A breeze picked up through the stand, bringing with it a voice. It was quiet, as if just beyond Masahiro's range of hearing. Disconnected, broken, pained, fettered, but still recognizable instantly to the former hokage. As if he could forget the voice of someone so important to him in another life.
"M---A----SA!!"
A quick look around the current dramatic scene would assure him no one else had heard the cry. All the same, the gelel stone in his possession would flare to life for the first time since his return to the shinobi lands. A light pulse of heat, of life.
Hope.
Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2021 7:09 pm
爆 Ｉｎｋａ Ｈｉｚａｒａ 爆
Inka didn't know how to interpret Masahiro's presence. An older man, more experienced and more powerful than himself, arriving to a seemingly family-owned Ramen stand with a man claiming to be Sypher Senju? The coincidence was off-putting and put Inka further into a defensive, suspicious mindset of the whole event. But he couldn't stop himself from perking up, tensing up, leaning forward slightly as the man he hadn't been able to take his eyes away from since entering started to speak - and every word felt like a separate jab of a knife into his nerves.
The ramen comment felt like a joke said in bad taste, pulling Inka's face into a snarl and ticking his opinion on this whole meeting closer to being seen as a danger than a miracle. But Syy kept going, revealing more and more that would be harder and harder for Inka to discredit, even more so with the Konoha Hospital blood test results still hovering over this whole affair. Maybe he should have had better control of his emotions by now, at his age and his status, but he felt... that tight ball of resilience loosen and he knew it would be showing in his eyes, his face, even if only slightly. But rather than acceptance, Inka could only feel guilt start to bloom instead.
Seeing Syy's hand lift and touch where he very well knew a scar would be found, one that had Inka sucking in an angry breath through his teeth. Yeah, he remembered the b***h alright and he still wouldn't put it past her to try to kill Syy. Another reason why he had Kiri invest so many resources in finding him. Inka pressed his lips shut, feeling guilt stab at him from the inside as Syy's words continued to wear his nerves, and reservations, down. Finally, Inka broke eye contact, looking down and burying his face in his hands, palms rubbing hard against his cheeks before tipping his upper body back, face looking upward and he dragged his hands up and through his hair. It felt like he had managed to either throw off some stress, or done a good enough job of burying it for now.
"The dark...?" He asked, face contorted in confusion and grief. He shook his head quickly. "Enough," He said it gently, more as a pause to the conversation rather than the end. "We should..." Amber eyes flutter close briefly before refocusing back on... Sypher. It's really him? "We should talk. In private." He added, straightening his shoulders and looking all the more exhausted for it. He blinked and turned around, giving a sad, guilty smile to Severin. Now, after having focused so long on Syy's features, and after having been with nothing more than a painting and his own memory, it was easy to see now how different the two of them really were. He truly had been far too cruel to Severin.
"I'm sorry." Inka spoke softly. "First I was late and now..." He paused, unsure what word, if any singular word, could really encapsulate what had just transpired. Inka swallowed, lifting his eyes back onto the Raigyo's after a brief moment of reflection. "If you're not opposed, I'll come find you later." He tried to give a reassuring smile, but his own guilt and trepidation about how quickly his world had once again been thrown off its axis was obvious. Inka turns to leave, and comes across Masahiro once again. He opens his mouth to speak, but has no idea what to say, so he just ends up closing his mouth with a sigh through his nose and nods instead. The brunette swallows past the lump in his throat and looks up at Syy, holding an arm up to show he was waiting for the other man to leave first for him to follow
ch 750 // 1,030 | 775 // 950 st ⧼ Father ⬘ Mizukage ⬘ Godaime ⬘ Bukijutsu ⬘ Performer ⧽
T e c h n i q u e s :
• Speed ► Slight [Moderate Buki] [Heavily when drawing Small Weapons] [Moderate in smoke] [Heavily Buki in smoke ] [ Supreme when drawing Small Weapons in smoke ] • Reflex ► Supreme
〚I’ve said too much. Sypher’s features changed to highlight a growing panic as Inka broke eye contact and covered his face. He thinks I’m a fake. I’ve screwed it up. It’s my fault. he waited, back pressed hard against the wall and arms slightly crossed over his chest and upper torso, wrapping around himself. He wasn’t sure what to do. The other man, the one who looked like hi-Yokai. He...he looks like Yokai. More than me. another painful memory. The man had moved back and away, doing something that might have previously been associated with a surrender but that, to Sypher and his troubled mind, was an exasperated movement. He didn’t even know the man and he’d already caused troubles for him as well. He jumped slightly as Inka repeated his words, eyes latching immediately on him as he shook his head. Oh...he looks tired. So tired. I’m sorry. Go somewhere else? Is that what he meant? Still wary of everyone, Sypher nodded briefly to Inka’s words but before he could move ...oh... it was a tiny, broken sound in his head and in his heart as Inka spoke to the other man, the not-him. He swallowed, feeling a strange thickness, but he managed to step away from the wall at least. He also looked at Masahiro, unsure, but “Masahiro-san...uhm...” he hesitated then gave him a deep bow from the waist, his hair falling about him “Th-thank you. For-for before.” his words weren’t strong but when he straightened, he appeared to be getting his color back somewhat. Though whether that was improvement or just blood rushing to his head after the bow was unclear “Uhm...if you see Honō-san, from before, please let him know that Aika will find me if he tells her to.” he flinched again, a near imperceptible movement as Inka raised his arm but it was merely to motion Sypher out first. Well...that was uncomfortable. He ducked out of the ramen shop and suddenly felt like he could breathe again. The sudden rush of oxygen to his brain gave him a bit of a pause and allowed him to pull his jacket once more tight to his body, waiting for Inka to come out.
