadn’t exactly gone to plan, nor had she been working on them at all lately.
Her past few weeks had in fact been spent with either Musubi, just lazing about moodily... or outside of the city amongst the ‘dirty’ Kuniku. But neither of those things would she mention in her fathers presence.
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Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 11:54 pm
Musubi somewhat forced his tail to wag as he sat down in the garden under the shade of a large sakura tree. He was happy to be in the presence of almost all of his family, but then there was his father, Gennosuke... Once Sakura had informed him of the dinner, Musubi immediately followed along and had at first been very excited. It was rare for the large family to assemble together in one place, although he fairly often enough caught sight of at least one of his parents or siblings. As he neared the large restaurant however, his pace gradually began to slow down and his smile left his face once he released how much pressure would be on him tonight. Musubi wasn't fond of admitting it, but he was certain that he was the most awkward member of the entire family. The only abnormality other than his presence would be if Aika showed up.
He held in a sigh as Gennosuke gave him a pointed look; of course, he would be singled out again infront of his siblings. It had always been like that, and just because he was a little less sophisticated than his brother and sisters. 'Of course I'm not going to eat yet, Dad. I never forgot the etiquette lessons you gave me when I was pup...' he thought to himself before chiming in to the conversation. "Ine's gotten very close to Ren in a short amount of time. It's really amazing." Well, that was only partially a lie. Musubi had been able to help her stand in the general ambience of Ren at least twice before, but never gotten her close enough to clearly look at or even talk to the legendary Kuniku. Whatever. Musubi was always going to back his elder sister up, even if it was with a flat out lie straight to the face of their father.
Musubi's tail curled neatly around his body, the tip resting across his forepaws. He was thinking of what the simplest description he could give Gennosuke of his life would possibly be; he wasn't going to talk about how he left the city at least twice a week now. That was clearly taboo. He also wasn't going to mention that he'd fallen in love, and with a Kuniku that had been born pretty far away from the city. Another thing he couldn't talk about was that he'd taken Taberu, the nephew of his beloved Sho, as his apprentice and was teaching him all there was to know about the cuisine of Honshu. How was he supposed to be honest at all then, when his entire life basically broke every single rule his father had set for him..? Musubi just remained quiet, hoping that maybe if he was as humble as possible he could avoid some of the sting of his father's disapproval.
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Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 9:03 pm
Unknown to either brother, Mikoto was having much the same dilemma as Musubi. However, where Musubi was accustomed to their father's general disapproval, Mikoto most certainly was not. He was growing increasingly more and more conflicted about his new feelings of affection toward his friend Suzuki - another "uncouth" kuniku from outside of Maizoukin - and the strong desire to please his father. He was a naturally very proud kuniku, and this trait was strengthened by being born to such a prestigious kuniku as Gennosuke. All of his life had been devoted to learning the proper way to do this, say that. But meeting Suzuki had made him seriously question his feelings and priorities.
He'd gone to his mother in private for some advice, not knowing where else to turn. She'd told him something lame and cliche; that his father might not like everything he did, but that he would always love his children. It wasn't necessarily Gennosuke's love he wanted, since he already had that; it was his approval. And he certainly wouldn't approve of his favorite son gallivanting around with some strange girl. He'd made Sakura promise not to tell his father about what he'd said, but knowing his mother, she would blurt it out today and ruin their meal.
From his spot between Gennosuke and Musubi, he tried to force a smile and said, "I haven't been doing anything out of the ordinary. You know, same-old same-old."
Sakura glanced over at Mikoto with a brow quirked, but seemed to quickly forget her qualms with him. "I wish Aika were here," she said gently, her ears drooping a little. She snuggled against Gennosuke's shoulder with a frown.
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Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 10:47 pm
Ine gave Musubi a look of loving gratitude before quickly covering it with a smirk and an arrogant tilting of her nose into the air. Ever since she had been a pup her goal had been to become a princess. Now as an adult; she was no closer to the goal and was becoming severely disillusioned as to her power to accomplish it, but her father must never know of her shortcomings. While she often defied his rules, her arrogance clashing with his, she was still just a little girl wanting her father’s approval.
Gennosuke gave Musubi a hard stare, before it slid off the male and roved across the food cooling before them. “Hn. I see.” Despite both of his children thinking otherwise he was well aware that Ine hadn’t said two words to Ren, let alone being on the path to becoming his mate. He had always seen it as an impossible task for his daughter to accomplish. Ren was the paragon of what it meant to be a Kuniku. Ine was hardly about to steal his heart.
Still, it was amusing to watch her determination and Musubi’s loyalty.
His gaze flicked over to Mikoto and he nodded at the response, certainly not interesting enough to pry any further. The question had mostly been simply for Sakura’s sake. “Very good.”
His mates words put a damper on the mood and Gennosuke frowned, his expression darkening before he huffed and shook his head. Their daughter might come back one day, but for now, she was just a memory. “Let’s get on with the meal. You may eat now.” As he spoke his tail curled around, brushing against Sakura reassuringly.
Making Sakura happy was one of his favourite hobbies. If she missed her daughter so much... well then, they’d just have some more.
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 4:26 pm
Luckily for him, the spotlight was taken away and now brought to the food. Musubi bowed his head and said a small prayer of thanks to the Gods for this meal before he began to eat the bowl of rice that had been placed in front of him. He made sure to take small, delicate bites in order not to offend his father. It seemed that he'd been able to get away with not revealing what occupied his time for now.
"Mikoto, I wasn't able to catch up to you in time to say hello but I saw you in the Art District the other day. Were you watching a play or visiting an artist?" Musubi was genuinely curious, but this was also an attempt to bring up friendly conversation with his brother. In all honesty he knew that they weren't exactly close and he could very well be scolded for being nosy, but whenever they did happen to be in the same area he did his best to be anything but unkind to Mikoto. "I see you and Mom the least, so I was also wondering how you've been doing." Oh, if only he knew that he and Mikoto had more in common than he thought. He'd heard about Sho's bubbly Auntie, but had no idea that Mikoto was on the verge of becoming more than friends with her. If he confessed his secret to Mikoto, then surely they would be as close as he and Ine were.
Feeling that he'd stopped eating long enough to talk, he returned to take a bite of a sliced pheasant breast that was near his rice bowl. It took effort not to wag his tail; it was incredibly delicious and as much as Musubi would love to let the chef know that he appreciated the marination of the bird, he didn't want Gennosuke to call him out.
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