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This is a private role play between Jianyu [Kuro-Mizuki] and Yuudai [decision lobster].

Setting:
Both Jianyu and Yuudai wake up one morning to find out some truly disturbing news...and some truly horrifying consequences.

Yuudai's anger was not explosive, not when it was truly important. When he was embarrassed or flustered, yes. When his personal pride was on the line, he was much more likely to be comically irritated than not, but this was a different matter entirely.

As usual, he had been up very early, before even his sisters. He'd gone to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, and it had been uneventful. Uneventful, at least, until Shizuka had come in, eyes wide and teary, and told him that she couldn't find Natsuko, and held up an unopened note in shaking hands.

She had come to Yuudai, of course, because even more than their parents, he was the caretaker -- he was the one that Shizuka at least went to when there was a crisis. He had very carefully taken the letter, opened it, and read its entire contents.

Natsuko's handwriting was elegant and very feminine, beautiful to behold no matter how mundane the subject matter was, much like his sister herself. Long, fair hair and baby blue eyes coupled with a pleasing figure and a soft, dreamy personality were just what most men were looking for. The number of men he had sent away lovelorn was too many to count, because even though she wasn't the brightest young woman she was attractive and pleasant.

Apparently, however, she had met her match.

He heard his name being called from rooms away, but as he slowly lowered the note, it didn't occur to him to shout back. Yuudai was tight-lipped and pale, one hand trembling slightly from concealed anger, the other gripping the paper tight enough to form deep creases in it.

Stepping around Shizuka, he walked slowly through the kitchen, strode down the hall until he met his father half-way. Noboru was calm but serious faced as he escorted a livid Jianyu toward him, and they met in the center of the hall, father and son exchanging a silent look.

"Jianyu," Yuudai said, voice remarkably steady for someone as livid and embarrassed as he was. "I assume... you received a similar note to this?"

He held the note out, turning it so that his sister's pristine handwriting was revealed, and added, "Please come with me to my room so that we may discuss this without disturbing the customers further."

With that, he turned on his heel, stalking quickly toward his private quarters.

Yuudai's room was modest and clean, everything in its proper place and meticulously dusted. One wouldn't expect anything less of him, given how much pride he took in his own work ethic as well as his home, but a person's room said a lot about them. What furnishings were present were sparse but richly colored, in deep reds and golds; there was a beautiful print taking up nearly the entire face of one wall, a tranquil scene that never failed to bring him peace when he looked at it. It was no surprise that this was the first place his eyes wandered, held, while Jianyu gripped his wrist.

It hurt, a little, and his eyes narrowed, but he let Jianyu read the entirety of the note. It wasn't long, but it was certainly full of the childish, glowing delusions that they would be happy forever, that though what they were doing was wrong everyone would forgive them because it was true love. Well, true love -- if such a thing even existed, if someone would really choose love over a suitable match, over duty and honor -- it was hardly a foundation to build a life on. True love didn't put food on the table, didn't pay the bills or keep clothes on your loved ones' backs. It was fine and well to say that all you needed was that one person, but it simply wasn't true.

The paper was thrust in his face again, and instead of immediately looking at it, he used his free hand to pry Jianyu's fingers away from his wrist. He didn't comment, and manfully resisted the urge to massage it; there were, however, bright red loops around his skin, evidence of how tightly it had been held. His own face was pale and almost eerily still, and under different circumstances, it might have been amusing. On a regular day, Jianyu was the one whose temper would be quieter, his own fast and loud.

"I was unaware," he said slowly, lacing his hands in front of himself, knuckles going white from tension, "that they were seeing one another. So I am just as surprised as you are."

And obviously just as displeased, if one were to look at the tightness to the corners of his eyes, the way his jaw immediately tensed when he was finished speaking.

It was one thing to have a crisis on his hands. Yuudai could handle crises, had to handle crises; one day he would be the owner of this inn and he would have a hundred such events during the day that could be classified as a minor crisis, and he would have to deal with them calmly and swiftly. He thought he was handling this remarkably well, all things considered, when one factored in the shame and anger that had to come along with one's family member doing something so disrespectful as eloping and marrying with the consent of their family. They were both in the same position, and though Yuudai didn't particularly like Jianyu, there was truth to the fact that they were now related. Brothers.

