Not Quite Literally

        ❝ && i looked into your e y e s, 

                           their  i r i d e s c e n t  shine, 

                                       && i knew i could  t r u s t  you. ❞

“It’s very inconvenient to fall in love when you are so young.”

“Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you.”

“Because love, it never dies, never goes away, never fades, so long as you hold on to it.” 

“Come on don’t get greedy.” 

“Isn’t it amazing how life is one thing and then, in an instant it becomes something else.” 

“You just work through it. You just hang in there.” 

“What can I say, baby? True love’s a bitch.” 

“Life is this big fat gigantic stinking mess. But that’s the beauty of it too.” 

“Honey, guilt and bribery are the glue that have held parents and teenagers together for generations. Don’t fight tradition.” 

“Why do I get this feeling you’re about to mess up my entire life?” 

“Guys play music for two reasons. To get laid, and because they got rage. But mostly to get laid.” 

“There are two types of people in the world. Those who like real coffee, and those who like froufrou drinks with ridiculous names.” 

“It’s like that old saying, ‘Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans’.” 

“And then there’s me. I thought I knew where I was going. I thought I had it all mapped out. Turns out, I had no idea.” 

“Sacrifice… that’s what we do for the people we love.” 

“The you I love now is the same you I was in love with yesterday. The same you I’ll be in love with tomorrow.” 

“Dying is easy. Living is hard.” 

“I figured if you look at it every night, it won’t seem so scary when you get there.” 

“What if it doesn’t work out? Are you gonna be there to pick up the pieces?” 

“I’m still here, and I’m still crazy in love with you.” 

“I’m not sure this is a world I belong in anymore. I’m not sure that I want to wake up.”

“A little mess never hurt anybody.”

“I want it to be over!”

“I’ll let you go if you stay.” 

“Love can make you immortal.” 

“I’m not choosing but I’m running out of fight.” 

“Going to jail would be easy compared to losing you.” 

“People believe what they want to believe.” 

“I love that you’re fragile and tough, quiet and kick-ass.” 

“We are born in one day. We die one day. We can change in one day. And we can fall in love in one day. Anything can happen in one day.” 

“If you live, if you die, it’s all up to you. So whatever fight you’ve got in you, you’ve gotta pull it out now.” 

“It will be the kind of pain that won’t feel real at first, and when it does, it will take your breath away.” 

“I’m feeling not just the physical pain, but all that I have lost, and it is profound and catastrophic and will leave a crater in me that nothing will ever fill.” 

“A warm blanket of black to erase everything else. Sleep without dreams. I’ve heard people talk about the sleep of the dead. Is that what death would feel like?”

Send my muse one of the following, and they’ll respond as a…

Aries: Yuuya Kizami

Taurus: Yui Shishido

Gemini: Naho Saenoki

Cancer: Satoshi Mochida

Leo: Seiko Shinohara

Virgo: Ayumi Shinozaki

Libra: Yuka Mochida 

Scorpio: Yoshiki Kishinuma 

Sagittarius: Naomi Nakashima

Capricorn: Sachiko Shinozaki

Aquarius: Sakutaro Morishige

Ayumi continued, “You’ll be staying here from now on, I hope you realize. There is a room my men will show you to as I’m sure they’ve already heard the news.” With that, she glances at the door and spots the Alpha craning his neck away from the door so as not to look like he is listening. 

Ayumi knows better though. She bids Kishinuma a good evening and leaves to her room. It is time for her change of clothes. 

She doesn’t see nor speak to him again for the rest of the night, but the next morning she is first to see him. Rather than letting one of the servants bring him his morning meal, Ayumi tells them she will be handling it today. 

Naturally, it infuriates the Alpha to see his female waiting on another man who is clearly still beneath her in status, but Ayumi sees it as a kind gesture that she wishes to do. 

She knocks gently before entering his room, and sets the tray of food down on the end of his bed. 

“Good morning,” she smiles, glancing at the tray. It really is awkward to be waiting on someone as it is something she has never done before. But she tries to act composed. “Rice and tea, I hope you like them. Some fresh clothes should be here soon for you. Have you taken a bath yet? You should soon, water is scarce, even for royalty.” 

She tries not to sound like she is coddling, but she is unsure of what to say to him. He must be feeling so foreign to this lifestyle, but she is sure he’ll adjust soon.

“Your training will begin shortly as well. I don’t normally monitor my soldiers, but I’ll make the exception for once. I’m sure it’s pleasant to watch the men get all sweaty,” she giggles, clearly speaking in a way she is not normally allowed to. But they’re in private, or so she believes, and therefore she doesn’t feel too bad about it. 

