Lets not point fingers or knives now

    “I’m kind of surprised he even allowed it to happen, all things considered,” she muses, half under her breath–more to herself than to Magoichi. “I don’t see why it would have any benefit to him, it’s not like he knew someone would–…” Wait.

    Of course he did. That bastard! Just how far had he planned everything out? Had he needed to mess with Magoichi’s mind at all to accomplish it? It certainly seemed to add up–Magoichi struck her as impulsive, sure, but she found it hard to believe he (or anyone else, for that matter) would jump right into killing the regent hours after it was decided. Generally speaking, one didn’t take revolutionary action without at least a plan in mind, in her experience. 

    “Fucking psychics,” she curses, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Well, she was being helpful.

Mago leaned forward a tad, straining to pick up on whatever she was mumbling. He? Who? Whatever force that was behind her disappearance? She must have known who it was to some extent, then, but-

Psychics?

“I mean, I can’t say I don’t agree with ya, but you’re losin’ me girlie.” At this point, whatever concern he had for her comfort in the conversation topic flew out the window. He took a few larger steps forward, turning and coming to a stop in front of the empress. 

    “I–I was—” Her tongue seems to tie itself in a knot. A lot has happened, certainly, but it isn’t nerves that keeps her from speaking. She knows exactly what she wants to say and exactly how to say it–it was, though no one would have guessed, Kenshin’s fault. 

    (The worst part is she knows exactly why she can’t say it, too. It’s a little scary to think even now that it’s all done and over with–how much is she really herself?)

    “It wasn’t Dragnor, if that’s what you suspected. Though–I can see why you would jump to that conclusion.” It did all seem a little too convenient. “It must have seemed suspicious, how everything worked out, I’ll grant you that.”

“I suspected you six feet under, but yeah, by Dragnor’s hands.” Or teeth. Maybe claws. “Second you were gone Oda didn’t miss a beat in getting himself nominated for regent. You wouldn’t have even been cold by then, I reckon.” He turned his head and spat, as though the entire thing left an unpleasant taste in his mouth. 

It was a tad reassuring, at least, that she saw the conclusion he jumped to as a reasonable one. Anyone would have if their heads weren’t up Oda’s or their own ass.

   To be honest, she’s kind of impressed. Not that he looks “good” in any sense–he’s pretty raggedy, even compared to his usual self–but he’s… not dead, which is saying something. He managed to escape Dragnor of all places more or less intact, then make it to the mainland, and now he’s… well, he hasn’t starved to death yet.

    “…I guess I have time to kill before I go meet Oichi for dinner. Why not?” She’ really only heard secondhand about everything that happened, after all; by the time she was back up and running Magoichi had already vanished. (And Arceus knows she can’t get a damn word out of Masamune if she tries.)

     “I get the feeling you’ve got something specific in mind that you want to say if you’re asking.”

It seemed luck was giving him the boat and paddle today. Hell, maybe even a sail and favorable winds. Not that Hiroko was ever really that bad; If he had the chance, he could have maybe talked her into some semblance of mercy, but he didn’t have the cards to begin bluffing with. 

“A couple, yeah. 

Or the other player, for that matter.

    But of course. Even one day truly away from Ransei was too much to ask, as usual. One day off between traveling the mainland for diplomatic reasons and returning home–she was going to meet up with Oichi after taking some time for herself, spend the evening together… and now this. Sweet fucking Arceus, she knows she’s the Empress and all, but she’s beginning to wonder if she’s some kind of magnet for every Ransei-related complication the world can throw at her. It’s almost like the universe knows she’s supposed to take responsibility for this.

    (…Was she, though? No one else knew where Magoichi was. Hell, no one else knew exactly where she was right now, either. She could brush this off and no one would be the wiser… and more importantly, she could carry on with her day without the need to put off her date with Oichi. Again.)

    “Funny, so was I. And I’d really like to continue it, to be honest.“ A sigh. “Look, I have a date tonight, so as far as I’m concerned, I never saw you. Dragging you back to the boat kicking and screaming does not sound like my ideal evening, frankly.”

As casual as he may have seemed before, there’s a very clear release of tension as she spoke. So they were good, then? Well, as good as they could get, given the circumstances, and if he didn’t step on her toes, there wouldn’t be a problem.

“Yeah, I’d really rather not either.” 

But, then again, this was Magoichi, who could never very well leave anything alone. 

All things considered, the mainland was a nice place.

The constant static buzz and sweeping speeds of the world around him was still rather daunting, but one didn’t live to be thirty in Ransei without learning to adapt to the shit creek one was thrown in. If you were lucky, you were born into a family with a boat and maybe even a paddle. Magoichi was ran over with a boat instead. Repeatedly. And the paddle was made of brass, which also knocked him in the face a few times. Learning how to work a toaster and how to mop floors for cash was a lot better than said metaphorical boat and paddle. 

Until the royal navy’s head ship decided to pile-drive him back into a heap of shit. 

    “Adoptive brother,” she quickly amends, noticing his glance. “We’re not related by blood. My father took him in when he found out his human family was… treating him poorly. I’m completely human.” 

    …Okay, that was pushing it. “Completely human” didn’t typically include magic, divine intervention, and a natural monster repellent, but she was going to save that conversation for later. Typically speaking, announcing that you were blessed by a major deity tended to get you called crazy unless you had something to back that up, and she didn’t feel like performing any miracles in the middle of a settlement. 

    “I’m–” Shit. She grabs him by the arm and pulls him away from the street, off into a corner tucked between the buildings where she won’t be overheard. “I–no, I’m technically not a priestess. But I’m still a holy woman, and I can still heal you–it’s complicated, all right?”