Under Lunaria's law, Jianyu was now his family, and by extension his family was also Yuudai's family -- Legion or Noble, it did not matter, and could not matter any more. Just as he was still the best of friends with Ran despite his family's convictions, he would have to learn to embrace Jianyu as a brother because he was a brother. It galled him, but it was as simple a fact as anything in his mind and heart, and family was the singlemost important thing to Yuudai.

"Brother," he said, eyebrows drawing in, a slightly distasteful expression on his face. "Brother, we will simply do what is best for both of our families. We will have to locate them... make certain they are officially married under Lunaria's law, and if they are not then they certainly will be in short order. Our family is not going to bear the disgrace of a failed elopement," he muttered, hands tucked around his abdomen.

And then, after a moment, he added, "Pick those up and rearrange them. That was very rude of you."

Being puerile was obviously going to do them no good, but it was clear to Yuudai who was the more adult and mature individual in this case despite the differences in their ages. Whereas Yuudai could be very childish under certain circumstances, when there was a real crisis afoot -- namely, when the honor of his family was in question, or there was real danger to someone he loved -- he rose to the occasion and handled the situation as quickly and efficiently as he needed to. This particular trait of his was what would make him an effective head for the inn one day; perhaps it defied his instinctive reaction, but he had been training himself his entire life for the sole purpose of one day relieving his parents of their burden and carrying the tradition of running the inn, so he was well versed in holding and maintaining his temper when necessary.

Because of this, there was a flicker of disappointment across his face at Jianyu's tone. The gravity of the situation wasn't lost on the other man, he was sure; how could it be, after all? And yet there he was, kicking over papers and acting like an overgrown child instead of addressing the matter at hand. It was disappointing, and given his already low opinion of his new brother, it would make it that much more difficult for Yuudai to extend the olive branch and endeavor to make them family.

"You are acting like a child," He said, mild reproach in his tone. He was shorter and smaller than Jianyu, but his expression was still forbidding, serious; his lips were a thin line, eyebrows slanting mightily over cornflower blue eyes. "Which is the last thing we need right now. Clearly, despite our personal misgivings toward one another, you and I are the only ones in our families capable of acting swiftly and rationally in this case..."

He gritted his teeth, grinding them together a bit as he considered his next words. The urge to snap was strong, not just because of the stress of this moment but because of who was before him, but he forced himself to remain calm. Still, there was acid lacing his tone as he added, "If you would cease throwing your fit, we need to go to the legal offices and ascertain that they are, in fact, married."

He didn't look happy about it. Well, Yuudai rarely looked happy in Jianyu's presence, so that was nothing new.

Watching Jianyu rearrange the pile of papers was enough to make a brief, smug smile flit across his face. It fell away almost instantly, hopefully unseen by the other man; they would need to work together, after all, and provoking one another wasn't going to get them anywhere. The satisfaction he felt quickly died away, however, as Jianyu expressed his vehement displeasure regarding the union of their siblings, and he found resentment stirring and settling in his stomach.

Had he been asked to choose, the Qian family would be one of the last ones he would recommend for marriage prospects for his sisters. Firstly, of course, because it was Jianyu's family, and it seemed that lately everything about his life that irritated him involved Jianyu. Secondly, and arguably more importantly, they were Legion and the Koga family firmly supported the Nobles. It was hard enough to have Ran and his family on the opposite side of the war, and at night when he said his prayers, Yuudai always included the fervent hope that he would never have to face his brother in battle. Though he believed in both the cause that he stood for and the future that he fought for, Ran was his family, of the heart if not blood, and bringing harm to your family defied every truth Yuudai held about life. Family was precious. Family was above all else. Family...