“Don’t think badly of me for saying such things,” she blushes, suddenly self-conscious of how he may view her now. “I can’t help all my urges, you know.” 

By night fall the thunder is off in the distance, the rain a light patter once more. He listens to it because it is the only thing of familiarity in this foreign room. Lighting a candle, he begins his letter with a shaking hand, recalling the kanji he had once learnt from his family before he ran off.

Abrupt. That was the word.

Morning comes and for once in his life he does not rise with the sun; he is awoken by Lady Ayumi’s entrance, her placing of the tray of food at his feet. He rubs his eyes before sitting up, closing his mouth over his yawn so as to not interrupt her as she greets him with a couple questions. Before he can even begin to think of an answer she informs him of his immediate training and says something that rather shocks him for a lady to say - they’re not all they are made out to be after all.

“Thank you, m’lady,” he whispers as she leaves.

Helping himself to the rice and tea is easy; he is starved, practically, and finishes it in a matter of minutes. Upon his rising from bed a servant comes in and takes the tray, telling him that the bath is ready for him, and to follow. So follow he does, and he is shocked when it is the servant who is bathing him, and not just himself.

He is led to training in a new set of clothes - a shirt tucked into drawstring pants and really, it is not him. He is even wearing shoes, slippers from what it feels like, but it feels so much better than being barefoot. Of course this is all a shock, still, it doesn’t make sense and the clothes feel stiff, but he does not voice his concerns.

The training is outside and he knows who is his new master immediately: the Alpha. Yoshiki walks out into the sun, squinting and already sweating from the uncomfortable heat and his nerves.

“Where do you come from? Is it a long walk from there to here?” she asks, raising an eyebrow slightly. She has seen him through the fence more than just this once, but she is sure he would appreciate it that she doesn’t mention it. 

He seems innocently intrigued by her though, and so Ayumi never draws attention to his presence. He is not a threat to her. Her men would get the wrong idea like they did this time, either way though. 

“For whom do you work?” 

She is afraid he will take this question wrong, but Ayumi has no desire to discuss his peeping through her fence and put him out of work, so she quickly adds, “I ask out of curiosity.” 

There’s an idea forming in the back of Ayumi’s mind as they converse. His build could use a bit more work, she thinks briefly, eyeing him up and down quickly, and a bath. As she questions him, she attempts to keep her face unreadable.

“You say your name is Kishinuma? I thought nothing of it at first, but it’s not just a name, it is a royal name, yes?”

Severing ties with family is so uncommon, Ayumi wonders if something has happened in his family. He dresses nothing close to royalty and it’s evident he has gone months now without a proper wash. But because the Kishinuma family have a reputation to uphold and so she doesn’t dare to ask about that part of his life. 

“Forgive me for prying,” she states, knowing this is not her first rude input of the evening. It makes her wonder why he hasn’t gotten up and left yet. There must be a reason he has stayed put.

Luckily he isn’t a fisherman. He still has yet to learn to swim.

“Taiji,” he says, voice soft. He hopes that she perhaps won’t hear it, and it will be left at that. He neglects answering the second question only because he is worried now of her opinion on him from his origin. At least, where he now resides. 

He does notice her looks upon him - as a wanderer, he is trained to notice things out of the ordinary. Of course, he does not say a word, instead taking a shallow breath once she makes the connection.

“Yes.” His voice is louder this time. He is not proud to carry his name but he is proud of himself. “The name of Kishinuma carries royalty.”

He does not care if she is prying, instead taking a care to the wood they are sitting at. He cannot help the fact that it is intricate, delicately worked, and he can’t help but stare. Only when her last question is served he looks up, noticing her look.

“I’m sorry?” he asks, though he knows from her expression that it is not a joke. He could bet that the men outside were silently freaking out over their lady’s decision, her trust in a stranger. “Samurai? I do not think I am of your...” he struggled for a word. “standards.”

He stood up, then, bowing once more. “My apologies, m’lady. I do not mean to judge you.” It is a steep bow, long and while he looks at the ground he notices that his hands are quivering. Does he accept? Would it be too rude not to accept? She doesn’t know him, doesn’t know what he is capable of and doesn’t even know his strengths. Sure, he can brandish a sword, but he is not properly trained. The most he can do with a sword is make one, and even that trait is not perfect.

He knows wood best, knows how to carve and build things with his hands - not protect.

Yoshiki stands straight once more and clears his throat, holding his arms straight as his sides.