#sengokusumeragi

  “ I couldn’t sleep last night, you know. ” A deep inhale precedes a concerned expression. “ I thought about battle too much. I can’t sleep when I think about it. ”

“Some say the world will end in fire. Some say in ice…” Izanami mused aloud. “From what I tasted of desire - ” His voice cradled his verses well in a tone that was neither masculine nor feminine. “I hold with those who favor….fire.” With a crane of his head and a curious smile he’d break his citations and turn to face the other. 

Ever since Haru’s father had passed away, she had noticed that her house staff had kept changing. Some decided to leave since they no longer felt an obligation to the Okumura family, while others decided to still take care of Haru since they had watched her grow up. There was a new butler that had shown up fairly recently that Haru had never seen before. She was surprised when she caught him eyeing the flowers in her room and the small garden she had out on her balcony. 

“Ah...! Are you interested in gardening as well? I’m always trying new experiments to see what I can grow out here on my balcony. It’s interesting to see the outcome, although at times it can be frustrating too.” 

Apparently there was going to be a new guy on the force. Dojima was already rubbing his temples from the headache Adachi had given him earlier. Well, at least for now he’d get a small break from Adachi since Dojima would have to show this new guy around and all. Sighing he waited in his office until another officer brought in the new person that was going to be working with him. Standing up Dojima was quick to offer the other a polite bow.

“Glad to see you made it ok. My name is Ryotaro Dojima. It’s nice to meet you. It’s not often we get any new faces around here. What brings you to Inaba?” 

His affections were familiar - peppered from lips to soft places just beneath the generals ear. Pausing to properly wrap him up in a firm embrace. With the recent unrest, and flailing loyalties of the influences that be, the pirate could not help but find himself in a tempest of uncertainties in all places he could not be. 

Memories of that day and the carnage before his eyes breached from the dark waters in the back of his mind and the swirling unrest wouldn’t be easily quelled. Rather than subsiding, the longer he was away the more foreboding it seemed. 

“I had not realized how long I had been away. I have missed you.” He was troubled. It hung loosely on his voice.

In the private space of the Rising Suns captains quarters, Motochika found a soothing sort of solace. The room was littered with various trinkets from all the corners he had been. They were his reminders, small windows with but a glance he could relive the excitement of his ventures past. Well kept, and most made to shine, this room of his seemed decorated in new and foreign treasures. 

He sat against one of the window seats that lined the furthest wall - a cup in hand, peering at the setting gold of the sun against the waters. Time was dwindling and most of the warlords remaining with something to defend or fight for had chosen their sides, it was only a matter of days now - a few hours, only so many minutes. Only the shifting of a door and a familiar face would draw his mind away. 

He had lost count of how many times he had filled his cup but he showed little signs of slowing. He had gotten rather chatty in his budding delight - or rather, a touch more so than the usual. He was sharing tales of his past, long before he took to the seas. The sort he simply did not mention much. 

The pirate proudly recalled his first battle and the day he changed how his fathers men viewed him. “Twas long before I were the Sea Devil.” Another generous swallow of the drink. 

The large white wolf had been watching the stranger for a while now - following in his shadow though keeping his distance, stalking and sniffing. He seemed to be waiting for something, some chance to make a move.