Jianyu was family. As much as he resented it, as much as he wanted to throw his arms in the air and scream that it wasn't fair, it wasn't acceptable, Jianyu was family. And there he was, still throwing his temper around like a fitful child, seeming to take more offense to the fact that Natsuko was his sister than the obvious issue of the elopement. It offended him on a very basic level, because Yuudai was a good person. He was honest and kind, respectful and responsible -- his family, certainly, was more than worthy of Jianyu's respect, and his blatant dislike of the situation was an insult. To Yuudai, there was nothing more important than the people who had raised him, the sisters he had grown up beside; the grandparents who had lovingly tended the inn, raised their children to understand the value of hard work and the love of those who shared their name. His family was important, vital, beautiful.

And Jianyu was standing there muttering about it, about him, as though it left a bad taste in his mouth.

Color left his face by degrees, leaving his cheeks a little whitish, making the scales that rode high on them seem to jump out a bit more. "You should consider yourself lucky to be part of my family."

The single sentence was delivered in a low, soft tone, but it wasn't as calm as it had been; there was anger there, vibrating under the surface, and it was obvious with the set of his shoulders that he had been offended. His eyes, too, had lost the condescending slant to them, were now a little overbright, harder.

His arms were still banded tight around his chest, but he inhaled, exhaled, dropped them to his sides. "You will take care, Jianyu, to not mutter about myself or my own as though the words sour in your mouth before you can speak them. Whatever your misgivings, we are family -- and if we aren't, as I have stated before, we soon enough will be."

He was losing his patience, something he prided himself on. "You need to work on your listening skills, brother. If they are not married, we will locate them and, through our combined efforts, we will force them to marry. I won't have Natsuko's reputation ruined by this, and I won't have our family turned into... some fodder for evening gossip, not anymore than they already would be."

He had lost his cool, though not his temper; he was not shouting, but his voice was shaking, just so, and even a simpleton could see that Yuudai was just as upset as Jianyu, he was simply handling it entirely differently.

And, as it stood, less and less effectively the more time he spent with his new brother.

On a good day, Yuudai respected others' personal space, but he wasn't necessarily uncomfortable having his own invaded. Even when Bataar smelled his worst, Yuudai had no misgivings about getting as close to him as was necessary, whether it was to tend a wound or force him to strip for the bath; sometimes, proximity was necessary, and the closer he was to someone emotionally, the closer he wanted to be to them physically. With his family, especially, he often expressed himself equally through words and touches; a hand to the shoulder and a brushed kiss across the cheek could be hello or be safe just as effectively as the spoken word.

Being nearly nose-to-nose with Jianyu, then, was not something that made him distinctly uncomfortable; it simply annoyed him. His own eyes narrowed, and had it been possible, he was sure sparks would have been bouncing between their gazes; there was certainly enough heat and temper being generated between the two of them, though it thrummed under the surface, to make it feasible. He resented being cornered in his own room, resented especially that he was shorter than Jianyu. It made it awkward and infuriating to have the brunette Lunarian leaning over him, mostly because Yuudai was forced to thrust his chin out, face tipped up, to meet his gaze.

Had it been anyone else, he might have made a pithy remark, might have simply shoved them aside and moved on. But it wasn't just anyone else: it was Jianyu, and that was enough to make Yuudai stubbornly hold his ground, lips peeling back in a snarl, teeth clenched.

How dare he try to intimidate him in his own home.

How dare he.

He took a deep breath, mouth hinging open for a moment, and raised one hand. Slowly, deliberately, he flattened his palm against Jianyu's chest, feeling the fabric rough against his hand, and he glared. Then, rather than shove him away, he fisted his hand in his clothing, yanked him forward so that Jianyu's forehead smacked sharply into Yuudai's own. Their eyes were mere inches apart, and color had come back into Yuudai's face: not embarrassment, not shyness at being so close to the other man, but honest anger. The pain centered him, too, because it was sharp and brief.

"You," he said, slowly, measuringly, "Are being an insufferable, disrespectful a**. You are in my home, Qian Jianyu, and you have no right -- no right -- to throw your weight around and behave like an uncivilized heathen."

His breath was coming raggedly now, the surest sign that he was close to snapping, that the very edges of his temper were frayed.