#bushiido

Who would have thought that such a place would exist in the most inner depths of Inazuma. An entire kingdom, a long forgotten civilization, before his own times? Surely Tetsuya has been aware of such things, knowing well that the world didn’t just begin when he was created, but to see it and to experience it for himself is an entirely different demon. With arms over his chest he looks up at the mechanism in the middle of this long forgotten kingdom’s most grand structures with curiosity. According to the briefing notes he’s come to read before his arrival that’s supposed to be this kingdom’s sun of sorts, manufactured and created by human hands with borrowed knowledge from the merciful divine. Of course it was the Gods, there is simply no plausible way a human would be able to come up with such a thing without the added assistance of a God. He didn’t bother to look too into the detailed notes that were given to him and his fellow companion Kaedehara by the traveler, but all of this is lost history and it isn’t something Tetsuya’s going to be beating his head about. 

“The Dainichi Mikoshi...” He says the name out loud, silently taken by it. Apparently it’s broken or, well, not working when in the past it did. Oddly enough it isn’t so much that they want it to be fixed as much as they just want to make sure that there’s nothing happening down here that shouldn’t be. Tetsuya didn’t bother with the details, but he did come to understand that apparently there’s vishaps down here that thrive in this thick darkened oblivion and there was some sort of silent agreement in the past where they wouldn’t be messing with Enkanomiya anymore. Whatever that may be it isn’t any of his business and he’s not about to make it so. However it is because of the vishaps that Tetsuya was sent down here, apparently they are quite deadly, especially in the dark. Tetsuya has encountered them before, but in the surface world, this would be his first time dealing with them in their, apparently, natural habitat. He can’t say he’s not looking forward to seeing if there’s a difference between them or not.

It did take some convincing from the traveler to get Tetsuya to leave Sumeru, especially when he was told that the location of interest was so near to Inazuma. To quote: It’s in Inazuma, but not really, according to the traveler which only confused Tetsuya at the time, but in that same coin also peaked his interest. (A place in Inazuma I didn’t know about?) Was what Tetsuya thought. Apparently the traveler had other matters at hand and they wouldn’t be able to investigate Enkanomiya so they reached out to him and another for assistance. Buer gave the okay if Tetsuya was willing, eventually Tetsuya agreed with the request, since he’s still adamant on having his dues paid properly and the prospect of an entirely new location was far too seducing. Something new, something fresh, for someone as jaded and monotonously eternal as he.

... At least that was the case until he actually got here and saw just who it was he’d be exploring this place with. The last time he saw him... the experience was less than pleasant, but for now the location is enough to keep his attention. He can only hope it stays that way.

Peculiar... how this kingdom is in the depths of oblivion and yet the sound of the wind is still ever present here, a breeze that blows continuously out of seemingly nowhere.

“Did your friend relay any more information to you?” Tetsuya speaks towards Kazuha, his eyes still captured by the device above that moves but does nothing. “That’s the sun to this place is it not?” He nods towards the device again high above.

   ✉ @bushiido said: "Haa? What kinda scheme ya tryin' to drag me into? I'm too sober to listen to you babble."

The strong grip has certainly caught Law off guard, it only tightens ensuring he can’t attempt to wriggle free as was his first intention the moment he felt that contact.  Shit. 

“I have better things to do than party!” His exclamation will no doubt be promptly ignored and he’s correct. Instead he’s dragged ever closer. 

@bushiido | 💛 for a moodboard about our muses’ relationship | prompt.

@bushiido​ said:

“Is everything ok?”

“... Ni-” Niwa... It almost slips.

The resemblance is there, a ghost of his past so present in the forefront of his memories, how would it even be possible for him not to notice the resemblance immediately? Uncharacteristically he falls into a deadpan silence, watching how the traveler and this Kaedehara Kazuha greet one another like longtime friends, which is more than likely the case as well. The smile on this newfound young man’s face is so unsettling and unnerving that when he smiles he does not see this Kazuha. No, Kazuha isn’t there in that moment. Niwa is. His family. The one who tried to teach him how to be human. You’re a human as far as I’m concerned, words lost in a distant past echo into the present and it glues him in place when another memory joins the fray. The one where he had a lone heart in his hand and in a fit of anger, disgust, and betrayal threw it to the dirty ground so hard that it popped upon impact, and then ran away not once suspecting that the heart belonged to Niwa.

His hands have become fists unbeknownst to him, nails dig deeply into whatever parts of him are still made of flesh to the point where he draws blood. crimson traveling down his knuckle, dripping on to the soil below him. He is no longer here, he is stuck in the past. An episode of sorts. He can’t hear what they’re saying, their voices distant echoes, he breathes like he needs air to breathe and he’s running low on it when that’s not the case, his vision blurs and he can no longer differentiate between what’s the past and what’s now. No, this isn’t the first time this has happened either.

