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 Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 2:07 am
Youhei wasn't sure what more there was to 'get'. He didn't think there was anything he was misunderstanding about the situation; the arrangement he'd proposed was uncomplicated and mutually beneficial, and the only barrier to overcome was Enlei's stubborn defiance. He watched as she deliberated, face unmoving and the picture of apathy, but he had no intentions of letting this fish wriggle off the hook.
Youhei liked to keep close the things that were useful to him.
Her vitriol was merely a cover for her growing uncertainty. What child was not the subject of their parents' prerogative, unwilling or no? He let her reason aloud and felt no need to answer. Ideas were that much more powerful when they seemed to be your own, after all. It mattered not whether Lady Lixin was an overbearing troll or a pious wife - there was little to be gleaned from questioning her motive. He'd heard that hardly anything gained root faster in a parent's mind than an act committed for their child's own good. The notion was decidedly foreign to him.
Sure enough, he could see the moment Enlei started to lose gumption from the tremor that shook her shoulders.
"Of course." It was not his part that he was concerned about, though nothing could be won from saying so. He would be relying on Enlei's brashness and the unlikely match to slide under Akahana's guard - his mother was many things, and foremost on that list was 'suspicious'.
Enlei had said 'permission' - he found that a curious choice of words.
"You are free to conduct your affairs as you will, provided I never have cause to hear of them, and I would expect no interference in my own business. Naturally, there wouldn't be obligations should there be talk of a betrothal, but our agreement cannot be broken on a whim." She did not seem flighty, but he had been wrong before. "Do we have an accord?"
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Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:44 pm
She was getting just slightly tired of him, and the cold weather did not make things better. Enlei would admit, herself, that she was hot-headed: always dashing into things without thinking, saying things she tried not to regret sometimes.
How could you expect her to get along with someone so cold? The young girl frowned, hoping she was not already regretting this decision. What was this all about? Saving herself from possibly getting pulled into more matchmaking sessions... by accepting the proposal (of a distinctly different sort) of someone she had just met, someone she was not getting along with.. and someone who did not seem likely to ever love her.
And vice versa.
She tried to find something to like about him, at least. Something that attracted her. All she saw was... a snowman? She had no other way to describe him.
"If that's all you have to say, we should return." They had arrived at the Araki estate in the late afternoon; by now, the sun was setting and the cold was making her tear up slightly. (It was the cold, wasn't it? It had to be..) She did not want him to see it, in any case. She did not feel like she could be herself around him; as if his coldness was freezing her as well.
Perhaps it was just the weather. Perhaps. If she had any reason to meet him again, she hoped it would be in a different situation- one where she could feel more free. She wouldn't expect to like him- after all, this was just a ruse, wasn't it? Just an... agreement that was mutually beneficial.
But she wanted to, anyway. If she did.. it would not seem so pitiful.
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 5:46 am
He could hear the warning in Enlei's abrupt non-answer and was tempted to push; in the long run, establishing boundaries and conditions was more important than sparing her feelings. The deception would be a pointless endeavour if they could not hold the appearance of being united.
But not even Youhei could mistake the brightness in her eyes as being caused by dust or the stinging wind. She was crying - or at least making a valiant effort not to. He drew breath to speak, for tears could not put out a fire, but as he exhaled, the words also dissipated.
She was young. It was hard to put into perspective but it was clear she was unschooled in the understated, even underhanded, tactics that were the domain of Akahana and her ilk, and which, through exposure, now belonged to him. But Youhei could remember days when he wasn't strong enough, wise enough, to win the important battles. When all he could do was fail and retreat, and in retreating there was never any safe haven waiting.
Youhei was not given to sympathy, but he was not always unsympathetic.
"Yes, they'll be expecting us soon." He took a measured step towards her, a reduction in distance that would only be significant to someone who knew how highly touch-averse Youhei was. Someone like Akahana. Enlei was now standing in his personal space, though outsiders might consider the radius absurd.
He glanced at the picture they made; presentable, just friendly enough to be within the realm of belief. "Let me deal with my mother." It was not so much kindness as necessity. Youhei foresaw many altercations ahead, but right now was not the time.
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