Oh, gee, he wondered why that might have come about. ‘Half Kistune’ implied ‘half human’ or...god forbid some other freak. If someone was tricked into knocking up a trickster imp, it was no wonder the bab wasn’t swaddled and cooed over. 

Shigehide let the riffle fall from his shoulders as she pulled, his hand firmly on the handle and finger looming around the trigger as it hung by his side. Helping a self titled princesses take back what she claimed to be her birthright was sketchy enough already, but not outside of his pay-grade. Rescuing freak-shows for a ‘complicated’ priestess on top of it all? A little hard to chew.

“Complicated’s costly, kid. I’m not getting my ass dragged around this hell hole on ‘trust me’s and ‘I’ll explain later’s. I don’t know shit about you, and you don’t know shit about me, so there ain’t no trust. Only thing you can trust is coin, so either you thrown down some 'it’s complicated’ money, and I’m not talkin’ fancy sob story heirloom I’d have to try and find a buyer for, I mean gold, or you start makin’ shit a little less complicated.”

    Ten seconds and she was already beginning to regret this decision as she follows him out of the tavern. Arceus, what she wouldn’t give to have Oichi and Mitsunari back and not have to resort to this… nonsense. 

    “You? A wanted man? I never would have guessed.” She rolls her eyes. Something about being a gun-for-hire as a profession and being an upstanding member of society just didn’t mix, did they? Not that there was much benefit in hiring anyone of any real standing or credibility; unfortunately, those were the ones with connections. The sort of people you could probably follow, to some degree. At least the shady ones knew how to cover their tracks. 

    “You could say that, yes.” An understatement if she’d ever spoken one. “Unfortunately, he’s liable to be in more danger. He’s still fairly young, and–” Her voice drops to a hush, not wanting to declare it to the entire town– “He’s–er–he’s half-kitsune.”

“Your sarcasm is duly noted and appreciated,” he drawled back with as much sass as he was given. Maybe if he let go of the door fast enough it would hit her on the rear?

Not even ten steps out of the establishment and he was ready to throw himself back in, stopping dead in his tracks. “He’s a what?!” She said brother, right. A quick look over provided no evidence of pointed ear or tail (though, he had to admit, she had a pretty nice ass), but that didn’t stop the request from being anymore outlandish. 

    “Why bring it up if you figured it was off the table to begin with…?” She mumbles half to herself, though certainly loud enough that the mercenary should be able to hear–a fact she has no problem with.

    “Fine. I suppose that sounds fair to me.” Never mind the fact that she’d intended to keep them patched up to begin with–part of the deal or not, it would be a pain if the people she were hiring went off dying on her. (Considerably harder to get Aurora back, too.) Mentioning that bit of information, however, didn’t seem like the best card to lay on the table right now. 

     “Consider yourselves hired, then. Given the circumstances I would prefer we keep our distance from any cities along the way. Otherwise, there’s little else I have to add as far as the terms go.” Arms crossed–her shoulders feel strangely light without the rifle on her back as it had been up until now. “That said, before we start moving south, there’s someone I need to find. My younger brother and I were separated a while ago near Illusio, so my first priority is locating him and making sure he’s safe.”

Shigehide laughed at the question, giving her foot a nudge with his own, “Because you can never judge a book, baby. I’ve dressed up as a priest before myself, but that doesn’t mean the only thing I’m singing praises to is the big one.” Nothing like already giving her reason to fire them. 

Still, if they had a job, there was no point in hanging around the piss soaked bar, as much as he liked to call it home. He leaned rather heavily off the table to start his stroll out, falling into stride with the swagger and grace of a drunkard. A vague gesture with the shoulder’d rifle could be interpreted as ‘follow me’, but it was easier to assume by the fact he was making his way out the door. 

“We avoid towns usually, too. This may come as a surprise to you, but I’m not the most well liked man in the region.” He threw a cheeky grin over his shoulder, narrowly avoiding collision with an entering patron. “I don’t think Illusio’ll be much of a problem. Can’t remember ever hanging my hat there, so I can’t be wanted for anything in particular. ‘Less they start stringing ya for lookin’ like a hooligan....and probably impersonation of a priest.”

    “It took you long enough. Have you been hitting your head against that pole, or am I just that impressive of an actress?” She teases, working away at the lock. “I suppose if I’ve managed to fool half of Dragnor I must be. I really should be charging more for my talents.”

    It takes a few minutes, but eventually she manages to open the heavy lock with a click and carefully, quietly swing the door open. She takes a moment to look over the situation - “So I take it ropes are out of the question next time?,” she muses - before pulling a knife from its sheath at her thigh and making short work of his bindings.

    “You don’t happen to know where they’ve got your gun, do you? Because if something goes wrong on the way out, I should hope we have more backup than a knife and… whatever Hotaru is doing right now.”

“Little bit if both, baby, but don’t sell yourself short.” 

Oh God he’d never been happier to be made fun of in his life. Or to see her. Or, hell, this is probably the happiest he’d ever been. It really did take hitting rock bottom to climb back up to the top, didn’t it?

If he was crying before, he was laughing now, a bubbling mix of joy and nerves, “Ko, I love you, but I would kill you, so no, never. I don’t think-” Whatever the thought was got cut off by the release of his binds, his shoulders finally falling to his sides. The noise he made was akin to a moan. 

“Hotaru?! Holy fuck- I’m the luckiest man alive,” he laughed again, taking a test step away from the pole. Wobbly, but it was better than nothing. “I wish I knew. Don’t know where any of my shit is.”

Well, he did know where one thing was.