Inka glanced back at his Anbu guard, the armor-clad figure having already retrieved Inka's cloak, the symbol of his station still bundled up and out of sight. The guard held out the small note from the messenger bird and, with a nod, Inka took it before following out after Syy, walking by the other male's side but not too close as to crowd him. The defensive postures, the flinching. Inka had been down to Kirigakure's I&T Department many times. More times than he should have. He saw signs familiar to someone who had been on the wrong side of the I&T one-way glass... Upon exit from the stand, the Anbu guard would follow before quickly disappearing onto the rooftops.
[ exit: Streets ]
ch 765 // 1,030 | 790 // 950 st ⧼ Father ⬘ Mizukage ⬘ Godaime ⬘ Bukijutsu ⬘ Performer ⧽
T e c h n i q u e s :
• Speed ► Slight [Moderate Buki] [Heavily when drawing Small Weapons] [Moderate in smoke] [Heavily Buki in smoke ] [ Supreme when drawing Small Weapons in smoke ] • Reflex ► Supreme
tab | | tab s e v e r i n tab r a i g y o tab | | L o s ttab a n dtab a l o n etab,tabi ntab atab w o r l dtab Itab b a r e l ytab r e m e m b e rtab. . . ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅
Quote:
Severin watched the two leave, following them to the front of the ramen stand a few seconds after their departure to stare at the back of Inka's head in till it disappeared around a corner. Petty, selfish, hot words bubbled in his throat. More than anything, he wanted to plead. Plead for Inka to stay here with him-- but he knew better. Inka had a real chance at a happy ending now... With Inka out of sight and out of earshot, his shoulders slumped under the weight of his memories, no longer needing to keep up the façade.
The Raigyo swallowed hard, gripping at his chest. People passed him by, paying him no attention and Masahiro had not emerged from the stand just yet. Sev closed his eyes, recalling the last time he had seen Inka in Kirigakure. Golden eyes, chestnut hair... 'Come back safe, Severin.' But he hadn't. Had he worried about him? Thought the same about him as he did Sypher? He remembered Inka's reaction to him at the Chunnin exams-- stunned, slightly relieved. Nothing like what had taken place here.
But of course. Inka didn't love him.
Severin reached out to recall other memories, and found himself faltering. Already, they were slipping away. His heart shot in to his throat. Already, precious memories of Kagerou, of Kumotake, of Inka, of his mother... Already they were slipping back in to the lake of amnesia that had a hold on him. His breathing picked up, and it felt like his stomach dropped in to his pelvis. He felt dizzy... He couldn't lose them all, not again.
Forcing himself to put on a brave, but sweaty, face, Severin started off in much the same direction as Inka and Sypher, but he took a different route. He was off to see Kagerou. Maybe she could help him stop the progression.
tab [ Exeunt: Ramen stand ---- Konohagakure Streets ]
CHKR : : 00 // 00tabSTM : : 00 // 00tabRYO :: 17,000tabAC :: 30,000tabtab [ R A I G Y O ]tab[ L O S T ]tab [ B - R A N K ]tab[ G E N N I N ]tab[ KO N O H A ]tab[ S U N F L O W E R ]tab
『tabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCEtabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCEtabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCEtabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCE time and again, in vain ↗ time and again, in vain ↗ time and again, in vain ↗time and again, in vain NOW MY FEELINGS FOR YOUtab┈┈tab EVERY TEARtab┈┈tab EVERY SMILEtab┈┈tab PAID IN FULLtab』
It all happened so fast, with so many pieces, so many facets between them. Sypher and Inka reunited and the pieces fell between them. A curious eye followed the pair as Masahiro tried to maintain careful distance, but readied himself to intervene on behalf of Sypher had things soured. Thankfully they had not, at least for these two. The other boy, Severin, it seemed, slumped into himself. A sadness pervaded him, something that the Hatake knew all too well, something that he could not place, but encompassed all.