(Buer... ! Buer it’s happening again... !) He pleads to she who’s been most benevolent thus far within himself, hoping that she can hear him, that he can connect with her wherever she may be at this moment. He needs her help, he can’t get out, he’s stuck!

Is everything okay? A quiet distorted echo.

(... Buer?) 

H... Is everything okay? The voice is louder, and he can immediately tell it isn’t her.

(Who... ?)

Hey, is everything okay? And suddenly clarity. 

His eyes snap back into focus, his gaze glazed over with the threat of tears that he subconsciously fought back against in the trap he found himself in. Before him Kazuha and the traveler who look at him with concern. Tetsuya stares at both of them at a loss of what to say, at a loss of what to do, but his hands are no longer clenched, not minding his own blood which he drew on his own. Is everything okay is the question, and the answer to that is no, everything is not okay. 

“I am unwell,” Tetsuya says instead, taking hold of the rim of his hat to dawn it further over his face, wishing to hide, not wanting to be seen at this time. “I must go, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Kaedehara.” Is all he spares before leaving both of them probably with more questions than answers, but he doesn’t care.

He doesn’t want to be here, not right now.

   ✉ @bushiido said:    Here he is drunkenly laying himself on her lap.

   ✉ @bushiido said: 4. what seemingly insignificant memories stuck with your character?

@bushiido said:

❛ you’re not a very convincing liar. ❜ (drag him kazuha)

"And you shit out ridiculous prose for words, what's your point?" Is he getting defensive right off the bat? No (Yes). Tetsuya doesn't need anybody to tell him that, he knows that much. The wanderer does not fancy lies after all, he never did, and less now than before given certain things that have come to light. Even then he does acknowledge that there is a place and a time to lie, though to him those specific times and places are quite limited, he excels in those occasions however. "Who asked for your opinion anyway, haiku with legs." He mumbles more so to himself. Why did Niwa's descendant have to be quite the piece of work. Truly and actually recently Tetsuya's come to discover that the little weasel has weaseled himself closer and closer. The truth is that he allowed such a thing but that's only because its in his plans to tell Kazuha everything. At this time it is just... he simply has not found the right words or way to tell him. Most of the times they do end up spending time together it isn't appropriate and then when there is a small window for some reason Tetsuya finds himself tongue tied, overwhelmed even. It isn't so much because he doesn't want to tell him, it's because the wanderer doesn't know where to begin in telling him, especially with Irminsul in the mix of all of this mess.

Should he start from the very beginning? Should he start from the moment he took on the name Kunikuzushi? Or should he start in the moment that he ceased his rampart wrath? Though the details are scarce and he knows not how the downfall of the Kaedehara clan happened, he knows that it was a slow turbulent downfall into their decline. It wasn't something that happened instantly, it didn't happen quickly, it dragged, it happened slowly over the years, over the passing of time. So slow to the point where one can soak up all of the anguish, the stress, the pain, and suffering until officially there wasn't anything left of them. Well... that's not true, Kazuha is here. A piece of Niwa is here and in the deepest parts of his subconscious Tetsuya cherishes that in theory only, of course. Of Kazuha he does not know much, only rumors he's so famously known for, but beyond that Niwa's shadow casts over the young swordsman and Tetsuya hasn't made the conscious effort of making that shadow go away, not quite yet. Niwa is gone, Tetsuya isn't as delusional as Scaramouche was to make himself go off the end, but the fact that he can see Niwa in Kazuha unnerves him tremendously and he wonders if perhaps that's it. That's the why. The why he's having trouble telling him anything, telling him something. He doesn't see Kazuha yet, he sees Niwa staring back though they are two very different people and Niwa is nothing but a long past ancestor. Why, Tetsuya will bet Kazuha doesn't even know about him, at least not that well.

"..." That's it isn't it? Because the one staring back at him is Niwa not Kazuha. At least, in his head it isn't Kazuha. That's why he doesn't like to be around him, at least not fully yet even though he wants that to settle so that he can properly talk to him. He has to know and honestly depending and tossing the weight of telling those he doomed over to the traveler wasn't his brightest idea. It isn't so much that he has no trust in the traveler telling them (surprising I know), it's more so because the weight of them knowing that truth should be on him and not some messenger. "You need to learn to talk a little less." He adds as if that's supposed to be taken as some sort of dis, but the bite in those words lack their fangs. Maybe, just maybe him being a little too chatty doesn't bother him as it usually would.