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 Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 1:11 am
  This is a private role play between Yuudai [brosuke] and Jianyu [Kuro-Mizuki].Setting:Yuudai visits Jianyu's home to return the sash that he borrowed. He also seems to have a little something else for his new brother...
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Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 3:13 pm
The bruises on his face were fading, which was nice; he was tired of people gaping at him as he walked past, and even more tired of explaining where his wounds had come from. His back and ribs were still a little sore but that was more due to the fact that he was too stubborn to neglect his usual chores in favor of recovering, so he hadn't really given his body the appropriate time to heal itself after the beating it had taken. It wasn't bad enough to effect his walk, however, so he considered himself as well as he was going to get. That in mind, he really couldn't put off giving Jianyu back his sash, no matter how much he wanted to simply avoid the other man as long as was humanly possible.
It was with this in mind that he found himself being escorted through the Qian household, his head held high, a parcel gripped between steady hands. He'd washed the sash, of course, and that had been more than tedious as far as endeavors went; blood was so difficult to get out of anything, especially if it had been allowed to sit and soak into the fabric. The entire time that he'd worked the sash he'd been annoyed with Jianyu, unreasonably, because after all he'd never asked the other man to mop up his blood with an article of clothing, and if in the end he couldn't clean it then it would be entirely his fault. Annoyance tended to fuel his work ethic, however, and so he'd managed to restore the sash to its original state, and he'd been quite proud of himself.
Then he'd gotten to thinking about the man that owned it, and how he was now part of his family. The trip to the magistrate's office had proven that -- Qian Junjie was married, quite lawfully and quite permanently to Qian Natsuko. Whether he liked it or not (and he was leaning heavily toward the not) they were related, and that meant that Yuudai could no longer indulge in the petty animosity he'd held toward the other man.
Jianyu seemed to be perfectly content to remain as ever before, but family was important to Yuudai. Very, very important. His family he valued above himself, above his own life, so it stood to follow that family was above his pride. That was why when he'd finished cleaning the sash he'd taken another day to deliver it. Actually, he had spent hours in his bedroom, paints that he'd borrowed from Junko placed carefully all over his floor, as he carefully created and fashioned several intricate strings of beads. He'd noticed that Jianyu wore them in his hair, much as Yuudai did, and though the comparison annoyed him, it was common ground between them.
The first expression of good will ought to be a gift, he'd thought. Words were easy to misinterpret, easy to take back, but this was something he'd crafted with his own hands. It had taken him time and effort, and he'd been very careful to coordinate the colors so that it would be pretty and pleasant to the eye. Certainly he had been irritated while he did it, going over and over in his head all the reasons why Jianyu made his skin crawl, but his hands had been steady and sure with the knowledge that he was doing his duty as the only son of the Koga family and extending the olive branch.
If Jianyu didn't accept it, he would simply have to swallow his pride and his temper and keep trying. Because he was family.
Lips thinning, he nodded politely to the young woman escorting him, murmured a thank you when she knocked on Jianyu's door and excused herself. It was now or never; he needed to be pleasant and cheerful and make an effort to make this work.
Even if there was still part of him that really, really didn't want to.
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Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 1:11 am
"I'm telling you," Jianyu said, for what seemed like the fourth time in as many minutes. "You're making too big of a deal out of this."
From her place behind him, Ehuang said lightly "I am not. Your hair has grown much too long; I am merely trying to figure out a solution to get it out of your face, either by cutting it, or putting it up."
"My hair is fine, Mother," Jianyu said exasperatedly, reaching up to move Ehuang's fingers from the dark strands she was twisting back into a thick braid. "It doesn't impede anything."
His mother clicked her tongue at him, finishing the braid and tying it off with one of the ribbons laid out on the desk. Patting her son's head affectionately, she said "Now, now, Jianyu. As a Captain, you should at least look respectable."
"I do." he said, trying not to wince. Though it had been several weeks - more than a month - since he had last gotten into that ridiculous fight with the innkeeper, Jianyu had been sore for most of that time, his head tending to be the worst. The glancing blow Yuudai had managed to cut across his jawline had left a bruise, but it had mostly faded by now, but every once in a while he would get a twinge. He had been coddled and taken care of by his parents when they had first seen his injuries, but then reprimanded - quite thoroughly - by Ehuang and Liwei when they had found out just who he had gotten into the fight with.
"The Koga's are our family now," Ehuang had scolded him as if he were back to being a six year old child again with his hand stuck in the cookie jar. "Treat them with respect, Jianyu," his father had added, eyes narrowing. "Even if you do not like them."
His parents obviously had no idea of what exactly had happened that had caused Jianyu's dislike of Koga Yuudai, but he supposed that maybe he could set aside his differences for them.
Maybe.
Ehuang had twisted a second braid into his hair now, threading a few strands of beads along with the dark strands and blue ribbons. Her slightly wrinkled fingers, worn rough by work, brushed over the smooth wood, and she smiled quietly as seh worked. Jianyu glanced at her through the mirror, catching her eye and letting out a resigned sigh. He reached up, resting his hand atop hers.
"Mother," he began, but there was a sudden knock on the door. Ehuang stepped back, brushing her hands on the apron she wore. Standing up, Jianyu made his way across the room, sliding the door open.
That was not the person he had expected to be standing there, an unreadable expression on his face. Jianyu stared for a moment, slightly confused and more than a little surprised.
"Yuudai?" 
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