"No, no, it was no bother at all Sypher. You're a guest here in my village, and my duty, whether I still sit the seat of Hokage, or merely as the man retired, is to see to the status of our those within our walls. Should I see the young artisan or your pup, I will let them know." The Hatake confirmed, his eyes bright, then turned towards Severin.
This poor young man. A place he had been too many times. To feel as if you finally belong, to think you were loved, maybe, and turned away for something else. Someone else. He searched for something to say to the child, but as his eyes searched the features of Severin, he saw a photo of himself taken at this same ramen stand years ago, when his hair was shorter. Though not as short as this boy's, he wore his own hair drawn back when he was that age. He thought back to his own somber days, the woman who gave him pause, the loveless marriage he had stepped between, then when she just disappeared. The days he spent here, drinking, and laughing with the owner. This boy looked every bit his doppleganger.
Fate had an odd way of showing us parity.
No sooner had the youths begun to settle their own affairs and filter from the small restaurant than a sensation of warmth. No. Frostbite, carried over the Hatake. A fell wind that carried a voice that cried out his name. As Severin managed to pry himself from the stall and escape, before Masahiro could figure out a single word to speak in solidarity with him, every seal on the former Hokage's body would flare to life. The scrolls imbued with fuuinjutsu began to whisper, a haunting melody only he could hear danced from them, songs once sang by him to soothe a child left in his care. Songs he sang in a palace that had as of yet not been restored. His eyes closed and as he opened them he saw an apparition before him, memories of a place that was not. Events that had not occurred.
"Sonyo." He whispered, the name soft, parted as if taken with a kiss.
His student, a close friend, his lover. A wife. Empress of an Empire that had not come to rise. Burning thoughts crossed the threshold of his mind as he felt the bitter cold, the burning chill of the gelel stone active in his pocket. Yet, as he took it in hand, it felt calm and turned from a searing blue to a dull crimson. The fell chill became warm, inviting.
"Where are you?" Was the only question that crossed his mind as he watched the others leave.
There was a long pause, long enough to perhaps make Masahiro think there wouldn't be a reply. But then the voice drifted back, a little stronger this time but strained, it took a lot of effort to speak like this.
"I don't---" Another pause as the voice audibly fractured, and Sonyo had to try again. "Don't know--- d--arrk..." The words sounded breathless, scared, exhausted. Sonyo didn't know where she was either, if she was even truly anywhere.
"Wh--at... h-happ--ened...? I.... I-I thoug--ht..." Her thoughts were disconnected, and it took time to peace them together. It was as if she was thinking a million things and nothing all at once. "I-I... sc--ar-ed.... Am I.... Am I d--ead...?" A choked sob punctuated the last word, the stone flaring again with that same cold-warmth.
『tabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCEtabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCEtabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCEtabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCE time and again, in vain ↗ time and again, in vain ↗ time and again, in vain ↗time and again, in vain NOW MY FEELINGS FOR YOUtab┈┈tab EVERY TEARtab┈┈tab EVERY SMILEtab┈┈tab PAID IN FULLtab』
The chakra signature that swept through the Gelel stone continued to burn through the Hatake. Visions, memories, sights, and sounds, followed by a profound darkness in his right eye as the shock of two worlds combined into one. His heart raced and his eyes flared, the light adjusted in his right eye while he came to the realization that it was his natural eye. Everything was slightly off, his world reeled, their worlds reeled. His collective memories coalesced, his hands trembled, and his stomach knotted while the voice of his wife called out to him.
"No..." He choked, an audible crack in his voice resounded as he clasped the stone closer.
The keystone between their points in time. The fuuin that bound them was caught at the core of this stone. Further flashes of the entwined histories rushed through him.
"We went to my lab, Konoha there was in ruins. Shukaku was breaking free, you were dying..." he started, the words alien, his fingers came to his lips as he tried to recall in clarity the events, the memories "we sealed the Ichibi into me, and used the released power from his capture to..."
It was all distant echoes, memories that led Masahiro to his feet.
"We survived on one side... But you didn't survive the weight of this world, you... Oh Gods. You don't have a..." A grim realization washed over Masahiro, one which resounded within both halves of his awoken consciousness.
Sonyo had no body to return to on this side of the void, unlike his own disjointed memories.
The more memories that settled in to Masahiro's skull, the stronger the attunement to the stone he held, and the more he felt. Panic rushed through him, but it wasn't his own. It was Sonyo's. He felt her fear and tension.
"I'm... stuck..." With his settling connection to her, suddenly her voice sounded just in fron of him. It no longer broke or cut off. It was as if she was just in front of him, within arms reach. But she wasn't.
"I'm stuck in between... stuck in limbo... oh mother, how long will I last here before... before I fade away...?" Her panic increased, gripling at her throat.
『tabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCEtabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCEtabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCEtabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCE time and again, in vain ↗ time and again, in vain ↗ time and again, in vain ↗time and again, in vain NOW MY FEELINGS FOR YOUtab┈┈tab EVERY TEARtab┈┈tab EVERY SMILEtab┈┈tab PAID IN FULLtab』
Immediately Masahiro's mind returned to the lab, his hand tightened on the stone, and his jaw clenched. His brow furrowed and his disturbed mind couldn't calm. He placed his free hand on his chest and stood, a name pressed upon his lips as he found his footing.
"Torgrita... We haven't... But, is it ethical?" He debated with himself as he paced for the door and brushed the curtain from his face.
"Sonyo. I left you in that void. How could I?" He murmured as he crossed the village.
"Torgrita. Sonyo. Forgive me for the choices I'm left to make. I cannot forsake both of you, when I have one of you in my grasp to save."
The voice became silenced, but if Masahiro focused he could still feel Sonyo's presence, drifting alongside him. Every once in a while he would catch her out of the corner of his eyes-- a flash of silken black hair, a corner of white kimono, a glint of glimmering hazel-brown eyes. She was there, beside him, and her worry was palpable.
"Don't do something you'll regret Masa... I'm already as good as gone..."
『tabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCEtabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCEtabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCEtabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCE time and again, in vain ↗ time and again, in vain ↗ time and again, in vain ↗time and again, in vain NOW MY FEELINGS FOR YOUtab┈┈tab EVERY TEARtab┈┈tab EVERY SMILEtab┈┈tab PAID IN FULLtab』
"Regret... I've regretted everything I've done since we crossed that bridge Sonyo. The girl whose life I saved, the time I've spent half-in and half-out, unsure why I felt so empty and why I couldn't focus. I lost one of you, without the chance to bring you peace. I won't lose you both." The heartbroken man said he stared into the void where the voice of the woman came to him.
"I made her a promise, Sonyo. I made her a promise that what we did wouldn't be in vain. That everything we figured out would keep the same disaster from happening to someone else. But I couldn't save her. I can't save her. I can save you. I can prevent the disaster I caused from claiming your life. I can keep the sands of time from claiming you twice over."
The Sonyo specter was quiet a moment, thinking, weighing her options. Anyone who ever knew Sonyo would know that she didn't like these options. Didn't like that she'd either die, or someone would die for her. She didn't like greys like this, the spots in between good and bad. Between right and wrong. She often didn't choose correctly.
"I don't want someone dying for me, Masa. I... I-I know she'll die either way but I don't want... I don't... It doesn't feel right."
Another pause, another wave of worry and regret.
"I don't want you to hurt yourself like this. You care for this girl. I'm sorry I've put you in this situation... If I had just had better control of Shu..."
『tabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCEtabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCEtabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCEtabYOU GAVE ME THE CHANCE time and again, in vain ↗ time and again, in vain ↗ time and again, in vain ↗time and again, in vain NOW MY FEELINGS FOR YOUtab┈┈tab EVERY TEARtab┈┈tab EVERY SMILEtab┈┈tab PAID IN FULLtab』
A pensive Masahiro looked into the very soul of the spectre, or, what could one call the core of what was itself a soul? His damaged eyes longed, sought, and pressed beyond hope for a simple answer to the conundrum that had been placed before them. He knew too well that there was only a singular decision left to him and it was one that had the cards folded any other direction he would never have accepted, but here they were. He was a man between worlds and Sonyo was a woman with no corporeal form.
"No one is going to die because of me. No... Not this time. I failed to contain the beast, I failed to vouchsafe her soul, I failed to protect you, I failed my promise to her, but I won't let both you and her down in the end." He choked through thoughts of their life together.
Then the thoughts of Torgrita's smiles and the jokes as they worked together in the library and labs to figure out the core of her seals. The seals that wouldn't relinquish so long as her soul held claim to her body. The Hatake knew how he would finally give her rest, but the cost by which he would do so would weigh heavily upon him. He clenched his fist to his chest and made his way towards his family compound.
"I'm doing something I didn't initially hope to do. Because it will free my friend and because it will help you; Sonyo. I'm breaking the prison of the soul to free her."
Sonyo stayed quiet, following closely beside masahiro. She wanted to tell him not to do it, to let her go. They had such little time together, but they had some good times. Some peaceful times. But she knew she couldn't get him to change his mind once it was made up.
What had happened to her here? Was it really so tragic that it had hurt masahiro this bad? She frowned, reaching out, longing to touch him, but whatever strength she had for her semi-corporeal hug earlier had been spent. Her hand went straight through his arm, lacking any sensation at all.
Her heartstrings pulled. She could feel herself quickly weakening.
